Slow Down Rising Energy Costs – Without Spending a Penny

As summer's heat dwindles to nippy September nights, it looks like energy is going to remain expensive this winter. The good news? Heating and cooling accounts for up to 50% of the average home and office operating costs, so this is an area where you can save considerably with some simple, sensible adjustments.

It’s easiest to accomplish energy savings with a two-pronged approach: through conservation and efficiency. In other words, through personal and company choices, and changes in your HVAC system. Of these two, behavioral changes require the smallest investment – often hovering around zero – so let’s start there.

A good energy conservation plan often involves steps like these:

• Switching off lights in unused or sunlit rooms - If your building has floor-to-ceiling windows, you may not need overhead lights during the day…and you certainly don’t need them when a room is empty. Turn off the lights you don’t need during the day, and ask your cleaning crew to turn off all the lights when they leave at night.


• Kill the vampires - Roughly 40% of electricity expenditures are from "vampire" fixtures like computer peripherals, cell phone and iPod chargers, coffee makers, gaming systems, and other gadgets that continue to use power while turned off or in standby mode. "Smart strips" let you turn off the vampires while keeping power running to the items that must remain on, such as phones or backup servers.


• Raising the blinds on sunny windows in the winter, lowering them in the summer – This gives your heating and air conditioning system a break by using solar light and heat, or shutting it out. You can nudge your thermostat down or up by a few degrees, and save a few more kilowatts.


• Using the Energy Efficient settings on your major appliances (if possible). Many appliances manufactured within the last 10-20 years offer energy-saving settings that can save you kilowatts over the course of a year.


• Make sure your heating and cooling is going to the rooms where you need it - and not where you don't - By some estimates, 10 to 30% of an HVAC system's energy is lost through leaky ductwork. Even more is lost through vents into closets, basements, garages, etc., and vents blocked by furniture in rooms where the heating or cooling is needed.

Of course, this is just a small sampling of the actions you can take to conserve energy, reduce your bills, and ease your impact on the planet. To discover more tips in a green home or office makeover, or for help with finding recycling resources, contact me at phila@freshgreenimage.com or visit me at http://www.freshgreenimage.com/green-irene.