Living Green

Tips from the EPA on saving energy

Appliance Tips: Saving Energy and Money

Refrigerator
  • Adjust temperature settings for different seasons. Check refrigerator setting by placing a thermometer in a jar of water and leaving in refrigerator overnight. In the morning, the temperature should read 34 to 40 degrees F. Adjust settings if necessary. Temperature settings usually need to be reduced in winter. The freezer should be between 0 and 5 degrees F.
  • During winter, freezer space often goes unused. Your refrigerator continues to use energy, however, to freeze this space. Take empty milk jugs, or other plastic containers, and fill them with water. Place them outside until they freeze, then put them in your freezer. This will fill the empty space and reduce the area to be kept cold.
  • Manual defrost refrigerators are generally more efficient than automatic defrost models, but only if they are properly maintained. The freezer should be defrosted if ice buildup is thicker than inch.
  • Vacuum the coils in the back of your refrigerator twice a year to maximize efficiency.
  • Check the door gasket occasionally to be sure the seal isn't broken by debris or caked on food.
  • Refrigerator should not be located near the stove, dishwasher, heat vents or exposed to direct sunlight. Check to be sure that air flow around your refrigerator is not obstructed.
  • If your refrigerator has an energy-saver (anti-sweat) switch, it should be on during the summer and off during the winter.
  • Never run frost-free refrigerators with freezer compartments in unheated areas with air temperature below 60 degrees F.

 

The most efficient refrigerators are 16-20cu ft, with a freezer on the bottom or the top rather than the side. Foregoing features like auto defrost, ice makers, and heaters to control condensation can not only save up to 60% more energy and energy costs, but save you money on the purchase price as well.


One large refrigerator is cheaper and more efficient to run than two smaller ones. Getting rid of an old refrigerator is one of the largest single contributions you can make to lowering your electric bills and to conserving energy and resources.

Stove
  • Use the burner which is the closest match to pot size. Heat is lost and energy is wasted if burner size is larger than pot size.
  • Use lids on pots and pans so you can cook at lower settings.
  • Keep drip pans under conventional coil burners clean. Don't line drip pans with aluminum foil — they can reflect too much heat and damage the elements.
  • Only preheat when baking.
  • Check your oven temperature. Use a separate oven thermometer to ensure your oven control is accurate.
  • Make sure the oven door seal is tight. Avoid opening oven door while baking — each time the door is opened, about 20% of the inside heat is lost.
  • Turn oven off a few minutes before food is ready, and let oven heat finish the job.
  • Gas stoves: electronic ignition (piezo) will use about 40% less gas than a pilot light.
  • Pilot light and burner flame on gas stoves should be blue. If flame is yellow, ports need to be unclogged or adjusted. Ports can be cleared with pipe cleaners.
  • Induction cooktops use 90% of the energy produced compared to only 55% for a gas burner and 65% for traditional electric ranges. more info
  • Sun (Solar) ovens are the most energy-efficient cooking appliance, as they require no fuel of any kind to cook, yet reach temperatures of 360° - 400°. more info
  • Hybrid solar ovens have all the benefits of a solar oven, with the added convenience of an energy-efficient electric backup for use when sun power is not available. When used in 'electric' mode, these units use 75% less energy than conventional electric range. more info
Washer/Dryer
  • Match water level and temperature settings on your washer to the size of your load. Don't fill the whole tub for a few items. Newer machines have automatic water level settings which adjust to load size.
  • Call your water utility and ask them how “hard” or “soft” your water is. You may be using up to six times as much clothing detergent as you need. Your appliance manuals will tell you how much you need for your water type.
  • As much as 90% of the energy used by your washing machine is used to heat the water. For most washing applications, warm wash and cold rinse are just as effective as hot wash and warm rinse. The rinse temperature doesn't effect the quality of the cleaning.
  • Avoid using too much detergent. Follow instructions on the box. Oversudsing makes your machine work harder and use more energy.
  • Clean dryer lint screen after each use. Lint build up greatly reduces efficiency.
  • Overloading the dryer lengthens drying time. Clothes should dry in 40 minutes to one hour.
  • Choose a 'perma press' (cool-down) cycle. No heat is supplied in the last few minutes, but drying continues as cool air is blown through the tumbling clothes.
  • Keep the dryer exhaust vent on the outside of the house clean. It should be clear of cobwebs and lint. The moveable shutters should move easily — they're designed to prevent cold air, heat and insects from entering the vent when the dryer is not operating.
  • Dry multiple loads back to back. Because the dryer takes time and energy to warm up to drying temperature, stop-and-start drying uses more energy.
  • Using a clothesline or indoor drying rack will save energy and reduce fabric wear on your garments (the lint on the lint screen is your clothing being broken down).
  • The newer front load washers require much less water, hold larger loads and save energy in reduced water heating.
    more info
Air Conditioners
  • Install a ceiling fan in the largest room of your house. This will allow you to lower the setting on your air conditioner 3 to 6 degrees, which will save up to 25% of energy costs of home cooling. (Be sure to reverse the fan rotation in winter to "clockwise"'.)
  • Clean filter screen once a month. This will reduce fan usage and save electricity.
  • When turning on your air conditioner, avoid using the coldest setting. Let the air conditioner warm up for a while before lowering the temperature setting. The room will cool just as fast.
  • Keep leaves and other debris off the condensing unit, and gently brush webs and dust from condensing coils. Ensure that airflow is not obstructed; allow 18" open space clearance from the condenser.
  • If buying a new air conditioner, choose a model with an Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER) of 10.0 or higher.
Water Heater
  • Insulate water heater. If your water heater feels warm to the touch, you will save money and have more hot water by adding more insulation. here's how
  • Lower settings on water heater. Experiment within the 120-140 range to find the lowest setting which supplies you with enough hot water.
  • Wrap water pipes leading from the water heater. here's how
  • If you're ready for a new water heater, consider a tankless water heater. These models can save as much as fifty percent of the cost of heating water.
Computers and Home Office Equipment
  • Turn off the monitor when your computer is not in use. Over half of the energy used by the computer goes to the monitor, so turning it off will save significantly.
  • Turn equipment off when it is not in use (except your fax machine). Even machines on standby use up to 30 watts of electricity.
  • Printing can be the most energy-intensive step, so print only pages you need. Edit documents on-screen to save unnecessary printing. If you have a choice of printers, avoid using a laser printer for draft-quality printouts.
  • Re-use paper. Inkjet printers can easily accept used paper, so you can print on the unused side. Or keep discarded pages for jotting notes.
  • Buying a new computer? Consider whether a laptop could meet your needs. Laptops use 10 per cent or less of the electricity consumed by typical desktop computers. When buying a laptop, look for systems comprised completely of 3.3-volt components (processor, memory and LCD). These systems use 40 to 50% less energy than 5.0-volt systems, and are generally equipped with a lighter battery.

  • Buying a new printer? Inkjet printers have low energy consumption, are inexpensive and permit the re-use of paper, saving costs and reducing environmental impacts. If you are buying a laser printer, look for one with an energy-saver feature, which reduces energy use when idle by over 65 per cent. Even when idle, laser printers consume between 30 and 35 per cent of their peak power requirements.


    Eliminate loss of phantom power:

    Plug your TV, DVD player, VCR and stereo into a power bar. When you turn them off, turn off the bar, so they won't be drawing "phantom power" while you're not using them.