Summer Conservation Tips

Do your part to reduce peak demand and save on your electric bill in the process.

Summer Conservation At Home

Raise room temperature just a few degrees. It reduces the amount of energy required to operate your air conditioning system, lowering the overall demand for energy and saving you money.

Turn off unnecessary lights. Studies show that turning off two 75 watt lights for two hours each night will not only save significant amounts of energy, it reduces the average utility bill by 2 percent.

Get rid of that second refrigerator. Chances are, the money you’re trying to save by stocking up and storing food in that second fridge is going right to your utility bill. Unplugging and recycling that second fridge will reduce your energy consumption by a whopping 9 percent and a corresponding amount on your electric bill. Clean coils on your first refrigerator and give it sufficient breathing room and you’ll lower your energy usage another 1.7 percent.

Do dishes and wash and dry clothes after 8pm. Utilities have lots of extra night time capacity even when summer energy usage is at its peak. By using power hungry appliances at night , you’ll be doing your part to take strain off the system during the day. And opening the door of your dishwasher to air dry the dishes will reduce your energy consumption by 1 percent.

Charge batteries at night. Take even more strain off the grid during the day by charging the batteries for laptops, palmtops, cell phones, toys, boat trolling motors, electric toothbrushes, razors, electric mowers, cordless tools and other battery operated items at night.

Put your computer to work saving energy. Most computers have an energy saving mode. Turn it on and the computer will save energy by putting the computer and monitor "to sleep" when it is not in use.

Summer Conservation At Work

Raise room temperature just a few degrees. It greatly reduces the amount the energy required to operate your air conditioning system. Depending on the size of your space and your air conditioning system, the total energy saved could be significant.

Close the shades. If you have large office windows, close the shades to reduce air conditioning loads for energy savings.

Maximize energy savings during summer hours. If your company has Friday’s off or reduced hours on Friday during the summer months, make sure the air conditioning, lights and equipment such as computers and copiers are turned off.

Watch those copiers. The heated paper driers in copy machines consume huge amounts of electricity. If possible, designate a primary copier in your office which you can leave on, then turn off other copiers, saving them for large copying jobs or when there are backlogs at the primary copier.

Replace incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent bulbs. Replacing a 100 watt incandescent with a 32 watt fluorescent provides the same amount of light but uses 66 percent less energy. The bulb will last up to 10 times longer, too.

Install room-sentry light switches. Installing light switches that automatically turn lights on and off when people enter or leave a room can save significant amounts of power, especially in storage areas, lunchrooms and other areas where there is only periodic use.

Unplug your laptop during the day. Use the battery to operate your laptop during office hours, and then charge it up again overnight, when utilities have an abundance of capacity.