8 Easy Projects for Instant Home Energy Savings

By Gary Reysa
Published on February 1, 2008
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Computers use a lot of electricity, so you can save a lot of energy quickly by setting your computer to go into sleep or hibernate whenever you’re not using it.
Computers use a lot of electricity, so you can save a lot of energy quickly by setting your computer to go into sleep or hibernate whenever you’re not using it.
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It’s easy and inexpensive to add insulation around ductwork, and doing so can lead to big energy savings.
It’s easy and inexpensive to add insulation around ductwork, and doing so can lead to big energy savings.
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If you have an electric (not gas) dryer, try a filter to vent the dryer indoors and take advantage of the waste heat.
If you have an electric (not gas) dryer, try a filter to vent the dryer indoors and take advantage of the waste heat.
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One of the author’s top money and energy saving strategies is surprisingly simple. Turn more stuff off!
One of the author’s top money and energy saving strategies is surprisingly simple. Turn more stuff off!
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Most appliances use energy even when they are turned off, but by plugging multiple cords into one power strip, you can turn them all completely off with one flip of the power strip switch.
Most appliances use energy even when they are turned off, but by plugging multiple cords into one power strip, you can turn them all completely off with one flip of the power strip switch.
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Switching from incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescents is an easy and fast way to save electricity.
Switching from incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescents is an easy and fast way to save electricity.
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New energy-efficient windows are an expensive investment, but there are simple fixes that will make your existing windows more efficient. One of the fastest and cheapest is to cover them with bubble wrap.
New energy-efficient windows are an expensive investment, but there are simple fixes that will make your existing windows more efficient. One of the fastest and cheapest is to cover them with bubble wrap.
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Lower your home heating and cooling costs by tightening up places where air leaks out by sealing them with caulk.
Lower your home heating and cooling costs by tightening up places where air leaks out by sealing them with caulk.
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If you keep your bed warm with an electric mattress pad, you can save energy by turning down the thermostat at night.
If you keep your bed warm with an electric mattress pad, you can save energy by turning down the thermostat at night.
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In the United States, most of our electricity comes from coal-fired power plants, a source of energy that produces a lot of greenhouse gases. Trimming your electricity use can dramatically reduce your carbon footprint.
In the United States, most of our electricity comes from coal-fired power plants, a source of energy that produces a lot of greenhouse gases. Trimming your electricity use can dramatically reduce your carbon footprint.
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The benefits of home energy improvements are not always obvious because many of these projects save only small amounts of money each day, but over time, the savings multiply quickly. To look at the true benefits of any project, calculate the money and energy savings over 10 years.
The benefits of home energy improvements are not always obvious because many of these projects save only small amounts of money each day, but over time, the savings multiply quickly. To look at the true benefits of any project, calculate the money and energy savings over 10 years.
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Some home energy improvements pay off more quickly than others. All things being equal, why not do the projects that save you the most money first?
Some home energy improvements pay off more quickly than others. All things being equal, why not do the projects that save you the most money first?
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Reducing your home energy use is the best of win-win deals — not only does it reduce your carbon footprint, it also saves you big bucks on your energy bills. That’s especially exciting when you consider that many home energy improvements are fast, easy and inexpensive. Often, the savings from an individual project are small, but when you start putting them together they add up quickly.

My family set a goal of cutting our total energy use, energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions in half, and we were able to meet that goal with the help of these simple home projects. We found these reductions in our energy use easy to accomplish without making any significant lifestyle changes.

Here are the details: We cut our total energy use from 93,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) per year to 38,000 kWh per year. This is saving us $4,500 per year in energy costs, and has reduced our carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 17 tons! Our rate of return on the money we invested in this program is more than 50 percent — tax free.

Altogether, we took on 22 different projects, including two solar heating efforts that have already appeared in MOTHER EARTH NEWS. (See Build a Simple Solar Heater, December 2006/January 2007, and Solar Heating Plan for Any Home, December 2007/January 2008.) You can find details about all the projects we’ve done at our home in Montana on my website, Build It Solar. But those I’ll explain in the following pages are the fast, simple ones. These eight easy home improvement projects cost us about $400 and will save us at least $9,000 over the next 10 years!

Prioritizing the Projects

When you start looking at any group of energy saving projects, you’ll likely find a huge difference in the bang for the buck. In our case, it was the simple things — such as controlling the amount of power that our computers use or basic insulating projects — that had especially good paybacks. On the other end of the spectrum, the solar photovoltaic project we intend to do in the future will cost as much as all 22 of our other projects put together, yet will only account for 2.5 percent of the total energy reduction!

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