Summer energy-saving tips
As summer temperatures rise, you’ll probably see your energy bill creep up, too. After all, air conditioning is one of your home’s greatest electricity-users. Plus, if you have children home from school for the summer, they’re probably in-and-out of doors and looking in the fridge often. But West Florida Electric Cooperative offers the following tips for cool summer energy-savings:
Close shades, drapes and blinds during the hottest part of the day to keep the sun’s rays from heating your house.
Use lamps only when necessary, because most of the energy incandescent lamps use is given off as heat. Consider switching to compact fluorescent lamps, which use about 75 percent less energy than incandescent lamps and emit 90 percent less heat while producing the same amount of light. Turn lights off when you leave a room.
Use a microwave or outdoor grill instead of the range or oven, or make a meal of salads and cold cuts.
Plant shade trees, especially on the east and west sides of your house, to reduce air conditioning costs by up to 30 percent.
Seal off your laundry room and water heater from the rest of the house, because washers, dryers, dishwashers and water heaters generate large amounts of heat and humidity. Wash clothes in cold water. It costs less to run a washer than a dryer, so run clothes through an extra spin cycle.
Clean the clothes dyer’s lint filter frequently and check the outdoor vent opening. When lint slows the air flow, the dryer runs longer, so the clothes get a long, hot, damp, costly tumbling. Dry loads one after another to take advantage of an already-hot dryer. Dry laundry on a clothesline when possible.
Arrange items in your refrigerator for quick removal and return. The longer the door is open, the longer the refrigerator runs, heating the kitchen and raising your air conditioning costs.
Set your central air conditioning unit’s thermostat on "auto," never on "fan." Raise the room temperature just a few degrees and save up to 5 percent on your air conditioning costs for every one degree you adjust the thermostat up.
Seal air leaks using caulk and weatherstripping around doors, windows and other places where you find air leaks. You might be losing as much as 15 to 30 percent of your cool air through leaks.
Replace your cooling system’s filters monthly. Make sure registers and return vents aren’t blocked by furniture or drapes.
To evaluate your household’s energy use, try the residential energy calculator on WFEC’s Web site at http://calc.wfeca.comFor additional information on energy efficiency, visit the U. S. Dept. of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Web site at www.doe.gov
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