Misuse of Electricity

Energy Saving Tips to Use Throughout the Year * Be sure to turn off lights when you leave a room. * Turn off machines when you leave a room (examples include TV’s, computers, radios, stereos, video games, VCR’s, and DVD players). * When you go away on a trip, be sure to unplug these same machines because they have stand-by functions that consume electricity even when they are turned off. * Fill your dishwasher efficiently and limit the number of times you run it. * Don’t put furniture and other things in front of heating and air conditioning vents. * Keep doors and windows closed when heat or air conditioning is on. * Put in a programmable thermostat which will keep your house at the right temperature day and night. Programmable thermostats can reduce cooling and heating bills up to 10% because they lower the heat or raise the air conditioning when you are not at home. * Check how much electricity your water heater uses. If it uses more than other models of water heaters, replace it with a more efficient one. * Put insulation around the pipes going in and out of your water heater. If you have an older water heater, put an insulated blanket around it. * If you will be out of town for more than a couple days, turn off your water heater. * About once a year, drain one gallon of water from the faucet at the bottom of your water heater. This gets rid of the sediment in the water which reduces the energy efficiency of your water heater. * Change your furnace filter at least once a year or even more. Filters get clogged up with dust and dirt that circulate in a house. This means that air has a more difficult time passing through the filter, and then your furnace has to work a lot harder in order to heat the house. * Take a look at the insulation in your attic. Heat rises, which means that warm air rises into your attic. If you don’t have good enough insulation, heat will be wasted. Insulation should be 6 inches to