Energy Saving Habits to Develop
Do you remember as a child being asked by your mother if you were “born in a barn?” There are plenty of reasons why this is important. The fact is that there are small things, even simple things, to incorporate into your every day life to see improvements in your energy usage without really having to do much of anything.
In fact, all you really need to do is to ensure that you get yourself into some habits and within a month you will notice changes. While switching one light off isn’t going to make a huge deal on your bill, combining this with other features will show you some real signs of improvement and quickly too.
To help you, here are some of the best habits that you can form to gain great energy saving benefits:
Appliance Use
Take a look at your appliances usage. There are certain appliances that generate heat more so than others. The washer and dryer as well as your oven are prime candidates. Therefore, whenever possible, use these during the cooler parts of the day such as the morning and in the evening, to keep your air conditioning from having to kick on. If it is already hot and you are using them, the air conditioning units have to work harder using more energy to do so and costing you more.
Light Bulbs & Lighting
Throughout your home or office you will find various lights on and off at all times of the day, right? Make it a habit to turn them off each time you leave a room. In addition, you will want to make sure that the smallest comfortable light is in use at all times, not necessarily the light that is going to fill the room.
In addition, as you go throughout your home or office building replacing bulbs (as they burn out of course) begin replacing them with compact fluorescent bulbs. These are becoming more and more readily available even at the supermarket and department stores. Although they will cost more to put them into your home or commercial building, they will benefit you. These light bulbs put out as much as four times as many lumens per watt. So, if you purchase a 25 watt fluorescent bulb, you are going to have as much light as if you were using a 100 watt bulb of the standard, incandescent bulb. Therefore, with lower wattage use, you will use less electricity and save money.
In addition, these light bulbs will last you almost ten times as long as a standard light bulb will. In some case, you won’t have to replace them for years! This is definitely worth the investment. Doing this slowly as the others die out will allow it to be less of a cost shock.
HVAC/Exhaust
Benefit from an exhaust fan in your home kitchen or commercial cafeteria area to pull out the heat and humidity from the area as you are cooking. In the summer, their use is outstanding in these areas to keep your air conditioning working less.
In addition, the bathroom facilities require an exhaust system..with the humidity pulled out before causing the air conditioning to kick on.
Adding Window Film
3M Window Films control heat, sun glare and UV radiation. Enjoy lower energy costs, increased comfort through glare reduction and enhanced fade protection. Insure your most precious valuables from premature sun damage with 99% UV block.