With the rising costs of energy, the Department of General Services’ (DGS) Energy Division wants everyone to think energy-wise and practice being energy-efficient. Here are a few tips to keep in mind as you go about your daily activities that can help lower your energy costs and still provide comfort for you and your family.
- Use energy efficient lighting. If every home in America replaced just one conventional light bulb with an energy saving Energy Star compact fluorescent light bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes a year. Be sure to check the city’s website for ways to recycle these after use.
- Install a programmable thermostat to keep your house comfortably warm in the winter and comfortably cool in the summer.
- Turn off any unnecessary lights in your home along with any computers, monitors, televisions and DVD players when not in use. Many of these devices, including phone chargers, cable boxes and game stations, continue to draw energy even when in the “off” or “stand-by mode. Unplug them to save even more.
- Lower the thermostat on your hot water heater. Most households usually only require them set at 120ºF. For each 10ºF reduction in water temperature, you can save between 3%–5% in energy costs.
- Take public transportation, bike or carpool to save energy and help reduce vehicle emissions. If you must drive, drive sensibly. Speeding, rapid acceleration and braking wastes gasoline. Avoid excessive vehicle idling. On average, one idling vehicle uses .08 gallons of fuel every five minutes, which means a vehicle that idles one hour a day wastes nearly a gallon of fuel.
- Look for the ENERGY STAR label on home appliances and products. ENERGY STAR products meet strict efficiency guidelines set by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Department of General Services understands the value of energy conservation and has already implemented many cost-saving energy initiatives for the City. To learn more about energy savings, visit the DGS Energy Resources page.