Save Energy, Save Money
Energy—something we all use, take for granted (ever have your electricity shut off?), pay for, but fail to realize just how important a resource it really is and how to help save it. By conserving energy, I am talking way beyond turning off lights in unoccupied rooms and unplugging household items when not in use—good tips, but we’re going deeper into saving one of our treasures. While energy itself is obtainable by a number of sources, both renewable and non-renewable, it is of paramount importance to understand that nothing on Mother Earth is abundant or cheap enough to waste. There are several ways that we can save energy that is primarily obtained from water, coal or other secondary resources of energy.
Here are a few easy steps that we can take in order to save coal from being used in excess:
Think like Edison–Light bulb burned out? Replace it with a bulb that is much more energy efficient; in the days back when, the only bulbs we could use were the energy-hog incandescent ones—they needlessly used more energy than was called for—today, thankfully, we have, and can completely depend upon, energy-efficient compact fluorescent lights, or CFL’s.
Get an XRP—these devices, from EcoWatt Energy, will greatly reduce electricity consumption for both residential and commercial consumers. Residential customers are guaranteed to save 15% on their electric bills for the life of the product while commercial users will see about 10%-20% in savings. This innovative tool actually captures electricity that would otherwise be wasted and sent back to the grid and holds it for your use—this way you only pay for your electricity once!
Use energy efficient appliances—yeah, they might be a little more expensive now, but the return in energy savings will far outweigh the higher cost in about a year or so, depending on usage. The usual suspects? Look at your heating and / or cooling system and refrigerators—anything with a motor that is constantly running.
Think pink—remember the commercials in the 80’s with the Pink Panther schlepping insulation for homes? Well, that forward thinking back then remains prevalent today—one of the best ways we can make optimum use of existing heating and cooling appliances today is to ensure that our homes are properly insulated to lessen the burden on these systems, thus making greater use of the energy used.
Turn it off—we’ve all heard it before—the golden rule of keeping the waste of energy at a minimum is to ensure that all appliance switches are turned off when not in use. It is not enough to only turn the appliance switches off, but also turn the power source from which the energy source is received off as well.
Here are some water-saving tips that you can employ:
Use it, don’t abuse it—only use water when needed—don’t be the guy who waters his lawn when it’s raining (like my neighbor)—use the settings on your irrigation system to shut off during rain or just power it down manually when it rains
Turn if off!–just like that electricity switch, be sure to turn off all sources of water when not in use—as soon as you’re finished watering the plants, turn the water source off—every drop counts!
Bathroom tips—this is where the majority of water is wasted. When you shave, fill the sink with water, turn the water off, and rinse your blade in the water that was captured in the basin. When you brush your teeth, turn the water off while you’re actually brushing your pearly whites—what’s the sense in having water run down the drain? And the biggest waste? Take a shower instead of baths—the typical shower uses half the water as the typical bath!
Miscellaneous tips—
Plant trees! This will help the solar power that is being used to work more efficiently; the rooting system of trees also serves to strengthen the soil which could lead to better crops.
Reduce the brightness on your laptop or desktop’s monitor
Put your computer into sleep mode or hibernation when not in use
Now I am pretty sure that most of you are fully aware of these tips, but are you actually doing this? Does it seem ‘cheesy’ to you to help the environment? Do you feel like a tree hugger? Well, good! We have one planet—let’s keep her around as long as we can!
For more information on the XRP and how it can help your business or home save electricity, click here…..
