You might call it the Living Room or the Family Room, but this is where we spend most of our waking hours at home. So it’s a prime area for saving energy while saving money on our energy bills. An average home in the US uses twice as much energy as it did in 1950. Let’s go back to the good old days by reducing the amount of energy we waste on heating and electronics.
No-cost EE tips
- Turn your thermostat to a lower temperature while you are sleeping and away from your homes. (There’s no point in heating a space when no one’s around.)
- Move obstacles away from vents, ducts and registers.
- Use thermal isolation drapes closed at night and open during the day to let the sun in so that your furnace won’t have to work so hard.
- Go with President Carter’s recommendation, turn down your thermostat even when you are in the living room and put on a sweater.
Low-cost EE tips
- Buy a smart thermostat so that you won’t be constantly adjusting the temperature. https://www.energystar.gov/products/heating_cooling/smart_thermostats
- Use a power strip for your electronic equipment that will make it easy to turn them off and save power when not in use.
- Buy Energy Efficient appliances.
~ Energy Star SetTop Boxes are about 25% more efficient than conventional models https://www.energystar.gov/products/electronics/set_top_boxes_cable_boxes
~ A 50” Energy Star rated TV could cost less than $17 per year to run.
https://www.energystar.gov/most-efficient/me-certified-televisions
Sustainable Ewing Green Team 