Weekly Green Tip #28 from Green52.org

Green tip for week #28 — Week of November 9, 2008

Use a programmable thermostat

As the seasons change, and the weather becomes colder in much of the country, now is a good time to consider installing a programmable thermostat (if you don’t already have one), or using the one you already have. Keeping your home at a reasonable temperature during the hours you are there, and reducing the temperature considerably while you are away will save energy, money, and will conserve our natural resources.

If you do not know how to program your thermostat, read your instruction book, ask a friend, or even search online for a guide, as most of them are quite simple to use once you learn the basics. Although styles vary, many allow you to program day, night and weekend settings so that you can have the temperature automatically drop at the times you are away from the home and automatically adjust to a more comfortable temperature right before you typically arrive home.

Even though it is possible to get similar results just by changing the temperature on a traditional/analog thermostat, using a digital programmable thermostat will help ensure that the temperature changes occur automatically, without forcing you to remember to change it every time you leave home.

Remember, simple changes to your daily habits, routines, and the way you think about conservation of energy and responsible use of our natural resources can make a big difference, particularly if everyone makes an effort to make these changes. Please visit our weekly green tips section at Green52.org often, and encourage your friends to do the same.

_____

Green52.org is an interactive community — we want you to share your ideas and contribute too! Feel free to click the “comments” section on this or any of our green idea articles to add your comments, suggestions, and discussion.

For more weekly green tips, come back to Green52.org regularly and tell your friends and colleagues about the weekly green tips found at Green52.org.

Weekly Green Tip #19 from Green52.org

Green tip for week #19 — Week of September 7, 2008

Turn down your water heater

This week’s green tip from Green52.org is a simple one that won’t cost you any money, and will only take a minute.  Turning down the temperature of your water heater can conserve energy and reduce waster.  Many of us have our water heater set far more hot than we ever need.  Not only can this be a safety issue, but having your water heater set to a temperature that is too hot is simply wasteful.

As you’ve read in our other weekly green tips, Green52.org is all about encouraging environmental responsibility through simple changes, and by offering ideas that are easy to incorporate.  Even though turning down your water heater won’t make global warming screech to a halt, everything we do individually can have an impact cumulatively.

Even if you aren’t convinced there will be significant environmental benefit from the fact that you can conserve fuel energy resources by maintaining a more moderate water temperature, doing so can be easier on your finances (reduced energy consumption) it’s just a practical change to make, since having extra hot water sit in a large holding tank doesn’t do much good if you don’t need it.

When turning down your water heater temperature, just drop it a little bit at a time, and let it settle in for a day or two before adjusting it again (to make sure the tank has time to change temperature and the existing water in the pipes flows through).  If it is still plenty warm after the change, drop it a bit again, until you feel like it gives you just enough hot water for your needs.

Remember that most water heaters also have a “vacation” setting or something similar to reduce the temperature when you are away from home and don’t need hot water to be sitting in a tank waiting for you.

Thanks for reading our blog at Green52.org.  Since we are 19 weeks into our weekly green tips, we encourage you to share our site with others, and to offer your tips, ideas, comments, and contributions!

Remember that taking small steps today can lead to substantial benefits to the environment tomorrow!

_____

Green52.org is an interactive community — we want you to share your ideas and contribute too! Feel free to click the “comments” section on this or any of our green idea articles to add your comments, suggestions, and discussion.

For more weekly green tips, come back to Green52.org and tell your friends and colleagues about the weekly green tips found at Green52.org.