May 24, 2009

5 Ways to Reduce Your Energy Usage And Safeguard Future Generations

People are more concerned about wanton energy usage and the diminishing supply of fossil fuels that it has caused many to take action. Individuals are now taking responsibility for their own actions and hoping that this will make a collective difference in the long term.

If you are one of these people and are looking for a way to help out with the environment and reduce your energy usage, there are five simple steps to helping you to cut back on the amount of traditional energy you use and we are going to cover them here.

One of the first things that people trying to cut down on energy consumption do is to make sure that they turn off all of the unnecessary lights in their home. You may think this is a no brainer but next time look at your power bill and think how much it could be reduced by just by making that little bit of extra effort. Try being more vigilant in this task for the next month by making a real commitment to stick to it and compare your current power bill with next month’s one to measure how much money you actually can save over the long term just by doing this simple thing.

In fact your mother probably taught you to turn off the lights when you are not in a room, and there is some truth to this. Even with low voltage bulbs, it can help to make a difference to keep them switched off when they are not in use.

Get a digital programmable thermostat for your home. This way, you can set the thermostat to run the heat or air conditioning less when you are out, and then set the temperature to go back to comfortable levels just before you return. If the system is not running all day it will cut back significantly on the amount of energy you use.

Rely on solar power whenever you can. If you use outdoor lights, then switch these over to run on solar energy. You can also get a portable solar charger that can charge up small appliances like cell phones and laptops. While people mainly use these devices on the go, you can also routinely use them in the home as well.

Reduce your water consumption. You can accomplish this by cutting back on the amount you water your lawn, making sure that none of your faucets are dripping, and turning off the water when you are not using it.

Make sure that all of the bulbs in your home have been switched over to the low voltage compact fluorescents. Incandescent bulbs can almost triple your energy usage. Also, if you do have any outside bulbs that are not operated by solar power you need to make sure that they have the capability to turn themselves off during the daylight hours. This way even if you forget to turn the light off it will not be operating all day.

Just follow these five simple steps and you will be able to cut back on your energy consumption. Not only will you be working to save the environment, but you will also be reducing your utility bills as well.

Filed under Green Living by ade

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