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Strategies to Save Money:
Plug Those Energy Drains!

You can still be comfortable while saving energy.

These strategies to save money on your energy costs are organized according to home system, with the greatest savers and those requiring a small or no investment at the top of each category.

Climate Control

save energy
  • Install an automatic thermostat (~$30). This alone will reduce energy use by up to 25%, as maintaining a constant temperature is more efficient than frequent changes.
  • Using the auto thermostat, set your heat at 68F/20C in living areas and 64F/18C in the bedroom when you are at home, and 60F/16C everywhere starting 30 minutes before you go to bed. Program it to come back on 30 minutes before you rise. This #1 in the strategies to save money should save 10%. You will lower your refrigerator electricity costs by 10% since it will have to work less in a cooler environment.
  • For A/C do the same, except set the levels 2F/1C warmer than you did last year. Be sure your home is going green with proper air conditioner sizing.
  • When heating, buy an inexpensive humidifier for your home. More humid air feels warmer, allowing you to lower the thermostat. It also keeps your skin and nasal passages healthier in dry winter air.
  • If you have radiators, place a heat reflector behind each one. To increase humidity, keep a pan of water on top. Ditto for a wood or coal stove.

    • Plumbing

  • Set your hot water heater at 120F/49C or less. This prevents lime scale deposits in the tank and saves energy.
  • Fit all faucets with an aerator (~$4). This reduces water flow from 5-15 gpm to ~3gpm.
  • Install low flow shower heads (~$15). Produces a finer spray and cuts flow by 2 gpm.
  • Turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth, shaving, or scrubbing a pot. This is #2 in the top strategies to save money. The average person who does not do this uses 5 gallons to brush his teeth!
  • Place a plastic bottle filled with sand/rocks into your toilet tank to reduce flush water use—not a brick, whose decaying particles can cause leaks.
  • Repair leaky plumbing. A 1 drop/second leak = 2,700 gal./year.
  • Wrap your hot water heater with an insulator jacket (~$30). Keep the insulator away from the hot water pipe and exhaust area if you have a gas heater.
  • Buy a dual flush toilet. A fixture senses the bowl volume and adjusts water used accordingly. Cuts toilet water use by 50%.
  • Replace your hot water tank with a tankless setup. These are either whole house (~$1000) or individual units at the point of use (~$200). Save 27-50% energy cost, and compare this to the ~$300-$800 cost to buy a new traditional tank version.

    • Home Appliances

  • Clean fridge coils 3x/year. Lowers energy use by 30%.
  • Rather than pre-rinsing dishes (5 minutes=~25 gallons), run a pre-wash/rinse-only cycle on the dishwasher, which uses only ~1 gallon of water.
  • Only run your dishwasher when it is full, and wash as few items by hand as possible. Faucet flow is 5-15 gpm without aerator, while a dishwasher cycle uses only 6-10 gallons.
  • Clean you’re A/C filter twice each season to improve efficiency.
  • Defrost your freezer when there is >1/2” ice. Reduces energy use by 30%.
  • Set fridge to 40F/4C and freezer to 5F/-15C. Temperatures above this increase energy consumption by 5%.
  • Bypass the clothes washer’s pre-wash cycle. Saves 15% energy per wash.
  • Defrost food at room temp or overnight in the fridge, not with a microwave.
  • Turn range burners off early and allow the pan’s heat to finish the cooking.
  • Unplug your clothes iron for the last garment, using the iron’s retained heat.
  • Replace your clothes washer with a front load model, which use 40% less water and wash 30% more clothes per load. Saves 15 gal./wash and 6,390 gal./year. Our #3 in the strategies to save money.
  • Line dry your clothes instead of machine drying. Clothes dryers use 2-3 x the energy of your washing machine.

    • Electronics

  • Use compact fluorescent light bulbs, which use 66% less electricity and last 10x longer than incandescent bulbs. Our final #4 'must do' strategies to save money.
  • Dust off light bulbs. You can increase light by 50%.
  • Turn computers off at night, and set to sleep mode when not in use during day. Screen saver mode doesn’t save much electricity.
  • Choose “draft” quality for all but important computer printing. It uses a fraction of the ink.
  • Install motion sensor light switches in areas where lights are often left on (~$15).
  • Replace halogen lamps with “natural light” compact fluorescent bulb lamps. A halogen bulb uses as much energy/year as two washing machines.
  • Buy Energy Star rated appliances. They are 40-50% more efficient.
  • Buy a dishwasher with a booster heater, then lower your hot water heater temperature. The initial extra cost of ~$30 will be recouped in one year.

    • Return from Strategies to Save Money to Save Fuel


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