Flex Your Power: “Saving Energy. It’s a Way of Life”
Energy Saver: Turning out the lights in unoccupied rooms.
It’s been a hot couple of days here in the Bay Area – it even reached above 80 degrees (Farenheit) in downtown San Francisco!
While walking around during the day and being remember of hot summers growing up in Southern California, I started to think about how much energy we must be using during this mini-heat wave to keep our cars, businesses and homes cool.
Fortunately, the folks up in Sacramento (i.e. State Government) are thinking the same thing and have a website called Flex Your Power focusing on energy savings for residential, commercial, institutional and agricultural power usage.
This is the same approach used in sustainable (green) building, where designers emphasize saving resources during the operation phase of building projects.
Below are some summer energy saving tips from Flex Your Power:
The Best No Cost or Low Cost Tips to Prepare Your Home For Hot Weather:
1. Setting your air conditioner 5° higher will save up to 20% on cooling costs.1
2. Use fans to make indoor temperatures feel cooler, most ceiling fans use less energy than a light bulb.
3. Have your air conditioning unit serviced to cut 15% of cooling costs. 2
4. Don’t try to cool the great outdoors — Seal cracks, gaps, leaks and add insulation to save up to 20% on home cooling costs.2
5. Keep windows and doors shut and shades closed during the day, to keep your house cool and reduce air conditioning needs.
The Best Investments for Summer Energy Savings:
1. Have your heating and cooling ducts professionally sealed to save up to $190 per year. 3
2. Install a programmable thermostat and only cool the house when you’re home — It can save up to $160 per year and pays for itself in 6-9 months. 3
3. Replace incandescent light bulbs with CFLs to save on lighting AND cooling bills. 90% of the energy used by old incandescent bulbs produces heat, not light.
4. If your old air conditioner breaks down, consider a high efficiency replacement. Replacing a 10-year-old central AC unit with an ENERGY STAR qualified model can cut 20-40% off your cooling costs.
Footnotes:
1 Based on PG&E 3-5% per degree
2 ENERGY STAR
3 Based on ENERGY STAR calculator for Stockton, CA at $0.14 per kWh
