Green Living Tips : Reducing Energy Costs

By doing some simple things around your home, farm, whatever, you can reduce the amount of power you’re using, which lowers your energy cost and helps others.

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Perhaps one of the first moves I made many years ago to reduce my energy costs was to replace all of my traditional light bulbs with energy efficient fluorescent light bulbs. Here’s a side benefit. The heat these bulbs radiate is much lower.

Another tip is to turn off all appliances not in use and unplug them. Many appliances, such as a TV, still uses power when plugged in even though it’s in the “off” position. One easy solution is to have all of these plugged into a surge protector and then simply unplug (or turn off via a switch) the protector.

Yet another great green living tip is to make sure you only use your washer/dryer with full loads. Air drying when possible helps as well. The time of day you do your laundry also matters. Think about drying in the evening.

When driving vehicles, make sure they are tuned up and have proper air in the tires (low air causes the vehicle to use more gas/energy). Obviously, you should think about public transportation or carpooling when possible.

Lastly, look around your home. Is it sealed up well? If air can enter and escape, your cooling and heating system will have to work much harder and use more energy.