What difference does it make if you turn off the lights when you leave a room, install a low-flow shower head, or turn down your water heater a mere 20 degrees? Constellation Energy* shows you exactly why it matters with a cool infographic called 31 Energy Saving Hacks.

These are some of the best energy saving hacks I’ve seen!

Why? Two reasons:

√ One, they cover the major ways you use energy at home: doing the laundry and the dishes, lighting up your rooms and powering your electronics, heating and cooling your home, and showering and bathing.

√ Two, all of them will save you money.

Of the 31 Best Energy Saving Hacks, here are the 5 I like the best (because they’re easy and cost-effective):

1) Skip the rinse on your dishwasher. Using the rinse features costs you 3-7 gallons more of hot water each time you wash your dishes. Wash per usual, then open the door to the dishwasher and pull the wet racks out and let the dishes air dry.

2) Take shorter showers. Cutting just 4 minutes off your shower time can save you over 3,000 gallons of water each year! In a 4-person family, that’s 12,000 gallons.

3) Unplug. You don’t need to keep battery chargers plugged in when the batteries are fully charged. And by the way, unplug other electronics when you’re not using them so they don’t keep drawing power out of the socket (which they do, even when they’re turned off).

4) Clean or replace furnace filters. You find it easier to breathe when your air and nose aren’t obstructed, right? So does your furnace. Give it a clean filter every three months, and breathe easier.

5) Time your water heater. This one never occurred to me before.  You can put a timer on your water heater to turn the heating function down or even off when you’re not home or on vacation. Who knew?

You can see the entire list of Constellation’s energy saving hacks right here.

What’s your favorite energy saving hack? Don’t keep it a secret!

*Note: Sponsored posts allow us to bring you expert content at no cost to you. As ever, our editorial opinions remain our own. Thanks!

The post The 31 Best Energy Saving Hacks to Save You Money, Too appeared first on Big Green Purse.

I held on to my refrigerator for 27 years! But finally, we needed a new one. The seals on the old one were cracked, the drawers were broken, the door handle was chipped, and mold was starting to build up in places I couldn’t keep clean. The old fridge still kept my food pretty cold, but it was depressing and unhealthy to use. And being as old as it was, I suspected it was using much more energy than newer models.

As you can imagine, I wasn’t wild about spending hundreds or maybe even a thousand dollars or more on a new fridge. I was relieved when I learned that Pepco, my electric utility, would give me a $150 rebate if I bought the most energy-efficient refrigerator available to meet my needs. Pepco would also pay me $50 if I let them recycle my old fridge. With $200 guaranteed off the price of the appliance, I went shopping! I ended up buying this Whirlpool pictured above. Here’s how.

HOW TO BUY AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT REFRIGERATOR AND GET MONEY BACK

1) Figure out what size you should buy. One way to reduce the amout of energy any appliance uses is to buy the smallest appliance that will meet your needs. It stands to reason that, the bigger the appliance, the more energy it will use. Today’s refrigerators come with many bells and whistles, and it seems that, the bigger the fridge, the more bells and whistles it includes! In my case, the size was restricted to the space available – a nook in the kitchen, opposite the stove, that would accommodate nothing bigger than 21 cubic square feet.

 2) Check with your local utility company to determine what rebates they offer if you buy an Energy Star refrigerator. ENERGY STAR is the U.S. Environmental  Protection Agency program that encourages manufacturers to design more energy-efficient appliances. The ENERGY STAR website gives consumers shopping guidelines and links to manufacturers that meet ENERGY STAR’S efficiency standards. Many utility companies offer rebates to customers who trade in energy-hogging appliances for more efficient, Energy Star models. Pepco, my local utility, offered a $100 rebate for the purchase of any Energy Star fridge, but $150 for the most efficient model in my size category. That was a no-brainer for me – not only would I get an extra $50 for the best option, but I’d save money on my electricity bill, as well.

3) Comparison shop for the most energy-efficient refrigerator that will meet your needs. First, I reviewed the recommendations on TopTenUSA.org and ACEEE.org. Both offer guidelines to help consumers buy appliances that use the least amount of energy and reduce your electric bill. I also checked online product reviews to see what others who had bought the refrigerator I was considering had to say about it. Then I went to the websites of Home Depot, Best Buy, and Sears to see if they carried the model I was interested in, and at what price. Finally, I checked in with a local appliance retailer, the same one I’d bought my clothes dryer from a few months ago.

4) Negotiate and purchase. All of the retailers were willing to deliver the appliance for free. The local retailer’s price was initially $100 more than the best price I got at Best Buy. After we talked, he cut his price by $50. I decided that, given the $200 rebate I was going to get, I could spend $50 more purchasing the fridge to support a local businessman.

5) Recycle the old appliance. When my local retailer showed up, he gave me the forms I needed to send to Pepco to get the rebate.  Pepco was also willing to pick up my old refrigerator and give me $50 for recycling it. The only catch was that I needed to prove that the refrigerator still worked. When the new fridge was delivered, the delivery men took out the old one and put it on my back porch. The morning the recyclers showed up, I plugged in the old one to prove it was still functional. They loaded it up on a dolly, wheeled it down to their truck, and whisked it away. (Here’s a cool graphic that shows how a refrigerator is recycled.)

