- Install compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). This alone can reduce the amount of energy you use for lighting by up to 75%.
- Install a programmable thermostat. Set your furnace back 10 degrees at night, and you'll save 10%, both in energy and money.
- Sign up for cycled air conditioning.
- Use a rain barrel to capture water for your garden and landscaping.
- Don't waste drinking water from the tap on irrigation.
- Weather-strip your home and conduct a thorough energy audit.
- Upgrade to more efficient Energy Star® appliances.
- Install ceiling fans or use interior fans to keep your home feeling cooler while using less power.
- Plant trees or shrubs around the area where your air conditioning unit is located. A unit operating in the shade uses as much as 10% less electricity.
- Install motion sensors and/or an automated system to monitor and control the temperature and lighting systems in your school or business. Why heat and light a room when no one is in it?
- Ask your electric cooperative about load management and other conservation programs for farms and businesses.
- Make saving energy a priority if and when you get the chance to build.
CFL bulbs use up to 75% less energy to produce the same amount of light as incandescent bulbs.
Average life of a CFL bulb is 8,000 hours versus 1,000 hours for an incandescent bulb.
A typical CFL bulb costs about $3 more than a regular incandescent bulb but saves an average of $30 over its lifetime in energy and replacement costs.
Incandescent bulbs waste 90% of their energy creating heat.
If every home in America replaced the five most frequently used bulbs in their home with ENERGY STAR® CFL bulbs, it would eliminate greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions from more than eight million cars.
If each household in Great River Energy's service area replaced 5 incandescent bulbs with CFL bulbs it would eliminate 201,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions.
CFL bulbs are available in different sizes and shapes to fit in almost any fixture, for indoors and outdoors.
CFL bulbs generate 70% less heat, so they're safer to operate and can cut energy costs associated with home cooling.