Efficiency and Conservation

[Chris]

Turn lights off, heater down and A/C up or off; buy Energy Star appliances; use ceiling fans to circulate air; install Compact Fluorescent Lights; get home energy analysis or audit and weatherize the house. Any other ideas? What are the "low hanging fruit" we can aim for here?

[Charlie at Homeworx]

That's a pretty comprehensive list of low hanging fruit, Chris, and some of them don't even hang that low. :)

Let's not forget easy hot water conservation: If you have a hot water tank, keep the tank temperature at the lowest setting (minimum 120 degrees, usually "warm" on the water heater dial) that still allows you enough hot water for a bath or consecutive showers with a 1.5 or 2 gallon per minute shower head. Think, before turning the hot water faucet "do I need hot water and am I going to wait for it to come to the sink?" Every time you turn the hot water handle, you drain energy in the form of heated water into the pipes under the home, and much of that hot water dissipates before the next time you turn on the hot water.

While we're at it, I do all my laundry on cold water washer settings and minimize dryer use as much as I can. I can't tell any difference in how well it cleans clothes, and so far, no one is telling me I smell any different. Hanging newly washed clothes on a rack overnight and then throwing them in the dryer the next morning helps humidify a dry house gently and then cuts the energy of finishing them in a dryer roughly in half.