[Timetrvlr]

1. Nine no-cost ways to reduce your home energy use
   
   By Cher Seruto Posted Thu Dec 27, 2007 2:34pm PST
   Cut your energy bill and save the planet, while staying warm and cozy this winter.

[horselover]

Some of those ideas are already well known, just not many people put them into practice.

[mollyL]

Those are some great ideas. There is nothing there that will cause great sacrifice, as you said, but simple tricks that can become habit and that can help to, in small ways, help to change the world. If I could offer a couple more: Put old towels up against the bottom of doors to keep out cold drafts, and turning off the shower head as you soap or wash your hair; turn back on to rinse.

[stav]

It's funny how simple and obvious these things are, yet people still need to be told, and also still don't do most of them!

[Timetrvlr]

Six low-cost ways to reduce your home energy use

By Noah Buhayar Posted Thu Jan 3, 2008

Noah Buhayar is a fellow at the Rocky Mountain Institute.
The Rocky Mountain Institute recently compiled energy usage information for the typical American household. We found more than 30 ways that most people can reduce the amount of energy they use at home -- without freezing in the dark.

Last week, my colleague shared with you nine no-cost ways to cut your home's energy consumption, reduce your carbon footprint, and save money.
That's good news this time of year as home heating costs soar and we start to pay off all our holiday credit card bills.

Here are six more easy ways to reduce your home energy use and pad your pocketbook. For the average homeowner, each of these actions should keep a ton of CO2 out of the atmosphere for less than $20 (about the price of a high-quality carbon credit):

CO2 saved
(lbs/year) $ saved
($/year) Cost of saved carbon
($/ton/CO2) Install a programmable thermostat 1,071 $58.10 $9.34 Seal large air leaks in your home 1,489 $80.76 $10.07 Insulate your water heater 263 $14.95 $12.66 Add insulation in your attic 2,142 $116.20 $15.56 Seal and insulate your HVAC ducts 1,512 $81.90 $17.64 Install efficient showerheads 370 $21.01 $18.02 Total saved per year: 6,847 $372.92

Remember that these calculations are based on the "average" American home. Since everybody's home is a little bit different, you may want to consider a more detailed energy audit before undertaking home improvements.

That way you can make sure you're choosing the steps that will save you the most money and have the deepest impact on your house's greenhouse gas emissions.

The chart didn't come out in this post and I don't know how to fix it for viewing here. Just click on the title to bring up the original chart.

[tater03]

These are great tips and a lot of them I am doing currently. I never knew amount wise how much you could actually save money wise doing this though. It was nice to see it broken down like that.

[EviesEarth]

I do most of the tips given. I think that this year I would like to add a laundry line in our back yard to dry our laundry. I do a fair amount of laundry, this would be a great saving.

[ammulu]

Most of these tips are known but some really ignore them, thanks for sharing and even reminding few of us about these great ways to money saving too.

[RFL1986]

I have heard of quite a few of those but it's great to have access to them all in one place like what is provided with this list. Thanks for posting it up as I've saved it as a reference point and can see it being a useful thing to tack up on the fridge for a reminder.

[Roguegal]

I agree, many of these tips are ignored by most people. Especially if they have an extra fridge in the garage. But then again, if I had an extra fridge in the garage I would not unplug it either. That would be a waste. But another secret is if you keep either your refrigerator or freezer full it will use less energy to keep what is in it.