Energy efficiency tips & resources

• Properly maintaining your air conditioning systems, central A/C or heat pump can improve energy efficiency. Periodic inspection and maintenance from a local service provider helps ensure your system is working at its optimum level to provide a comfortable temperature inside your home.
• Save up to $50 a year by having your HVAC system professionally inspected.
• Regularly clean or replace furnace filters according to the package instructions. (The day you receive your energy bill can serve as a good reminder that it's time to clean or replace the filter on your furnace.)
• Clean registers, baseboard heaters and radiators as needed. Be sure to move furniture, carpeting or drapes so they are not blocking the registers, heaters or radiators.
• Your HVAC contractor should be able to provide fact sheets for various models so you can compare energy usage. While the national Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) rating is 80% for furnaces, ENERGY STAR^® models must equal or exceed 90% AFUE.
• Insulate your water heater to prevent heat loss. You may also want to insulate the hot water pipes in your home.
• Look for the ENERGY STAR^® label when replacing your HVAC equipment.

• Caulk and weather strip your doors and windows to help keep the warm or cool air you pay to heat/cool inside your home so you will save energy and money.
• Caulking should be soft and without cracks for optimum performance.
• Use trees, shrubs or awnings at your windows to shade from the outside to avoid the heat of the sun during the summer. In the winter, remove the awnings and trim the trees and shrubs to take advantage of the sun's rays to warm your home.
• Use draft stoppers at doors and windows.
• Improve your home's energy performance by having new energy-efficient windows professionally installed. You may realize personal benefits from improved aesthetics and comfort even though it may take years to pay off the financial investment in overall energy savings.
• In the summer, close curtains on the south and west facing windows during the hottest part of the day. Consider applying sun-control or reflective film to prevent the intense summer heat from entering your home.
• Reflect heat away from your house by installing white window shades, drapes or blinds.
• Install tight-fitting window shades on drafty windows once you have weatherized them. For a low-cost measure, use heavy-duty, clear plastic sheets on the window frames during the winter. Tightly sealed plastic will reduce air infiltration.
• Get an energy analysis. Find out where the common sources of air leaks are within your home.
• Make sure you have adequate insulation in your home.
• Close fireplace dampers when the fireplace is not in use.
• In the summer, use the ceiling fan in the counterclockwise direction. While standing directly under the ceiling fan you should feel a cool breeze. The airflow produced creates a wind-chill effect, making you "feel" cooler. In the winter, reverse the motor and operate the ceiling fan at low speed in the clockwise direction. This produces a gentle updraft, which forces warm air near the ceiling down into the occupied space.

• Take short showers instead of baths.
• Lower the thermostat(s) on your hot water heater to 120° F (typically the lower half of dial-type thermostats).
• Buy a new energy-efficient water heater. It may cost a bit more initially, but the energy savings will continue throughout the lifetime of the water heater. Look for ENERGY STAR models.
• Wash only full loads of clothes or dishes.
• Install faucet aerators or low-flow faucets and shower heads.
• If heating your family's swimming pool, purchase a swimming pool cover to prevent evaporation of the heated water.

We want to help you manage your energy costs. Instead of reaching for the thermostat when it is bitterly cold outside, take a conservative approach to staying warm and keeping costs down. The following winter energy savings tips will help you save money and energy.