What was your energy bill like last month?
If it was like mine, you gasped at the usage from the previous month. I am choosing this month to focus on using less energy. I did a little research to look for ways to help. I hope some of these help you too.
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Every degree you turn down the thermostat saves 3 percent of heating costs, while each degree you raise the air conditioner saves 3-4 percent of cooling costs.
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Cooking with a slow cooker or a toaster oven reduces electrical use from kitchen appliances.
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Switching to a laptop instead of using a desktop computer can cut three-quarters off your electrical use. Turn off your laptop at the end of the day.
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Switch to cold water washing and save 80 percent on energy used for laundry. You can hang dry clothes too (not sure I'm ready for that yet.)
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Plug anything that can be powered by a remote control or that has a power cube transformer (little black box) into a power strip, and turn it off, or unplug it, when not in use. (Power cubes are 60-80 percent inefficient.) I did not know this...
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Turn off the lights when you aren’t using them and reduce your direct lighting energy use by 45 percent. I could do a much better job.
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Switch to compact fluorescent from regular incandescent bulbs and use 60 percent less energy per bulb. In case you haven't done this yet...
