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Save Energy!
 Saving money is one of the top priorities of today's families. One way to save money is to lower your use of electric, and start saving energy while you start saving money! Learn some important energy-saving tips below:
Save energy in the kitchen
- Use your microwave whenever possible. A microwave uses about 70%-80% less electricity than your conventional oven does.
- When preparing meals, prepare foods that can be cooked at the same temperature so you can cook them together in the oven.
- Try not to keep opening the oven door to check on your meals. Each time you open the door the oven temperature can lower by 25 degrees.
- You don't have to preheat the oven for foods that will be cooking for more than an hour.
- Remember to turn off your oven as soon as you're done cooking (how many busy moms forget to do this!).
- Make sure your refrigerator door closes all the way when you close it (how many times have you gone back to the refrigerator only to see it remaining partly open?).
- Each time you open the refrigerator door energy is wasted. Make sure to keep your refrigerator visits brief.
- Try to keep your freezer as full as possible to increase it's capacity to cool.
- Vacuum your refrigerator's condenser coils occasionally so your refrigerator doesn't have to work harder to keep its items cooler.
- Make sure your refrigerator is not near other appliances that generate heat (like your oven or dishwasher).
Save energy in the summers & winters
- Make sure to clean or replace your air conditioning filter each month (or when dirty) to increase ability to cool.
- Use ceiling fans to help keep cool air circulating around the room.
- Close all windows while your air conditioner is on (ok, how many of you have kept windows open while running the air conditioner?).
- Make sure you get the correct size air conditioner for the space that it will need to keep cool...no need to use more energy unnecessarily!
- If you have a central air conditioner, set it at about 76 degrees during the day if no one will be home. If you have a window air conditioner, use a timer to turn it on just before you arrive home. This way you save energy and money!
- Keep blinds closed to keep out the hot sun, which can raise the room temperature.
- In the winter, make sure you keep the thermostat at the lowest temperature that is comfortable. Every degree over 70 uses 3% more heating fuel.
- Close up all cracks in walls and cover windows that don't properly close to keep hot air from escaping the room. Cover windows with plastic when necessary.
- If you have a central air system, make sure to clean or replace the filter at least once a month.
Save energy while you do laundry
- Use warm water to clean dirty clothes (save hot water for hard stains); cold water for slightly dirty. Rinse with cold water instead of hot.
- Make sure you fill up the washing machine with each load (saves water and energy!).
- Clean the washer and dryer's lint filters right after each load. Besides saving energy it's a fire hazard!
- If your dryer has a setting to stop when clothes are dry, make sure you use it. Overdrying wastes energy and damages clothes.
Save energy with your hot water
- Make sure to lower your hot water heater to about 110 degrees (130 degrees if you have a dishwasher). This is a big reduction in savings and energy!
- Instead of taking baths, take showers from energy-saving shower heads.
- Use cool water to rinse dishes in the dishwasher, and open door to let dishes dry instead of using the drying cycle. When you're hand-washing dishes, make sure to turn water off while you're scrubbing a group of dishes. Then rinse them all at the same time.
Save energy with light bulbs
- Turn off all incandescent lights when you leave a room. Leave fluorescent bulbs on only if you'll be gone for more than 15 minutes (it takes more energy to turn them on again).
- Lower wattage wherever possible (in closets or hallways).
- Buy energy-saving light bulbs.
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