Appliances and Home Electronics

Typically your home, your appliances and home electronics are responsible for about 20 percent of your energy bills. These appliances and electronics include the following:

• Clothes washers and dryers
• Computers
• Dishwashers
• Home audio equipment
• Refrigerator and freezers
• Room air conditioners
• Televisions, DVD players, and VCRs
• Water heaters

Lighting

Artificial lighting consumes about 15% of a household's electricity use. Usage of new lighting technologies can reduce lighting energy use in homes by 50-70%. You can reduce lighting energy use by selecting lighting sources that use energy more efficiently and also by installing light controls. Things to look at to improve consumption include:

• Lighting performance and factors to consider for energy efficiency
• Basic indoor and outdoor lighting principles and methods for energy efficiency
• Lamp types to consider and compare for energy efficiency
• Controls to automatically turn lighting on and off as needed
• Replacing lamps and/or ballasts in light fixtures to improve energy efficiency
• Basic maintenance to help keep your lights operating at their optimum energy efficiency
• Energy-saving advise for when to turn off incandescent and fluorescent lights

Water Heating

Water heating can account for 14-25% of the energy consumed in your home. You can reduce your monthly water heating bills by selecting the appropriate water heater for your home or pool and by using some energy efficient water heating strategies.Things to consider:

• Choosing a water heating system that will not only provide enough hot water but also that will do so energy efficiently, saving you money
• Energy-efficient water heating strategies to help you decrease water heating costs in your home.

Facts

Here are some energy saving facts:

• 50 kWh saved is enough energy to run a dishwasher 20 times. That's two months of clean dishes for free.
• 100 kWh saved is enough energy to run a clothes washer 50 times, or one free load of laundry every week for a year
• 200 kWh saved is enough energy to run a clothes washer 100 times, or two free loads of laundry every week for a year.
• 250 kWh saved is enough energy to run a dishwasher 100 times, or a year's worth of clean dishes for free.

Tips

Here are some energy saving tips:

• Opening your oven door to take a peak uses extra energy.
• Defrost food in the fridge rather than microwave.
• Put heaters on a timer.
• Fireplaces can let in cold air when not in use, close the damper and glass doors to keep the cold out.
• Keep appliances clean, they operate more efficiently.
• Compact fluorescent lights use less energy and last longer.
• Use of small appliances, such as toaster oven, microwave, electric fry pan when cooking small quantities.
• Cold water rinse for doing your laundry.
• Turn off lights when not needed.
• Set furnace lower for overnight and when you are away during the day.
• Small electric heaters use a lot of electricity.
• Use the self-cleaning cycle after you have used oven to cook a meal. It is already hot and will take less energy to heat to cleaning temperature.