!#8# How to Make Your Home Eco-Friendly Green

By following the recommendations below, you can make your home more eco-friendly and protect our one and only planet of life. By purchasing some of the additional products listed below, you will incur additional cost, but in the long run, these products will save you hundreds of dollars in reduced utility bills. Water and energy conservation products pay for themselves over time and then you will continue to receive the benefits of these products with ever on-going savings over several years.

Buy CFL bulbs. The most obvious "green" product is a CFL (compact fluorescent light) bulb. While LED lighting will be the future of all lighting applications, it is still an expensive technology that also cannot generate the high lumens that comparable incandescent and CFL bulbs can produce. CFL bulbs reduce electricity use while contributing to your reduction of carbon emissions. Use low-flow shower heads, hand showers and faucet aerators. Purchasing a low-flow shower head or hand shower does not mean having to put up with a weak stream shower product. Technologies now exist that can increase the feel of water volume without using more water (for example, Alsons' Fluidics Water-Amplifying Shower Heads). Many faucet aerators are rated at 2.2 or 2.5 gpm. You should be using a 1.5 gpm faucet aerator for the kitchen. The bathroom aerator should be no higher than 1.5 gpm, but could go lower. Turn down the temperature on your water heater. Turning down the temperature on your water heater to 120°F will save on energy and prevent unnecessary heating of water above the comfortable temperature of 120°F. Turn off all unused lights. Even if you use compact fluorescent light bulbs, wasted energy benefits no one. Consider installing timers or occupancy sensors to reduce wasted electricity. Use NiMH rechargeable batteries. NiMH batteries are actually cheaper than alkaline batteries because alkalines can only be used once and then thrown away. By purchasing only one NiMH battery, you would have to buy 500 alkaline batteries to get the same life of the rechargeable NiMH battery. As a bonus, NiMH batteries last longer in high-drain devices like digital cameras compared to alkaline batteries. Think of the dollars that could be saved and less landfill trash produced by purchasing rechargeable NiMH batteries. Install a programmable thermostat. Why waste heating or cooling rooms that are unoccupied when you are asleep or away from your home? A programmable thermostat can control your needs based on your schedule. Buy ENERGY STAR products. ENERGY STAR products save you on energy costs compared to other similar items. Typically, ENERGY STAR products cost more initially, but save money in the long run (most likely, ENERGY STAR products will more than pay for themselves). The next time you are looking to buy a new refrigerator, dishwasher, washer, dryer, windows, home electronics, CFL bulbs, etc., look for the blue ENERGY STAR logo. Rope caulk windows. A major source of drafts are windows. Seal up any holes around windows. Several small cracks around windows can add up to a hole in the wall the size of your fist. You wouldn't leave that size of a hole in the wall uninsulated in the winter time would you? Buy new energy-efficient windows. If caulking is too big of a task, consider buying new ENERGY STAR rated windows. The average home loses more than 25% of its heat through windows. Replace or clean filters. Clogged filters in your furnace, air conditioner and heat pump reduce the efficiency of your appliance requiring more energy to do the same job. Use an insulating water heater blanket. Insulating your water heater will prevent temperature loss requiring less electricity and/or gas to maintain the water temperature. Open curtains during the day - shut them at night. During winter, open curtains on the south-facing windows during the day to allow natural heating of your home by the sunlight. At night, close the curtains to reduce the cold chill from the windows. Insulate your hot water pipes. The further the hot water travels through the pipes, the more temperature loss occurs. Use pipe insulators to keep hot water hot. Seal up large air leaks. Windows and doors are not your only concern. Gaps in the basement, attic and fireplaces are potential problems for drafts. Insulate heating/cooling ducts. Heat and air conditioning can escape out of the ducts. Well maintained heating and cooling ducts can prevent up to 60% of temperature loss by the time it hits the registers. Like suggestion #13, the further the heat or air conditioning must travel uninsulated, the more temperature loss occurs. Replace aging, inefficient appliances. Don't wait for an appliance to quit on you. A newer model will be more efficient. As mentioned in recommendation #7, always look for the ENERGY STAR logo for more savings. Reduce air conditioning costs. Plant shade trees and shrubs around your home, especially on the west side. The trees will block the sunshine during the summer and in the winter, the trees will lose their leaves to allow that sunshine through to help heat your home.

If you need to save money, spend more money to buy updated energy-efficient appliances, windows and various other water and energy conservation products. The additional cost you incur today will save you hundreds of dollars in the years to come. Implement any number of these strategies to see your utility bills decline and do your part to help save the planet.