Monday, September 16, 2013

Ways To Save On Home Energy Costs

While there are many differences between owning and renting a home, apartment or condo, one thing that we can all find common ground on is how easy it is to end up with a large energy bill at the end of a the month. Wouldn’t it be great to lower the number of time you have to dish out extra needed money on wasted energy costs? Well, thanks to Progress Energy and OUC I have found over 100 different ways to help save on everyday energy usage. Here are some great tips and tricks that I found useful while exploring these companies’ websites:

• Washing with cold water- When doing laundry wash clothes with cold water. This can save you 40 cents per load.
• Using a laptop over a desktop- Laptops tend to use less energy than your standard desktop computer would.
• Paint it light- Paint walls light colors to help reflect heat coming from outside windows.
• Toaster ovens and microwaves- when cooking a smaller dish use a toaster oven or microwave. Microwaves use 50 percent less energy than conventional overs and do not heat up the kitchen.
• Turn off oven or burners- Once your food is almost done turn off the oven and use the existing heat to finish cooking your meal.
• Use a slow cooker or crock pot- Both slow cookers and crock pots can cook an entire meal for about 17 cents worth of electricity.
• Let your dishes air-dry- Turn off your dishwasher after it finishes the wash cycle. This not only saves energy but, helps keep the dishwasher from adding extra heat to your kitchen.


This list is just a few of my favorite tips for saving on home energy usage. If you would like to find out more ways to save check out the links provided below to learn more on ways to save on home energy.
LINKS & RESOURCES:
https://www.progress-energy.com/carolinas/home/save-energy-money/energy-saving-tips-calculators/100-tips.page?
http://www.ouc.com/residential/save-energy-water-money/energy-conservation-tips/year-round-savings