Beyond Electricity

Although we all realize that using less electricity can save on our utility bills, did you know that it is not just about pure electrical consumption?

Your homes heating and air conditioning, appliances, light bulbs and the exterior building thermal envelope all come into play when you are trying to save energy.

The tightness of the envelope will affect your heating and cooling loads. These loads affect the amount of energy consumed for them to work. A house with lots of air infiltration will require much more energy to make it comfortable.

This infiltration can come from poor weather stripping, drafty windows and doors, roof, walls, insufficient insulation. Visit insulation and windows and doors for helpful information to remedy this type of situation.

Appliances

One area that can save huge amounts of energy is your appliances. Old appliances are not very efficient. How you use them is also important.

So the following can help if buying new energy star appliances are not in your budget.

Although the experts can't agree on the exact temperature a refrigerator should be set at all agree that a well stocked refrigerator will take less energy to cool than an empty one.

The same can be said to to speak for washing machines and dishwashers. It will save much more energy if you only wash full loads.

Full loads will result in fewer loads thus saving money.

If you have an electric dryer than obviously any thing you can line dry will save huge amounts of energy.

Lighting Controls and Bulbs

Using lighting controls in your home can save tremendous amounts of energy. Dimmers can be a great way to light just enough without using a lot of power.

Additionally if you have the resources, integrating into a home automation system can save even more.

You can control which lights come on when and at what level.

Your choice of bulbs is also so important.

Compact fluorescent light bulbs can use up to 75 percent less electricity for the same amount of light.

Additionally, they can last up to 10 times longer. For more information on these money savers visit Remodeling 101's section on light bulbs.

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