Home Energy Saving Tips You Can Do Right Now –Electricity, Clothes Washing, and Cooking

A while back the guys on the forum put together a great list of energy saving tips. These are simple things that you can do pretty much right now, or maybe right after a quick run to the home improvement store for supplies. These aren’t huge projects that take weeks to complete. They also aren’t horribly expensive things to do. These are the basic and cost effective things you can do to cut those energy bills.

For the blog purposes, we’re going to break it down into sections because it is a fairly long list. Please keep in mind that this list was intended to grow over time as we think of new ideas. Feel free to recommend things to be added to the list.

We’re looking at electricity conservation, clothes washing, and cooking tips. There aren’t a ton of tips for each section, but they’re good ones, especially the electricity tips.

Electricity

• Use CFL or LED lighting.
• Find phantom loads with a kill a watt, or other energy meter.
• Unplug electronics when not in use. A powerstrip makes this easier.
• Use a smart power strip to kill phantom loads. This is especially useful for tv and computer setups.
• Turn your fridge temperature up to ~40F and freezer temperature up to ~0F.

Clothes Washing

• Wash clothes with cold water whenever possible.
• Use a clothes line to dry your clothes when possible.
• Only do full loads of laundry.
• Make sure the exhaust ducting for the dryer is clean. This can slow drying as well as become a fire hazard.

Cooking

• Use a microwave when possible, it is more efficient at heating than most other forms of heating food.
• Studies show that using a dishwasher is more efficient than the average joe washing dishes. Users on EcoRenovator believe that hand washing can be more efficient if done carefully.
• Only do full loads of dishes in the dishwasher.

If you like, you can see the full list of 60+ home energy saving tips.