EASY WAYS TO "GREEN" YOUR LIFE
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Set thermostats between 65° and 70° during the winter, and at 58° when away from the house for more than a few hours. While sleeping, add an extra blanket to your bed for warmth. Bear in mind that warmer temperatures are recommended for homes with infants or ill or elderly persons.
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VIDEO: GREEN MESSAGES - Turn down thermostats automatically without sacrificing comfort by installing a programmable thermostat. Set the thermostat to 62° when you're not at home or when sleeping. Set the thermostat to 68° when at home. Every degree you lower your thermostat could shave about 2% off your heating bill.
- Use Power Strips. Turn them off when you are not using what is plugged into them.
- Buy fluorescent bulbs. Replacing just six incandescent bulbs will cut your annual carbon dioxide emissions by 600 pounds and trim your electric bill by as much as $35 each year.
- Put plastic on your windows. It can cost a fortune to replace old, leaky windows. But you can save significant amounts of heating oil much less expensively each winter with a simple clear-plastic-and-sticky-tape window insulation kit - it will save you about half the energy that new windows would.
- Wrap your water heater. You can cut the amount of fuel you use to heat the water (and save about $30 a year) by insulating your water heater with a simple jacket (available at most hardware stores for around $20).
- Clean or replace filters in your furnace, air-conditioner or heat pump.
- Turn lights off when leaving a room and shutdown appliances when not in use.
- Keep tires aligned and properly inflated to improve your gasoline mileage by around 3.3%.
- Clean out your car. Extra weight reduces gas mileage.
- Recycle your plastic bottles, cans and paper.
