Electricity Conservation Tips

Light Bulbs
Start with replacing your standard light bulbs with compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs.

• If every American home replaced just 1 light bulb with an Energy Star qualified bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars.
• If you replace 4 standard bulbs with CFL bulbs you can eliminate 1,800 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions over the life of the bulb, because CFL bulbs use about 75% less energy than standard incandescent bulbs and last up to 10 times longer.
• Still not convinced? How about saving $30 or more in electricity costs over each bulb's lifetime. Helping the environment and keeping money in your pocket, it's that simple.

Computer Energy
Our computers, along with other electronics, are a large component of energy usage, and by simply managing their energy consumption, we can decrease our energy bills.

• Learn to manage your computers power settings. By having your computer set to hibernate or standby after 30 minutes of inactivity, you will maximize your power savings and save as much as $75 per year in energy costs for each computer.
• Set your computer to NOT utilize a screen saver, which makes the computer use more energy, and simply turn off your monitor.
• Shut the computer down when not in use, especially at night. It costs more than $200 per year to power a computer continuously. Turning the computer off, even for a few minutes saves more energy than is used to start it up.

Household Changes
Other simple ways to save energy:

• Turn the lights off when you leave a room.
• Unplug chargers when not in use. Anything that is plugged in uses energy! If you leave your cell phone charger plugged in, it's using electricity even with no phone attached.
• Buy Energy Star products and appliances.
• Install a programmable thermostat.
• Adjust thermostat when you leave your home, at least 10 degrees down in winter and 10 degrees up in summer.
• Keep up with basic air conditioner and furnace maintenance. Have them professionally tuned and cleaned, and replace air filters regularly.
• Keep drapes or blinds closed at night in winter and during the day in the summer to reduce heating and cooling needs.
• Caulk and weatherstrip all your doors and windows.
• Have a professional seal your heating ducts to reduce the loss of heated air.