Energy Saving Tips

• If you are away from your home for more than two days, give your electrical meter a holiday too. Turn off your electric water heater at the electrical panel. Lower the thermostats on your air conditioner and refrigerator.

• A pool pump that runs constantly is very expensive. One complete water filtering every 24 hours is fine for a residential pool.

• Keep the damper closed on your fireplace when it is not being used - (but don't forget to open it when you need it). This keeps the heat from going up the chimney.

• Because heat rises, insulating your ceiling should be a first priority. It can save up to 30% of heating fuel.

• Plant shade trees on the south side of your home and plant conifers on the north side.

• Close your drapes after the sun goes down in the evening. Keep windows closed during the winter.

• Shut the door to unused rooms and reduce the heat to the them - this decreases energy waste.

• Drafts around windows, doors, air and sockets and outlets can account for 25% of your heating costs.

• Weather stripping and caulking around windows, doors, dryer vents, and insulated plates for outlets can recover 75% of this cost, thus reducing the waste of energy. Weather stripping and caulking materials are very inexpensive and easy to apply.

• Turn off all unnecessary lights in your home.

• Replace your furnace filter at least once a month during the winter. Your furnace fan motor won't have to work as hard with a clean filter.

• Close the bathroom door if the fan is on and your air conditioner is running. This will prevent cooled air from being exhausted outside.

Energy efficiency in the kitchen:

• Use lids when cooking in a pot. This saves both time and energy.

• Microwave ovens, toaster ovens and slow cookers will cook small portions more efficiently.

• Microwave ovens consume up to 50% less energy than conventional ovens.

• Defrost food in the refrigerator or on your counter.

• Don't peek while the oven is cooking - opening the oven door wastes energy.

• Use an electric kettle which uses half the energy required to heat water on a burner.

Energy efficiency in the laundry room:

• Avoid overloading the dryer, but remember that drying one full load takes less energy than drying two small loads.

• Use the correct heat setting on your dryer to match the type of clothing being dried. Not all types of material require the same amount of heat to be dried.

• When possible, hang your clothes ouside to dry - the most energy efficient clothes dryer is your clothesline. Your clothes will last longer and have that "fresh air" smell.

Phantom Loads

The average Canadian home is said to leak a least 50 watts of electricity continually, about 450 kilowatts per year. "Leaking electricity" and "invisible loads" cost us all, and costs the environment. These invisible loads are also more commonly known as "phantom loads". A phantom load is the power consumed by appliances that are plugged in, but are doing nothing useful. These devices have a hidden energy cost that most people are never even aware of.

Typical products that draw phantom loads are:

• power adapters without an on/off switch
• devices with remote controls such as televisions, DVD players and stereos
• devices with constant digital display or memory - digital clocks, toaster ovens, DVD players, answering machines
• other electronic devices such as Xbox, Wii, big screen plasma TV's, computers, printers, faxes, kitchen appliances
• devices with rechargeable batteries - phone chargers use energy whenever they are plugged in, even if they are not charging

With possibly dozens of devices in a home drawing a phantom load, here are some useful tips to help reduce your phantom load.

• use a power bar that has a switch/strip with an on/off switch and turning off the power switch will turn off all devices that are plugged into the bar
• create a charging station for your portable device chargers on one power strip (surge protector) bar and turn it off when you are not charging anything
• unplug those rarely used devices
• always unplug devices when you are going away, even if only for a few days 

Energy Saving Tips

• If you are away from your home for more than two days, give your electrical meter a holiday too. Turn off your electric water heater at the electrical panel. Lower the thermostats on your air conditioner and refrigerator.

• A pool pump that runs constantly is very expensive. One complete water filtering every 24 hours is fine for a residential pool.

• Keep the damper closed on your fireplace when it is not being used - (but don't forget to open it when you need it). This keeps the heat from going up the chimney.

• Because heat rises, insulating your ceiling should be a first priority. It can save up to 30% of heating fuel.

• Plant shade trees on the south side of your home and plant conifers on the north side.

• Close your drapes after the sun goes down in the evening. Keep windows closed during the winter.

• Shut the door to unused rooms and reduce the heat to the them - this decreases energy waste.

• Drafts around windows, doors, air and sockets and outlets can account for 25% of your heating costs.

• Weather stripping and caulking around windows, doors, dryer vents, and insulated plates for outlets can recover 75% of this cost, thus reducing the waste of energy. Weather stripping and caulking materials are very inexpensive and easy to apply.

• Turn off all unnecessary lights in your home.

• Replace your furnace filter at least once a month during the winter. Your furnace fan motor won't have to work as hard with a clean filter.

• Close the bathroom door if the fan is on and your air conditioner is running. This will prevent cooled air from being exhausted outside.

Energy efficiency in the kitchen:

• Use lids when cooking in a pot. This saves both time and energy.

• Microwave ovens, toaster ovens and slow cookers will cook small portions more efficiently.

• Microwave ovens consume up to 50% less energy than conventional ovens.

• Defrost food in the refrigerator or on your counter.

• Don't peek while the oven is cooking - opening the oven door wastes energy.

• Use an electric kettle which uses half the energy required to heat water on a burner.

Energy efficiency in the laundry room:

• Avoid overloading the dryer, but remember that drying one full load takes less energy than drying two small loads.

• Use the correct heat setting on your dryer to match the type of clothing being dried. Not all types of material require the same amount of heat to be dried.

• When possible, hang your clothes ouside to dry - the most energy efficient clothes dryer is your clothesline. Your clothes will last longer and have that "fresh air" smell.

Phantom Loads

The average Canadian home is said to leak a least 50 watts of electricity continually, about 450 kilowatts per year. "Leaking electricity" and "invisible loads" cost us all, and costs the environment. These invisible loads are also more commonly known as "phantom loads". A phantom load is the power consumed by appliances that are plugged in, but are doing nothing useful. These devices have a hidden energy cost that most people are never even aware of.

Typical products that draw phantom loads are:

• power adapters without an on/off switch
• devices with remote controls such as televisions, DVD players and stereos
• devices with constant digital display or memory - digital clocks, toaster ovens, DVD players, answering machines
• other electronic devices such as Xbox, Wii, big screen plasma TV's, computers, printers, faxes, kitchen appliances
• devices with rechargeable batteries - phone chargers use energy whenever they are plugged in, even if they are not charging

With possibly dozens of devices in a home drawing a phantom load, here are some useful tips to help reduce your phantom load.

• use a power bar that has a switch/strip with an on/off switch and turning off the power switch will turn off all devices that are plugged into the bar
• create a charging station for your portable device chargers on one power strip (surge protector) bar and turn it off when you are not charging anything
• unplug those rarely used devices
• always unplug devices when you are going away, even if only for a few days