Easy ways to save energy consumption

Do a home energy audit

This survey analyzes your home's structure, appliances and insulation, as well as your family's lifestyle. Alliant Energy offers customers a free energy audit called My Home Comfort Check Up that provides a personalized report detailing specific ways to save energy throughout your home.

1) Heating your home

1. Change or clean your furnace filter once a month. Dust and dirt can quickly clog vital parts, making your furnace run harder and eventually break down.

2. Have your heating system inspected regularly - especially if it's natural gas. A $50-100 annual tune-up can help reduce your heating costs by up to five percent.

3. If you have a forced-air furnace, do NOT close heat registers in unused rooms. Your furnace is designed to heat a specific square footage of space and can't sense a register is closed - it will continue working at the same pace. In addition, the cold air from unheated rooms can escape into the rest of the house, reducing the effectiveness of all your insulating and weatherizing.

4. Install a programmable thermostat. If you use it to set back the temperature by 10 degrees for eight hours every night, you'll lower your heating bills by 10 percent. A $50 digital thermostat can pay for itself in energy savings in less than a year.

5. Don't set the thermostat higher than you actually want it. It won't heat your home any faster, and it will keep your furnace running longer than necessary.

6. Vacuum registers and vents regularly, and don't let furniture and draperies block the air flow. Inexpensive plastic deflectors can direct air under tables and chairs.

7. If your home has a boiler system, avoid covering radiators with screens or blocking them with furniture. It's also a good idea to add a reflecting panel behind radiators - you can purchase one at a home center or make one yourself with a plywood panel and aluminum foil.

8. If your home has electric baseboard heating, be sure to keep furniture and draperies away from the heaters, and leave at least a three-inch clearance under the heating unit.

9. Keep curtains and blinds closed at night to keep cold air out, but open them during the day to let the sun warm the room.

10. Avoid using space heaters, including electric, kerosene or propane models. Not only are they expensive to operate, they're also very dangerous.

11. If you have hardwood or tile floors, add area rugs to keep your feet warm.

12. If you'll be going on vacation, lower the thermostat to 55 degrees. This will save energy while preventing water pipes from freezing.

2) Fireplaces

1. If you have a wood-burning fireplace, have the chimney cleaned and inspected regularly, and burn only fully dried hardwoods to produce the most heat output.

2. Check the seal on the damper by closing it off and holding a piece of tissue paper inside the firebox. If drafts blow the tissue around, repair or replace the damper.

3. When using the fireplace, turn down the furnace to 55 degrees. If you don't, all the warm air from the furnace will go right up the chimney, wasting energy and money.

4. Add fireproof caulk where the chimney meets the wall, inside and outside.

5. When the fireplace is not in use, make sure fireplace dampers are sealed tight, and keep the glass doors closed. If you never use your fireplace, plug the chimney with fiberglass insulation and seal the doors with silicone caulk.

3) Water Heating

1. Set the water heater temperature at 120 degrees - about halfway between low and medium. This will help save energy and prevent scalding, while keeping unhealthy bacteria from growing.

2. Install a water-saving showerhead. Don't worry - it won't reduce your water pressure. A family of four, each taking a five-minute shower a day, can save $250 a year in water heating costs by switching to a low-flow showerhead.

3. Fix leaky faucets, especially if it's a hot water faucet. One drop per second can add up to 165 gallons a month - that's more than one person uses in two weeks.

4. Use aerators on kitchen and bathroom sink faucets. If you have hard water, clean aerators and showerheads with vinegar regularly to reduce deposits and build-up.

5. Take showers, not baths. A five-minute shower will use about 7.5 gallons of hot water, while filling a bathtub can use up to 20 gallons.

6. If your water heater is more than 15 years old, install an insulating wrap to reduce "standby" heat loss. It's also a good idea to insulate hot water pipes where they're accessible.

4) Lighting your home

1. Switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs. These bulbs use 75 percent less energy than typical incandescents, and they last 10 times longer.

2. Look for a compact fluorescent wattage that's about one-third of the incandescent wattage you usually use.

3. Use lighting control devices like dimmers, motion detectors, occupancy sensors, photocells and timers to provide light only when you need it.

4. Keep lamps away from thermostats; the heat produced can cause your furnace to run less than needed or your air conditioner more than needed.

5. Dust light fixtures regularly. A heavy coat of dust can block up to 50 percent of the light output.

6. Use only a single bulb in a multi-socket fixture. Be sure to check the maximum wattage the fixture allows.

7. Replace an incandescent outdoor light or high-intensity floodlight with a high-pressure sodium fixture. The bulbs will last longer, use less energy, and handle temperature extremes better.

8. Use low-voltage lighting kits to light walkways, patios and decks. The soft light will also attract fewer annoying insects.

9. Decorate with pale colors on walls, ceilings and floors. Soft tones reflect more light, so you can use lower wattage bulbs and delay turning on lights until later in the day. Using high-gloss paint can help as well.

10. Read light bulb packages carefully. Watts measure the amount of energy needed; lumens measure how much light a bulb produces. Energy-saving bulbs produce more lumens per watt of electricity used.

5) In the kitchen

1. Use smaller kitchen appliances whenever possible. Microwaves, toaster ovens and slow-cookers can use 75 percent less energy than a large electric oven.

2. Vacuum the refrigerator coils about twice a year to keep the compressor running efficiently.

3. As your mother always told you, don't leave the refrigerator door open. Every time it's opened, up to 30 percent of the cooled air can escape. The same rule holds for the oven, too.

4. Keep the refrigerator temperature about 36-38 degrees, and the freezer at 0-5 degrees.

5. Don't overload the refrigerator or freezer. The cold air needs to circulate freely to keep foods at the proper temperature.

6. Make sure the refrigerator is level, so the door automatically swings shut instead of open. If the floor isn't level, use shims to prop up the front of the refrigerator.

Reference

alliantenergygeothermal.com