Saving Energy in Your Home

The latest scientific data confirm that the earth's climate is rapidly changing. Global temperatures increased by about 1 degree Fahrenheit over the course of the last century, and will likely rise even more rapidly in coming decades. The cause? A thickening layer of carbon dioxide pollution, mostly from power plants and automobiles, which traps heat in the atmosphere.

Scientists say that unless global warming emissions are reduced, average U.S. temperatures could rise another 3 to 9 degrees by the end of the century - with far-reaching effects.

The less energy we all use, the lower our demand on power plants, which means less pollution - and more savings on our utility bills. Let's look at minor changes you can make in your home to save big.

Lights
Although we call them "lights" old-fashioned lightbulbs are more like little heaters. Little bit of light, a lot of energy wasted. If you like to see what you are doing in your house, but don't like it when the electricity meter dial spins like a top, replace all your old incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents. Every CF bulb put in your house saves you $30. If every household replaced just three 60-watt incandescent bulbs with CF bulbs, the pollution savings would be like taking 3.5 million cars off the road!

Appliances
The major appliances - refrigerators, clothes washers, dishwashers -account for a big chunk of the energy you use in your home. And if your refrigerator or washing machine is more than a decade old, you're spending a lot more on energy than you need to.

Today's major appliances don't hog energy the way older models do because they must meet minimum federal energy efficiency standards. These standards have been tightened over the years, so any new appliance you buy today has to use less energy than the model you're replacing. For instance, if you buy one of today's most energy-efficient refrigerators, it will use less than half the energy of a model that's 12 years old or older.

The easy way to save energy is to look for the ENERGY STAR logo when purchasing a new appliance.

Clothes Washers
On average, ENERGY STAR qualified clothes washers use 50% less energy and water than conventional washers. Qualified clothes washers save up to 7,000 gallons of water a year-more than most people will drink in a lifetime. These clothes washers also extract more water from clothes during the spin cycle, reducing the drying time, saving energy and wear and tear on clothes.

Refrigerators
ENERGY STAR qualified refrigerators require only about half as much energy as models manufactured before 1993. ENERGY STAR qualified models use at least 15% less energy than required by current federal standards. By using high-efficiency compressors, improved insulation and door seals, ENERGY STAR qualified models help reduce energy consumption. Better temperature control mechanisms are often found on ENERGY STAR qualified refrigerators meaning that the consumer can more accurately regulate the internal temperature, resulting in fresher food.