Individual Room Updates
Bathroom: 11/6/08
Here are a few things you can do in the bathroom to help reduce your energy and resource usage.

-Take short showers instead of baths. Short showers, 5 minutes or less use much less water than baths, thus saving
water and hot water. The Hot water heater is one of the highest energy users in the home.
-Is the towel you used to dry off with dirty after one use? Could it be used twice? This could reduce the amount of
laundry loads you have to wash, reducing water usage, reducing energy usage and possible hot water usage. Also it
would save you money on laundry soaps as well.
How much water does your shower head use? The standard is around 2.5 gallons per minute(gpm). I found one at
walmart that used 1.6 gpm. This can save almost a gallon of water for every minute you are in the shower. This saves
water and Hot water.
-Replace all incandescent light bulbs with CFL bulbs. A 13 watt CFL bulb puts out the same amount of light as a 60
watt incandescent bulb but uses 1/4 the energy.
-How many bulbs do you really need? Can you remove 1or 2 or more bulbs and still have enough light to see well?
-Don't allow water to run while brushing your teeth or shaving. Turn off until you are ready to rinse.
-Insulate Hot water heater. Replace old Hot Water Heater with a new Energy Star rated heavy insulated model. Set
your hot water temperature to around 120 degrees.

Have any other energy saving ideas? Send them to me, I may post them. Email

Update 12/14/08: If you have an older toilet you may be using a lot of water to flush each time. Newer standards ar
1.6 gpf(gallons per flush) while some are as low as 1.2 gpf. Older toilets may using as much as 3 gpf.
Update 5/24/09: There are ultra low flow shower heads available that use .5 gallons per minute. I could only find them
online so far and have not tried one yet.
Attic/walls/floor: 11/9/08
  • Add insulation. I added around 6-8 inches of blow in insulation to the attic the last week of October. This will put
    my R-value around R-51-53.
  • Insulate walls and floors
Kitchen 12/15/08
Things you can do in the kitchen to help save energy.
•        Turn off lights when not in use
•        Replace those old light bulbs with CFL bulbs
•        Seal up drafts around the window
•        Allow the sun to come in during the day to provide light as long as it does not cause solar heating in the       
summer. This is ok in the winter.
•        Use the microwave instead of the oven when possible
•        When using the oven try to cook two or three meals at a time to utilize the energy
•        Don’t let the refrigerator sit open
•        Clean out from under the refrigerator and make sure the vents are clear to allow air flow
•        Don’t allow the water to run in the sink unnecessarily
•        How efficient is your dish washer?
•        Set the temperature on your hot water heater to 120 degrees. Replace old hot water heaters with energy star
rated
•        As you replace appliances replace with energy star rated appliances

If you gave any other energy saving suggestions let me know. email
Living Room/Family Room 1/21/09
•        Turn off lights when not in use or not needed. How many light bulbs do you need in this room? Replace the old
bulbs with CFL’s or use LED’s if only a small amount of light is needed.
•        Turn the TV off when not watching it. Use a radio if you just want to listen to something. When possible replace
the old TV with a Energy Star rated TV.
•        Plug electrical devices into a power strip so that they can be “powered off” when not in use. When you turn
something off that has a remote control it does not actually turn off but goes into standby and still uses electricity just
sitting there waiting. Depending on the number of devices, DVD, VCR, Stereo, TV this could add up quickly. Having
everything plugged into a power strip allows you to flip the switch and kill the power completely. Satellite receivers may
have to reboot each time and this may take several minutes and if left “powered off” for a long time could have other
problems. Any device that has a clock may lose it’s time or if it is set to record will not record if “powered off” so keep
this in mind when choosing what will be placed in a power strip and what will be plugged directly into the wall.
•        If you have a computer in this room you can adjust the screen brightness down. I reduced mine about 45% and
it still looks fine. Set yours to your satisfaction. Set your Monitor to shut off after a few minutes of no use and have the
computer go to sleep/hibernate or shutdown when not in use for long periods of time. You should decide what is best
for you and your computer. This can save a lot of electricity over time. There are Energy star rated monitors as well.
•        You can also plug your computer devices into a power strip as well so they can be completely powered off, no
little lights to draw power.
•        Make sure windows and outside doors are sealed and do not have drafts
•        Block out the Sun in the summer and utilize it in the winter if you have windows that face it.
•        Don’t leave battery chargers plugged up all the time, they can use a lot of electricity even when not charging
anything.

Have any more suggestions email me.
Bedroom 5/24/09:
  • Turn off lights/TV's when not in use or not needed. How many light bulbs do you need in this room? Replace
    the old bulbs with CFL’s or use LED’s if only a small amount of light is needed.
  • Turn the TV off when not watching it. Use a radio if you just want to listen to something. When possible replace
    the old TV with a Energy Star rated TV.
  • Plug electrical devices into a power strip so that they can be “powered off” when not in use. When you turn
    something off that has a remote control it does not actually turn off but goes into standby and still uses
    electricity just sitting there waiting.
  • Make sure windows and outside doors are sealed and do not have drafts
  • Block out the Sun in the summer and utilize it in the winter if you have windows that face it.
  • Consider using electric mattress covers in the winter so you can turn down the thermostat while sleeping
  • Use energy star rated appliances


Have any more suggestions email me.
Laundry/utillity 5/24/09:
  • Turn off lights when not in use or not needed. How many light bulbs do you need in this room? Replace the old
    bulbs with CFL’s or use LED’s if only a small amount of light is needed.
  • Plug electrical devices into a power strip so that they can be “powered off” when not in use. When you turn
    something off that has a remote control it does not actually turn off but goes into standby and still uses
    electricity just sitting there waiting.
  • Make sure windows and outside doors are sealed and do not have drafts
  • Block out the Sun in the summer and utilize it in the winter if you have windows that face it.
  • Use energy star rated appliances, a front load washer uses very little water compared to most top loads and the
    spin the clothes must dryer. This means not only are you saving water/hot water you will save electricity with the
    Dryer when it drys the clothes.
  • Don't use hot water to wash
  • Instead of the dryer, hang the clothes up to dry
  • If you are using a battery charger for power tools put the charger on a timer or be sure to unplug, the charger
    will continue to use power after the batteries are charged or even if no batteries are being charged.


Have any more suggestions email me.