Simple resolutions can make for a greener 2008

December 30, 2007

My college-age daughter recently "challenged" me to reduce our energy use to lessen our impact on the environment. I like the idea of cutting my energy bill, so how do I get the whole family in to helping with this?

Why not make saving energy a New Year's resolution? It could be a fun way to encourage everyone to change their habits when it comes to using energy. Here are some simple possible resolutions for 2008:

Turn off the lights. This resolution certainly involves the kids. Remind each other to turn off lights when leaving a room - that includes compact fluorescent light bulbs. This won't save a ton of energy, but small savings will add up.

Unplug battery chargers. Cell phone chargers, laptop computer chargers and similar devices draw power when plugged in, whether or not they are charging. Unplug them when you're not using them.

Switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs. Change out at least one or more light bulbs to a CFL in each room. They use one-fourth as much energy as an incandescent bulb and last up to 10 times as long. According to the Energy Star Web site, if every American home replaced just five of the most-used light fixtures or the bulbs in them with CFLs, we'd collectively save close to $8 billion on energy and avoid creating greenhouse gas emissions (from generating electricity) equal to nearly 10 million cars.

Take a five-minute shower. This may be one of the tougher resolution, especially if you love to stand in the shower forever. Showers and baths account for about half the hot water used in a typical home. While a bath can be relaxing, you will use less hot water by showering. A typical bathtub uses at least 50 gallons of water, which is equal to four five-minute showers with a low-flow shower head.

Close the fridge door. You're wasting energy whenever the refrigerator door is open, so close it while making a sandwich or sneaking a gulp from the milk jug. In most households, the refrigerator is the biggest energy consumer in the kitchen and, depending upon how old it is, can be a real energy hog. According to Energy Star, replacing a refrigerator bought in 1990 with an Energy Star-qualified model would save enough energy to light the average household for four months.

Turn down the thermostat. For every degree you lower the thermostat, you'll save between 1 percent and 2 percent on your heating bill. It would also be good to have the thermostat checked, especially if you have a zonal heating system like wall heaters or ceiling cable heat. We've seen some of these units be off as much as 5 to 10 degrees.

Turn up the thermostat. If you have central air conditioning, raise the thermostat a few degrees and save energy. Also use room fans rather than cooling the entire house.

Run full loads of dishes. Most of the energy used by dishwashers goes to heat the water, so get the most from it by running only full loads. If there are only a handful of dirty dishes, wash them by hand rather than running a partially full dishwasher. Use the dishwasher's air-dry feature to save even more.

Be better informed. This is the most powerful resolution you can adopt. Learn more about how you use energy in your home and how to reduce your use. Share what you've learn with your children. What better time to learn energy-efficient habits that will last a lifetime? Clarkpublicutilities.com has a wealth of information on energy use and promotions or rebates available to help you save energy. There are numerous other Internet resources available to help make 2008 an energy-saving year.