Green Living Personal Use Ebook

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There's a lot you can do in your home to save energy through your choice of appliances, heating and air-conditioning, and your water tank. Buying energy-efficient appliances can save you a ton of money.

An Energy Star rated washing machine uses half the water and electricity used by less efficient models. Washing machines use about 14% of the water consumed in the home. You can save water by waiting till you have a full load of clothes to wash. Washers use 32 to 59 gallons of water for each cycle. Up to 90% of the energy used for washing clothes goes to heating the water. Here's something you might not know - the temperature of the rinse doesn't affect the cleaning of the clothes. A warm water wash and a cold rinse will work just as well as a hot water wash and a warm rinse on nearly all clothes.

An Energy Star dishwasher can reduce your energy usage by 25% and save water too. You'll save even more if you fill your dishwasher before running it and don't use the pre-rinse or the heat dry cycles.

Refrigerators with an energy Star rating can cut electricity use by 15% to 40%. Save even more energy by letting air circulate around the condenser coils in the back, by checking that the door seals are secure, and by setting the temperatures to 35 to 38°F and 0°F for the freezer. Clean the condenser coils on the back or bottom of your refrigerator at least once a year. Keep the door gasket clean to make sure the seal is not broken.

Air conditioners - if we all raise the settings of our air conditioners by 6°, we could save 190,000 barrels of oil every day. Don’t switch your air conditioner to a colder setting when you turn it on. It will cool the room any faster and it will waste energy. Clean or replace the filters once a month; otherwise the fan works harder and consumes more electricity.

Stoves/ovens - for gas stoves, an electronic ignition system will use about 40% less gas than a pilot light. The pilot light and burner should burn with a blue cone shaped flame. If the flames yellow, burners and ports are clogged and need to be cleaned.

Your local electric utility is a good source for information on energy conservation. They often provide low-cost home energy audits, and have literature that details tips about energy conservation.

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