January/February 2006 Living Now
How To Save On Your Energy Bill

Washington, DC, September 23, 2005 --/World-Wire/--

With gas prices going up and cold weather predicted, consumers are worried about how they are going to pay their energy bills this winter. An energy expert from CMC Energy Services offers advice on simple changes anyone can make around the house that can save hundreds of dollars on energy bills. Home energy auditor Steve Luxton recommends reducing your energy bills, not by using less energy, but by wasting less energy.

Top among Steve's recommendations is a timed thermostat that can be set to lower the temperature during the day when no one is home as well as during the night when everyone is sleeping.

Turning off lights in unused rooms is another energy saver, and switching to compact fluorescent lights that use one-third of the energy that incandescent lights use will further reduce energy bills. While these compact fluorescents are more expensive to buy, they last much longer than incandescent bulbs and result in a net saving. Closing curtains or drapes at night is another suggestion, not only to save energy, but also to increase comfort.
Surprisingly, Steve said that using the fireplace actually will increase, not decrease, the amount of fuel required to heat the house. He explains that fires require air to burn and pull this air from the room. This means that additional outside air is pulled in through cracks around windows or doors and this additional outside air now has to be heated.

There have been considerable recent improvements in heating and cooling systems, so that both air conditioners and heat pumps currently on the market use half the energy of those made 15 years ago. Appliances are also more efficient. For example, a modern refrigerator, the largest user of electricity in the home, now uses only half the energy of older refrigerators.
To save energy while doing the laundry, Steve recommends using cold water rather than hot water. With today's improved detergents and stain removers, cold water washes as clean as hot for most stains, and will save 85% of the energy. As for dryers, energy can be saved by using the fast rather than slow spinning cycle when washing, since the fast cycle removes more water.
How much money will be saved by reducing waste? These no cost items will often cut the energy bill by 20%. Aside from the no-cost items, look into to which technologies should be replaced in order to "bring today's energy technology to yesteryear's homes."

For more information, visit the CMC Energy website at: www.cmcenergy.com