The entire process, from the time I decided I needed a new refrigerator, until the time the new one was installed and the old one recycled, took about two weeks. And within six weeks, I had received the $200 rebate.

$39 a Year in Electricity Costs!

The EPA estimates that it costs about $100 a year to operate a refrigerator manufactured before 1993, which mine definitely was. The new fridge is so efficient, it is only supposed to cost $39 a year to operate!  Granted, the new model does not feature an ice maker, which is a bit of an energy hog. Its standard design – freezer on top, main compartment below – is inherently more efficient thant a side-by-side model, but not quite as trendy. It’s in basic white, not stainless steel, which costs more. But all in all, I was more than willing to make those style trade-offs to buy a new refrigerator in my price range that would also use a minimal amount of energy.

BOTTOM LINE? IT’S “GREEN MATH”

I bought a Whirlpool 21 cubic foot refrigerator. The negotiated retailer price was $849 (list price $899). But with the $200 rebate, my brand new refrigerator only cost $649 plus tax, with free delivery. Since energy usage each year will only cost $39 instead of $100, I’ll be saving $61 every year on energy, as well.

 Related Links:

How to Pick a New Clothes Dryer

Kids Drive Moms’ Passion to Save Energy, Join Team ENERGY STAR

Photo Credit: AAG

The post My Utility Company Give Me $200 When I Bought My New Energy-Saving Refrigerator. appeared first on Big Green Purse.

1. Caulk or weatherstrip windows and doors. Heating accounts for the biggest chunk of most utility bills – and offers the most opportunities for money and energy savings. Did you know that the energy used by the average home generates twice as much pollution as the average car? Materials for the average twelve-window, two-door house could cost about $25, but savings in annual energy costs might amount to more than 10 percent of your yearly heating bill. According to the Department of Energy, if every gas-heated home were properly caulked and weather-stripped, we’d save enough natural gas each year to heat almost 4 million more homes. You can find weatherstripping at most hardware stores. To minimize indoor air pollution from the weatherstripping materials you use, try water-based caulks like Quick Shield VOC-Free Sealant or Polyseamseal.

2. Install storm windows and doors. Combination screen and storm windows and doors are the most convenient and energy efficient because they can be opened easily when there is no need to run heating or cooling equipment. Installing high efficiency Energy Star windows can reduce heating and cooling costs by 15 percent; you can save from $125-$340 a year when you replace single pane windows with their Energy Star equivalents. If you don’t want to buy new windows, cover existing window with a heavy-duty, clear plastic sheet on the frame. You can buy a ready-made kit again at most hardware stores. A third alternative? Thermal draperies, made with a thick, fiber-filled backing to fit snugly against the entire window frame, can reduce heat loss by as much as 50 percent and save you $15 per window each winter. Even simple heavy drapes can save about $10 per window annually.

3. Insulate. You can reduce your energy needs by as much as 20 to 30 percent, and save about four months’ worth of household energy, by investing in insulation. Focus on your attic floor or top floor ceiling, crawlspace, exterior walls. basement ceilings and walls, and rooms over unheated spaces, like garages. The “Simply Insulate” website maintained by the North American Insulation Manufacturers Association will tell you how much insulation you need in the different parts of your house, depending on where you live. Think about using cotton insulation made from recycled cotton or denim scrap that will have no impact on your indoor air quality, unlike the formaldehyde ingredients in fiberglass insulation.

4. Install a programmable thermostat. A programmable thermostat allows you to predetermine temperatures for daytime and evening comfort as well as energy savings. It can save you as much as 20 percent if you opt to reduce temperatures by 5 degrees at night and 10 degrees during the day when most people are out of the house.

5. Get an energy audit. At low or no cost, your local utility may provide a specially trained auditor to examine your home and explain what inexpensive and free energy conservation actions you can take to save money and energy immediately. The auditor may also take an infrared photograph of your home to help you pinpoint exactly where heat is being lost. You can also use this do-it-yourself audit tool developed by the city of Seattle.

6. Set your water heater to 120 degrees. If you currently heat your water to 140 degrees, you may save as much as 10 percent on water-heating costs by dialing the thermostat down a bit.

7. Wrap your hot water pipes in insulating tape or foam. You’ll reduce the loss of heat through the hot water pipes that move hot water from your water tank to your faucets.

8. Use less hot water. Wash laundry in cold water. Install low-flow showerheads and faucet aerators. Fix leaky faucets. Wash full loads of laundry and dishes.

9. Maintain your furnace. If you heat with oil, have your furnace serviced at least once a year to save 10 percent in fuel consumption (if you do this in summer, you’ll get cheaper, off-season rates). Clean or replace the filters in your forced-air heating system each month. Dust or vacuum radiator surfaces frequently. If you must replace your furnace, buy the most energy-efficient model you can afford. If you have a fireplace, keep the damper closed to avoid losing as much as 8 percent of your home’s heated or cooled air.

10. Upgrade your appliances. When you replace your appliances, choose Energy Star models, which use 10-50% less energy and water than the standard alternatives. If just one in 10 homes used ENERGY STAR qualified appliances, the environmental benefit would be like planting 1.7 million new acres of trees.

Here are more energy-saving tips that save money, too.

Can “clean” coal or nuclear power solve our climate change problems. I don’t think so.

Here’s why climate change matters to women in particular.

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