| Households |
| · Close shades and blinds at night to reduce the amount of heat lost through windows. This also applies during the day for warm climates. |
| · In the winter, turn your thermostats down to 68 degrees or below. Reduce the setting to 55 degrees before going to sleep or when leaving for the day. (For each 1 degree you turn down the thermostat in the winter, you'll save up to 5% on your heating costs.) |
| · If you throw down a rug, you'll not only help insulate your floors, but you'll cut down on the noise too. |
| · Keeping your furnace properly maintained will reduce energy consumption and could save you up to 5 percent on your heating costs. |
| · Avoid heating areas that are not insulated, such as a garage, crawlspace, attic or storage sheds. |
| · Avoid heating unused rooms by closing doors and warm air supply registers. |
| · Save up to 10 percent on your heating bill by programming your thermostat to a lower temperature at night and after you leave for work. It's recommended that you don't reduce the temperature more than 3 - 4 degrees Celsius. |
| · When using your wood-burning fireplace, spilt wood into pieces that are 4-6-inches in diameter. The wood will burn more cleanly with more surface area exposed to the flame. |
| · Don't use your fireplace at all when the outside temperature is below -7 Celsius. The infiltration of cold air into your house through the open flue wastes more heat than is gained.
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| · Consider installing a fireplace thermostat to help you control your room temperature. |
| · To check if a door provides good insulation, place your hand against it from the inside. If it feels cooler than the inside walls, it might be time to install a door that's better insulated. Install fully insulated doors on all entrances to garages, cold storage rooms and uninsulated basements. |
| · Insulate! Have a look at your attic. To find out if you have enough attic insulation, measure its thickness. If there is less than R-22 (7 inches of fibreglass or rock wool or 6 inches of cellulose) you could probably benefit by adding more. And while you're up there, consider installing some roof vents and inlets to improve ventilation. |
| · Don't lose heated air up your chimney! The chimney acts like an open window. If you never use your fireplace, plug and seal the chimney flue. Otherwise, be sure your damper is closed when the fireplace is not in use. Check the seal on the flue damper and make it as snug as possible. Consider installing tempered glass doors and a heat-air exchange system that blows warm air into the room. |
| · Did you know that halogen lighting uses up to 40 percent less energy than traditional bulbs? Halogen lighting is also excellent for gardens and pathways. |
| · Turn off non-essential lights and appliances. The electricity generated by fossil fuels for a single home puts more carbon dioxide into the air than two average cars! |
| · Buy Energy Star appliances, products and lights. |
| · When you leave the room, turn off the light. |
| Business |
| · In the winter, turn your thermostat down to 68 degrees or below. Reduce the setting to 55 degrees at the end of the day. (For each 1 degree you turn down the thermostat in the winter, you'll save up to 5% on your heating costs.) |
| · Turn off all unnecessary lights, especially in unused offices and conference rooms and turn down remaining lighting levels where possible. |
| · Set computers, monitors, printers, copiers and other business equipment to their energy saving feature and turn them off at the end of the day. |
| · Minimize energy usage during peak demand hours from 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. |
| · Buy Energy Star appliances, products, and lights. |
| · Consider placing outdoor signs on a timer so they only run until 1:00 am, saving electricity during non-peak hours. |
| · When you leave the room, turn off the light. |
| Heating and Cooling |
| · Set your thermostat as low as is comfortable in the winter and as high as is comfortable in the summer. |
| · Clean or replace filters on furnaces once a month or as needed. |
| · Clean warm-air registers, baseboard heaters, and radiators as needed; make sure they're not blocked by furniture, carpeting, or drapes. |
| · Bleed trapped air from hot-water radiators once or twice a season; if in doubt about how to perform this task, call a professional. |
| · Place heat-resistant radiator reflectors between exterior walls and the radiators. |
| · Use kitchen, bath, and other ventilating fans wisely; in just 1 hour, these fans can pull out a houseful of warmed or cooled air. Turn fans off as soon as they have done the job. |
| · During the heating season, keep the draperies and shades on your south-facing windows open during the day to allow sunlight to enter your home and closed at night to reduce the chill you may feel from cold windows. During the cooling season, keep the window coverings closed during the day to prevent solar gain. |
| · During the heating season, close an unoccupied room that is isolated from the rest of the house, and turn down the thermostat or turn off the heating for that room or zone. However, do not turn the heating off if it adversely affects the rest of your system. For example, if you heat your house with a heat pump, do not close the vents-closing the vents could harm the heat pump. |
