10 ways to save energy in your home!

These days we all are trying to cut back on our lavish expenses and find ways to save money. Your home can be one of the best ways to do that. I am not talking about the expensive ways such as putting a solar energy roof on the home or upgrading the ac unit. Although those are great ways to save money in the long run, there are a lot of inexpensive things you and your family can do to save money now and get immediate results. Here are a few from the experts at Pepco

Set your thermostat at 68 degrees F. during the day and 60 degrees F. at night. You can save 3 percent on your heating costs for every degree you reduce the temperature below 70 degrees F. for the entire heating season. Special Advice to Heat Pump Owners: Heat pumps need to stay at a constant setting, unless you have a programmable electronic heat pump thermostat with adaptive recovery. Check with your heating or air conditioning contractor to determine the type of thermostat you have.

Keep curtains open during the day and close them at night

 

Clean or replace the filter in your forced-air heating system each month. Foam filters can be rinsed with water, but be sure they are dry before replacing. Fiberglass filters need to be replaced periodically.

 

No matter what kind of central air conditioning system you have, clean the outside condenser coil once a year. To clean, turn off the unit and spray the coils with water at a low pressure. (High water pressure may bend the fins.) Try to spray from the top of the unit down and outward.

Turn off  lights when they are not in use

Test your windows and doors for air tightness. Add weather stripping and caulk where necessary. It's low cost and can save you 10 percent or more in annual energy costs.

Get in the habit of turning off the elements or surface units on your electric stove several minutes before completing the allotted cooking time. The heating element will stay hot long enough to finish the cooking without wasting electricity.

Scrape dishes and rinse with cold water from the faucet before loading them into the dishwasher. Avoid using the dishwasher's pre-rinse cycle.

 Regularly defrost manual-defrost refrigerators and freezers. Frost buildup increases the amount of energy needed to keep the refrigerator at its proper temperature. Never allow frost to build up more than one quarter of an inch.

Install an aerator in your kitchen sink faucet.

For more ways to save visit the Pepco website a www.pepco.com