When it comes to energy efficiency, many of the ideas and programs from our energy companies are in their infancy. However, the ability to remain flexible and adapt at home will help lead us to energy independence and efficient use of our current technologies. Today’s energy companies recognize we’re ready to help and are working to bring new products to every market. We’re all in this together and together we can make a difference. It’s up to us to make the small changes now, so we can make a big impact later.

There are several easy things you can do to make your home more energy efficient.

• Use caulk and weather stripping to properly seal windows and doors. This will reduce drafts, heat loss, and over air conditioning.
• Use ceiling fans in the summer and winter. A counter clockwise rotation will provide a breeze in the summer, while a slow, clockwise rotation will push heat down in the winter.
• Regularly replace your furnace air filters. A clogged air filter makes your furnace and air conditioner work extra hard to deliver hot or cool air to the rooms of your house. Routinely replacing your furnace air filter removes the blockage, letting the air flow through more easily.
• Replace energy wasting incandescent light bulbs with energy saving compact fluorescents. Compact fluorescents typically use 75% less energy and produce far less heat than traditional bulbs.

It all starts in the home. It all starts with you. The energy companies are the driving force behind the research to make a better future, but it’s up to us to embrace energy efficiency right now. It might not seem like we’re doing much, but if everyone completed the four easy steps above we’d be in a much better place than we are today.

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Tags: energy efficiency, green energy

This entry was posted on Friday, May 28th, 2010 at 10:01 am and is filed under Green Energy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.