$ave Green by Going Green

We all see heating and cooling costs increase when the weather is cold or hot. (This is especially true if you live where heat and humidity is high). The good news is that with more “green” innovations, easy techniques, and products appearing all the time you can still make a difference.

Most of us are not lucky enough to move into an already eco-friendly home, but we can afford to make small changes to our home. For instance, replacing an old, worn out appliance with one accredited with the ENERGY STAR label is a great start. Although there are many ways to get and stay “green”, here we focus on energy savings. Lucky for us, energy savings equals money savings, as well as positive environmental impact.

You can make your home more energy smart by implementing some of the following:

• Yearly HVAC maintenance
• Change your air filters regularly – a dirty filter wastes energy!
• Use compact fluorescent bulbs in place of incandescent bulbs
• Use ENERGY STAR appliances and devices
• Use programmable thermostats
• Seal and insulate your ducts (can improve heating and cooling efficiency by as much as 20%)
• Plant shady trees
• Turn lights off when leaving a room
• Install digital timer for regularly used electronics

You can go to www.energystar.gov to learn more about energy efficient products.