There are many ways to improve your home’s energy efficiency and save money. Here are five suggestions from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star Action Guide.
Action: Replace five lights or light bulbs with ones that carry the Energy Star Label.
Savings: About $60 a year. If every U.S. household did this, more than 1 trillion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions would be saved.
Action: Buy appliances and electronics that carry the Energy Star label. (They required at least 15 percent less energy than those that aren’t Energy Star-qualified).
Savings: About $80 a year. If just 1 in 10 U.S. households did this, we’d prevent about 600 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions.
Action: Improve heating and cooling system performance. Service your systems annually, clean or replace air filters regularly, use a programmable Energy Star thermostat.
Savings: About $100 a year. If just 1 in 10 households did this, we’d eliminate 17 billion pounds of greenhouse gases.
Action: Improve your home insulation. Seal air leaks, add wall and attic insulation and choose Energy Star windows to replace old ones.
Savings: Up to 10 percent on your energy bills annually and tons of greenhouse gas emissions. (The average house is responsible for twice the emissions of an average car.)
Action: Spread the word about using energy efficiently.
Savings: A billion Energy Star-qualified products have already been purchased. Their combined use, in one year alone, saves the equivalent of taking 18 million cars off the road.