Live Green, Save Green: Top 4 Ways to GO GREEN at Home

Sunday, October 26, 2008

This is a huge departure from what I would normally have posted on my site, but I just received my electric bill today and realized that my boyfriend and I need to start saving some green (in more than one way). So, I've scowered the web and found, for your viewing pleasure, the top 4 ways that you can start saving some "green" at home:

1. Make Sure that your walls, attic, and basement are well insulated. Good indulation will slow the rate that heat flows out of yur house during the winter or into your house during the summer, so les energy is required to heat or cool your home. What we did in our home is to get the door cozy for the front door to keep the cool air from coming in under the door. We also went and got some insulating plartic for the windows from the hardware store, I want to say that it was about $15.
2. Plant shade trees and shrubs around the house. In the summer the foliage from the trees blocks infrared radiation that would warm the house, while in the winter the bare branches would allow this radiation to come through.
3. Improve the efficieny of your hot water system. First, turn down the temperature of your water heater to the warm setting (about 120 degrees). Second, insulate your hot water lines so that they don't cool off as fast in between uses. It also keeps the pipes from cooling down the water as it passes from the water heater to the shower. Third, use low flow fixtures for showers and baths.
4. Replace incandescent lights with compact fluorescent lamps (CLFs). CLFs can save three quarters of the electricity used by incandescents.