Energy Programs

During the summer:

• Keep your thermostat at 78 degrees or the highest comfortable setting.
• Have your cooling system serviced annually.
• Check your filters monthly and replace when dirty.
• Don't block your supply or return air vents with furniture or other objects.
• Close curtains and blinds to keep out the sun and retain cooler air inside

During colder months:

• Lower your thermostat to 68 degrees or lower.
• Use space heaters wisely. They are meant to keep you warm in a confined area. They are not an efficient heating source beyond a room or two at your house

• Replace old incandescent bulbs with energy-efficient bulbs
• Use task lighting; instead of brightly lighting an entire room, focus the light where you need it. For example, use fluorescent under-cabinet lighting for kitchen sinks and countertops under cabinets.
• Keep curtains or shades open to use daylight instead of turning on lights
• Install motion or occupancy sensors to turn on during certain times of day or motion and automatically turn off.

Dishwashers

• Only run the dishwasher when it is full (not overloaded).
• Let dishes air dry instead of using your dishwasher’s heated dry setting.
• If your dishwasher has an internal heating element that boosts water temperature, set your home’s water heater to 120°F.

Refrigerators 

• Set the temperature at 35˚– 38˚F for refrigerators and 0˚F for standalone freezers.
• Keep the door closed as much as possible.

Additional Kitchen Energy Tips:

• Keep range-top burners and reflectors clean; they will reflect the heat better, and you will save energy.
• Cover pots and pans when you cook. You’ll use less energy.
• Match the size of the pan to the heating element.
• Use small appliances such as toaster ovens, electric pressure cookers, microwave ovens, or convection ovens for small meals rather than your large stove or oven.

Laundry

• Warm or cold water is generally sufficient to clean your laundry; most of the energy used by clothes washers goes to heating water. Using warm water instead of hot can cut a load’s energy use in half, and using cold water will save even more.
• Try to wash full loads and use an appropriate water setting if you must wash a small load.

• Repair leaky faucets promptly; a leaky faucet wastes gallons of water in a short period
• Insulate your electric hot-water storage tank and pipes, but be careful not to cover the thermostat
• Install aerating low-flow faucets and shower heads
• Lower the thermostat on your water heater; water heaters sometimes come from the factory with high temperature settings, but a setting of 120º F provides comfortable hot water for most uses
• Take more showers than baths. Bathing uses the most hot water in the average household. You use 15 to 25 gallons of hot water for a bath, but less than 10 gallons during a 5-minute shower

• Planting trees, bushes or shrubs to shade windows, roofs and air conditioners helps reduce solar heat gain in your home, surrounding air temperatures and overall energy costs.
• Plant trees with crowns lower to the ground on the west side if you want to shade from lower, afternoon sun angles.
• To cool the air before it reaches your home, plant shrubs and groundcover plants.
• Plant coniferous trees and shrubs to the north and northwest of your home to stop wind.