| · Select energy-efficient equipment when you buy new heating and cooling equipment. Your contractor should be able to give you energy fact sheets for different types, models, and designs to help you compare energy usage. Look for high Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) ratings and the Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER). The national minimums are 78% AFUE and 10 SEER. |
| Duct |
| · Check your ducts for air leaks. First look for sections that should be joined but have separated and then look for obvious holes. |
| · If you use duct tape to repair and seal your ducts, look for tape with the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) logo to avoid tape that degrades, cracks, and loses its bond with age. |
| · Remember that insulating ducts in the basement will make the basement colder. If both the ducts and the basement walls are uninsulated, consider insulating both. |
| · If your basement has been converted to a living area, install both supply and return registers in the basement rooms. |
| · Be sure a well-sealed vapor barrier exists on the outside of the insulation on cooling ducts to prevent moisture buildup. |
| · Get a professional to help you insulate and repair all ducts. |
| Heat Pump |
| · Do not set back the heat pump's thermostat manually if it causes the electric resistance heating to come on. This type of heating, which is often used as a backup to the heat pump, is more expensive. |
| · Clean or change filters once a month or as needed, and maintain the system according to manufacturer's instructions. |
| Solar |
| · Keep all south-facing glass clean. |
| · Make sure that objects do not block the sunlight shining on concrete slab floors or heat-absorbing walls. |
| · Consider using insulating curtains to reduce excessive heat loss from large windows at night. |
| Water Heating |
| · Repair leaky faucets promptly; a leaky faucet wastes gallons of water in a short period. |
| · Insulate your electric hot-water storage tank and pipes, but be careful not to cover the thermostat. |
| · Insulate your gas or oil hot-water storage tank and pipes, but be careful not to cover the water heater's top, bottom, thermostat, or burner compartment; when in doubt, get professional help. |
| · Install non aerating low-flow faucets and showerheads. |
| · Buy a new water heater. While it may cost more initially than a standard water heater, the energy savings will continue during the lifetime of the appliance. |
| · Although most water heaters last 10 to 15 years, it's best to start shopping for a new one if yours is more than 7 years old. Doing some research before your heater fails will enable you to select one that most appropriately meets your needs. |
| · Lower the thermostat on your water heater; water heaters sometimes come from the factory with high temperature settings, but a setting of 115 degrees F provides comfortably hot water for most uses. |
| · Drain a quart of water from your water tank every 3 months to remove the sediment that impedes heat transfer and lowers the efficiency of your heater. The type of water tank you have determines the steps to take, so follow the manufacturer's advice. |
| · If you heat with electricity and live in a warm and sunny climate, consider installing a solar water heater. The solar units are environmentally friendly and can now be installed on your roof to blend with the architecture of your house. |
| · Take more showers than baths. Bathing uses the most hot water in the average household. You use 15 to 25 gallons of hot water for a bath, but less than 10 gallons during a 5-minute shower. |
| · Water heating is the third largest energy expense in your home, typically accounting for about 14% of your utility bill. Shorter showers, more efficient showerheads and lowering the thermostat on your water heater can help to decrease this expense. |
| Compact Fluorescent Bulbs (CFL) |
| · Consider the installation of a drain water waste heat recovery system. |
| · These compact fluorescent bulbs are four times more energy efficient than incandescent bulbs and provide the same lighting. Use CFLs in all the portable table and floor lamps in your home. Carefully consider the size and fit of these systems when you select them. Some home fixtures may not accommodate some of the larger CFLs. |
| · When shopping for new light fixtures, consider buying dedicated compact fluorescent fixtures with built-in ballasts that use pin-based replacement bulbs. |
| · For spot lighting, consider CFLs with reflectors. The lamps range in wattage from 13-watt to 32-watt and provide a very directed light using a reflector and lens system. |
| · Take advantage of daylight by using light-colored, loose-weave curtains on your windows to allow daylight to penetrate the room while preserving privacy. Also, decorate with lighter colors that reflect daylight. |
| · If you have torchiere fixtures with halogen lamps, consider replacing them with compact fluorescent torchieres. Compact fluorescent torchieres use 60% to 80% less energy and can produce more light (lumens) than the halogen torchieres. |