Kick start energy savings at home.

The largest portion of your home energy bill is typically for your heating and cooling followed by water heating, appliance use and lighting. By taking action on the top four areas of energy use, you can kick start your energy savings without giving up comfort. Here is a checklist of no-cost and low-cost energy-saving tips to help you on your way. Heating and Cooling Set back your thermostat. A two-degree adjustment to your thermostat setting (lower in winter, higher in summer) can lower heating and cooling bills by four percent and prevent 500 pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere each year. Install a programmable thermostat. This will allow you to pre-set your thermostat to lower a temperature when you are away and raise it when you are due to return home. It takes the same amount of time to heat your home to 68 degrees whether the thermostat is set at 68 or 90 degrees. Setting your thermostat higher than necessary could actually waste energy and increase your heating costs. Move furniture and rugs away from vents to prevent heated or cool air from circulating efficiently. Stop drafts. Close your fireplace damper when it’s not in use. Seal up your windows and doors with caulking and weather-stripping. If you don’t have storm windows, as an alternative, you can improve your windows performance with plastic sheeting installed on the interior. Install door sweeps to stop the draft from outside door. A rolled up towel in front of the door will also do trick. Seal all exposed duct work joints in areas such as the attic, crawlspace or basements and cellars. Use sealing mastic as opposed to duct tape. Outlet gaskets are easy to install in electric outlets and cost about a dollar at any hardware store. The gaskets keep the outdoor air from leaking into the house. Change your furnace filter each month. This will keep your furnace from clogging. Water heating Check the temperature of your water heater with a thermometer. If it’s higher than 120 degrees, lower the temperature on your water heater thermostat. This also prevents scalding. Use cold water for washing laundry. Detergents made for cold water washing will get clothes as clean as washing in hot or warm water. Conserve your hot water by stopping drips. A hot water faucet leaking one drop per second can add up to 165 gallons a month – more than one person uses in two weeks. To save hot water, take a short shower instead of a bath. Install low flow showerheads and sink aerators to reduce water use. Running a faucet for five minutes uses as much energy as burning a 60-watt bulb for 14 hours. Appliances and Cooking Many appliances consume power when they are switched off and in some cases, as much as when they are on. This is referred to as “phantom load”. The only way to eliminate this is by unplugging the appliance or connecting it to a power strip that can be turned off. When cooking, keep the lids on the pots. Better yet, use a microwave oven instead of a conventional range or oven. Keep the refrigerator door shut as much as possible. Opening refrigerator doors allows 30 percent of the cold air to escape. America’s home refrigerators use the electricity of 25 large power plants every year. If you have an unused refrigerator or freezer, turn it off. If you have a dishwasher, use it. Dishwashers use six gallons less water than dishes washed by hand – more than 2,000 gallons per year. When replacing old or broken appliances, look for the ENERGY STAR label. Upgrading to a high efficiency unit will pay for itself in short order. Lighting Replace your five most used light bulbs with compact fluorescents. These use 2/3 less energy than the old and outdated incandescent bulbs and last six to ten times longer. Turn it off. You use less energy if you turn that incandescent light off every time you leave the room. However, a compact fluorescent light can be left on if it will be needed again within 15 minutes. Frequently switching a CFL on and off can shorten its life. For an in-depth analysis of your home’s energy efficiency take an online home energy audit at http://hes.lbl.gov. This site, sponsored in part by Touchstone Energy Cooperatives, is free and available to everyone. One of the best sites is the Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network, www1.eere.energy.gov/informationcenter. A free service, energy efficiency experts answer questions about saving energy at home, low-income weatherization assistance, tax incentives and grants and vehicle fuel economy. To learn about energy rebates available to Inland Power and Light members visit www.inlandpower.com. Other utilities offer rebates, too. Those rebates are typically listed on their Web sites. Inland Power and Light Company is a non-profit, member-owned electric utility serving 13 counties in the Inland Northwest.