Now that Spring has officially arrived there are a few things we can do to continue conserving energy that won’t cost a dime.
1. Shut off your furnace’s pilot flame. You can save an average of $5/month by shutting off your furnace’s pilot light. Instead of letting the flame burn in stand-by mode for the next 6 months, simply turn it off. If you don’t know how to properly do it see if your local utility company can do it for you or ask your Property/Apartment Manager. PG&E offers this FREE service however, you will need to schedule an appointment through Customer Service (800-743-5000) to have it done. Scheduling the appointment at least 2 weeks in advance of the desired date will enable you to have more specific time frames to choose from instead of having to be home all day with an “all day appointment.” Keep in mind that someone that is at least 18 years or older must be present in your home when the PG&E service person comes to shut down your gas. Usually you should have a choice between an all day appointment (Gas Service person can show up anytime between 8am-8pm) or narrowed down to a 4 hour window (8am to 12 pm OR 1pm to 5pm) or an evening appointment (5pm-8pm).
2. Let the SUNSHINE IN! Open your curtains, blinds, or drapes to allow the sunlight in to warm up your house. When the sun starts to appear in the morning, open those curtains and let the sun in! The sunlight naturally heats up your house so open those drapes. Another way to use that sunshine is dry your clothes the “old fashioned” way - – - install a clothesline outside and hang up your clothes to dry!
3. UNPLUG your unused or non-essential appliances. This means unplugging EVERYTHING in the house that doesn’t need electricity around the clock. The only exception would be your refrigerator or freezer and your clock radio/alarm clocks, aquarium, etc. That means unplugging your toaster, lamps, computers, printer, fax machine, copier, TV sets, night lights, coffee maker, washer and dryer, video game-phone-ipod and any other electronic gadget’s charger!!!! Even though these appliances are not “turned on” or in use each item still continues to draw (consume) energy. If you unplug all these items consistently you will likely see a slight drop in your monthly energy bill! I have seen a decrease in my monthly bill by unplugging my non-essential appliances. So UNPLUG that TV before turning in for the night!
4. Get rid of your 2nd fridge in the garage or your in-room air conditioner - call JACO Environmental at 1-800-299-7573 for pickup and get $35 rebate from PG&E! Yes, if you have a refrigerator in working condition that is 10 years or older then PG&E is willing to not only take it off your hands and dispose of it for you, but you will receive a $35 rebate for it! Read more about it at PG&E’s website.
Let me know if you have any energy saving tips that worked for you!
“unplugging your … dryer …”
This one seems *MUCH* tougher than the rest of the list. The 220V socket for my dryer is on the wall behind the dryer. It is high enough that I can get to it without moving the dryer … but it seems quite possible that I’ll pull a muscle someplace while trying to unplug the dryer … which seems a poor trade off to save a possibly small amount of power. Since it is 220V, I can’t use my handy-dandy “kill-a-watt” meter to measure the usage when the dryer is off. Do you have any data on how much power a typical recent model dryer consumes in standby mode? My dryer is a 3-4 year old GE one that has a push button switch on the front panel that appears to turn on/off all the rest of the electronic controls … perhaps it is already doing a good job at not using power when it is “off”?
“lamps”
Don’t most lamps have a real switch that turns the power all the way off? I can’t think of any that I own that are likely to draw power when “off”.
Hi Tony,
I don’t know how much a clothes dryer consumes in “stand-by” mode but I found out from an electrician, who happened to be a customer, that the plugs that have those fat squares like phone or other electronic type of chargers, are the ones that actually draw energy when they are still plugged in. I will ask my friends who are in a different office and see what else I can find out.
Thanks for your questions,
Linda
Those are great tips but with the tax rebates available, it is an excellent time to switch from traditional heating and cooling to a geothermal system.