Energy Conservation Tips
- Avoid using personal space heaters. Such heating units use a lot of energy, cause breakers to trip, and are dangerous when left unattended. One space heater can consume the same amount of power that it would take to run FIFTY-SIX (56) four-foot fluorescent lamps! The average space heater consumes about 93% of the load a 20-amp circuit breaker can handle. Combined with the use of another appliance (such as a personal computer), a space heater can cause the circuit breaker to trip. If not properly safeguarded, such sudden power outages can damage electronic equipment and cause data loss.
- The campus community is encouraged to turn off lights and lock doors when leaving offices, classrooms and conference rooms, where safe and practical. Post class schedules to alert others that the room is idle and can be allowed to have heat reduced and the lights turned off.
- All are encouraged to turn off PCs, monitors, printers, copiers, coffee pots, and lights every night and on weekends. If you canšt turn off the whole computer, turn off the monitor and the printer. This can save up to $44.00 per computer per year.
- Turn off lights in any room not being used, even if your absence will only be momentary.
- Consider installing solid-state dimmers. They make it easy to reduce lighting intensity in a room, saving energy. Most will not work with fluorescent bulbs however.
At Home
- Have an occasional family meeting to discuss ways you can save energy at home.
- Review these energy saving tips with family members and assign someone to monitor energy between meetings.
- Make a game out of saving energy by paying small rewards for coming up with new energy saving tips in the home.
- Keep track of your utility bills to see how much energy you can save at home.
- Turn off the TV, VCR, stereo or radio when no one is watching or listening.
- Turn off the dehumidifier on dry days when it's not needed.
- Turn off the humidifier on humid days when it's not needed.
- Install low-flush toilets to save water. Many communities have water conservation programs that may pay for the new toilets.
- Turning off the water when brushing teeth or shaving is an easy energy saving tip.
- Don't use the toilet as a wastebasket or ashtray - it wastes water when you flush it.
Energy-Saving Tips for Cooking
Whether or not you plan to buy a new range or other cooking appliances, you can probably save a lot of energy just by modifying your cooking habits. Try these tips:
- Full-size ovens are not very efficient when cooking small quantities of food. When cooking small- to medium-sized meals, it generally pays to use smaller microwave ovens, toaster ovens, or slow-cook crock pots.
- If you have two ovens, use the smaller one whenever you can.
- For soups and stews that require long cooking periods, using a crock-pot will save a substantial amount of energy.
- For stove-top cooking, consider using a pressure-cooker. By building up steam pressure, it cooks at a higher temperature, reducing cooking time and energy use considerably.
- Use the smallest pan necessary to do the job. Smaller pans require less energy.
- With electric cook-tops, match the pan size to the element size. For example, a 6" pan on an 8" burner will waste over 40% of the heat produced by the burner.
- Keep the burner pans (the metal pans under the burners that catch grease) clean and shiny so they will reflect more heat up to the cookware. Blackened burner pans absorb a lot of heat, reducing burner efficiency.
- With electric burners, solid disk elements, and radiant elements under ceramic glass, use flat-bottomed cookware that rests evenly on the burner surface. An electric element is significantly less efficient if the pan does not have good contact with the element.
- With electric burners, you can turn off the burner just before the cooking is finished. The burner will continue radiating heat for a short while.
- With gas burners, make sure you're getting a bluish flame. If the flame is yellow, the gas may not be burning efficiently. Have your gas company check it out.
- To reduce cooking time, defrost frozen foods in the refrigerator before cooking.
- With conventional ovens, keep preheat time to a minimum. Unless you're baking breads or pastries, you may not need to preheat the oven at all.
- Try to avoid peeking into the oven a lot as you cook. Each time you open the door, a significant amount of heat escapes.
- Food cooks more quickly and more efficiently in ovens when air can circulate freely. Don't lay foil on the racks. If possible, stagger pans on upper and lower racks to improve airflow if you're baking more than one pan at a time.
- Cook double portions when using your oven, and refrigerate or freeze half for another meal. It doesn't take as much energy to reheat the food as it does to cook it-not to mention the saved preparation time!
- Use glass or ceramic pans in ovens. You can turn down the temperature about 25°F and cook foods just as quickly.
- Use meat thermometers and timers to avoid overcooking. Overcooking not only spoils the taste and reduces nutritional value but also wastes energy.
- If you have a self-cleaning oven, use the feature just after you've cooked a meal-that way, the oven will still be hot and the cleaning feature will require less energy.
- With microwave ovens, keep the inside surface clean to allow more efficient microwave cooking. You can often cook foods right in their serving dishes, thus saving time and reducing the amount of hot water needed for dishwashing.
Also, see our newsletter for more tips and information!