Energy Saving Tips

Tips for the Home - Winter

•  ENERGY STAR tool offers warm homes and cool savings ==> Energy Star Home Adviser
• Change the air filter in your furnace each month. Heaters use more energy when the filter is full of dust.
• Use your blinds or drapes. Open them on sunny winter days to let warm sun in; close them on winter nights to keep the heat in.
• Insulate hot water tanks, hot water pipes and heating ducts.
• Caulking and weather-stripping your home can result in energy savings of 10 percent or more.
• Seal holes where conduits and pipes enter the attic and along partition walls, eaves, and knee walls. Use caulk or compressed fiberglass insulation.
• Contact your local utility about a home energy audit. Many utilities offer audits for a small fee ($15-$40).
• Conduct a do-it-yourself home energy audit. 
• Use compact fluorescent bulbs. They use about one-fourth the energy an incandescent uses with the same light quality and last 10 times as long.
• Low-flow shower heads reduce water use by 50 percent or more - a standard shower head uses about five to seven gallons of water per minute.
• ENERGY STAR Winter Tips
• Energy Savers - Heating (USDOE)
• Top 5 "musts" for cutting winter heating bills (ACEEE)  
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• ASE & USDOE Powerful Savings site
• USDOE Energy Savers Site
• Easy tips to save money and the planet (Alliance to Save Energy)  
• The Power is in Your Hands (Alliance to Save Energy)   
• Energy Saving Tips from "Flex Your Power" 
• DRE3 Residential Site (includes energy efficiency fact sheets and publications)

Tips for the Home - Summer

• Keep your central air conditioning system well tuned. A well-tuned air conditioning system operates more efficiently, using less energy.
• Closing, or partially closing, blinds and drapes during hot days can reduce air conditioning demand by keeping out sun and heat. Windows facing south let in the most heat.
• Lights, televisions, computers and appliances not only use electricity, they generate heat. Keep them turned off when they are not needed.
• Use appliances such as ovens, dishwashers and clothes dryers early in the day or late in the evening, when temperatures are cooler.
• Use your microwave instead of your stove and oven. It generates less heat.
• Use fans to supplement room or central air conditioning. They do not lower air temperatures, but the breeze they produce makes it feel cooler. Fans use much less electricity than air conditioners.
• Use the exhaust fans in your bathroom sparingly. In just one hour they can remove a houseful of cooled air.Install a ceiling fan. Ceiling fans use about 98 percent less energy than most central air conditioners.
• Put a timer on your room air conditioner, or use a programmable thermostat on your central air conditioner.
• Change the air filter in your furnace each month. Air conditioners use more energy when the filter is full of dust.  
• Use a compact fluorescent bulb. It uses about one-fourth the energy an incandescent uses with the same light quality and lasts 10 times as long.
• Low-flow shower heads reduce water use by 50 percent or more - a standard shower head uses about five to seven gallons of water per minute.
• Cool Your World with "ENERGY STAR at Home"
• Energy Savers (USDOE)
• ASE & USDOE Powerful Savings site.
• Alliance to Save Energy - easy tips to save money and the planet.  
• DRE3 Residential Site

Tips for the Car

• Gasoline Saving Tips from DRE3
• DRE3 Transportation Site (includes tips, data and more)  

Things To Think About

• Recycling paper saves trees and uses 70% less energy, 60% less water and creates 50% less pollution than making paper from trees.
• Recycling aluminum uses much less energy than making aluminum from aluminum-ore (bauxite) mined from the earth. Recycling just two aluminum cans saves the same amount of energy it takes to power a personal computer for an eight hour work day. Recycling even one aluminum can really does make a difference.
• Using a ceramic coffee mug conserves the amount of energy it would take to manufacture 500 paper cups.

Contact Information
John Davies
Phone: (502) 564-7192
In Kentucky: (800) 282-0868
Fax: (502) 564-7484
E-mail: John.Davies@ky.gov