Misplaced Pages

Energy conservation

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Jonathan Kovaciny (talk | contribs) at 07:45, 21 August 2005 (Added numerous items and reorganized the "Tips for Consumers" section). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Revision as of 07:45, 21 August 2005 by Jonathan Kovaciny (talk | contribs) (Added numerous items and reorganized the "Tips for Consumers" section)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
For the physical concept, see conservation of energy.

Energy conservation is the idealistic or economic practice of using energy resources in a sustainable way by considering which processes are wasteful, and addressing those inefficiencies. It is an important issue in manufacturing, primarily for reasons of cost-effectiveness.

File:Gas burner on stove.JPG
Many stoves use natural gas.

As the clearly-finite quantities of non-renewable resources like coal, crude oil and natural gas are reduced further, the matter of conserving the remaining stocks until potential alternatives (like fusion power) may be found viable will become more and more pressing. This can be addressed through decreased use of energy, or increased production by other means. The latter process does not consider other environmental consequences of increasing energy production.

In the United States, Energy Star is a government program to promote energy-efficient consumer products. The EU energy label is a similar European Union program.

Tips for consumers

Reduce heating costs

  • Choose natural gas furnaces, water heaters, stoves, and clothes dryers. Natural gas is significantly more efficient than electricity for heating purposes.
  • Operate your furnace efficiently:
    • Install a programmable thermostat for your furnace and set it so your home will not be heated as much when you are away or asleep.
    • Replace your furnace's air filter every three months (more often if there is a lot of dust or pet dander in your home's air).
  • Insulate your home effectively:
    • Ask your local utility to inspect your home to ensure that you have adequate insulation installed.
    • Seal off rooms that are not in regular use and close heating vents
    • Hold a burning incense stick near the frames of exterior doors and windows. If the smoke moves toward or away from the window, you have an air leak.
    • Replace old, leaky windows (especially single-pane glass) with newer windows.
    • Install heavy curtains over windows
    • If you have basement windows that are never opened, consider replacing them with glass block, which is more insulative than a window. Keep at least two basement windows in place, however, so you can vent the basement if needed.
  • "Reuse" heat:
    • Leave hot water in the bathtub or in cooking pots instead of draining it immediately. This allows the water's stored heat to dissipate into your home rather than being lost down the drain.
    • If you have an electric dryer, vent it inside occasionally. The vented air will be very moist, so track humidity levels; if the humidity is high for extended periods you may encourage mold and mildew growth. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU VENT GAS DRYERS INDOORS.
  • Use thick blankets or electric blankets so you can keep your home's air temperature lower at night.
  • Turn down the temperature on the water heater. The lowest setting on most modern waterheaters in the United States is 110°F or 120°F.
  • Wear several layers of clothing.
  • If you live alone, it may be more efficent to keep your overall house temperature low (55 to 65°F) and use an electric space heater to heat the areas you use most often. For example, if you work from home, keep a heater near your desk

Reduce cooling costs

  • Many of the steps you can take to reduce heating costs, such as insulating and sealing your home, will also reduce air conditioning costs.
  • Turn portable and ceiling fans off when no one is directly in the air stream of the fan. Fans do not actually cool the air; they help your skin to evaporate water more quickly, which cools you.
  • If you have more than two window air conditioners, it is usually more energy-efficient to install a central air conditioner.
  • If you have a portable air conditioners, be sure that it is vented outside. If it is vented inside, you are actually heating your home.
  • In geographic areas where summer nighttime temperatures fall below 70 F, open windows and use window fans to pull cool outside air into your home. Depending on the layout of your home, it may be best to only open certain windows and position fans so outside air is pulled in on one side of the house and interior air is pushed out on the other side of the house. It may be a wise choice to install a whole-house fan, which pulls air through your home and pushes it out through your attic. Choosing a whole-house fan.
  • Install awnings over windows and close window blinds or curtains to keep direct sunlight out.
  • Plant trees near your home. Choose locations that will shade your house during the afternoon. Even trees not directly shading your home will reduce local air temperatures.
  • Drink plenty of fluids to help your body cool itself.

Reduce lighting costs

  • Use compact fluorescent light bulbs in place of conventional incandescent light bulbs. A CFL uses approximately one-fourth the wattage of an incandescent bulb producing a similar level of illumination, and they last 8,000 to 10,000 hours. The savings in electricity typically amounts to over $30 per replaced bulb. Replace your most-used bulbs first for maximum savings.
  • Install motion-detection switches or timers for outdoor lighting rather than leaving lights on all night.
  • Replace incandescent night lights with LED or electroluminescent (Indiglo&TM;, Limelite&TM;, etc.) lights.
  • Don't use excessive holiday lighting.

Reduce water usage

  • Use the light cycle when using a dishwasher on dishes that aren't extremely dirty. Try the same when using a washing machine.
  • Install water-saving showerheads, faucets, and toilets.
  • Take showers instead of baths. Take shorter showers.
  • Install a water softener if your water is "hard".
  • Water outdoor plants early in the morning or late in the evening to reduce the amount of water lost to evaporation.
  • Use a public swimming pool instead of purchasing your own.

Reduce household waste

  • Purchase products in the largest size practical so as to reduce the product:packaging ratio.
  • Do not purchase products with excessive or unnecessary packaging.
  • Use and reuse gift bags in place of gift wrap.
  • Bring your own bags or boxes to the grocery store to carry your purchases home.
  • Put off purchases whenever possible. You will often find that you didn't really need the item.
  • Use rechargable batteries.

Reduce transportation fuel usage

  • Walk, bike, carpool, or use public transportation whenever possible.
  • If practical for your job, ask your employer to let you telecommute on occasion to save trips to the office. Or, if your work hours are flexible, consider working four 10-hour days a week instead of five eight-hour days, to save a commute each week.
  • If possible, avoid driving during rush hour so you aren't wasting fuel in slow-moving traffic.
  • Spend some time planning your errands to reduce the number of trips needed.
  • When purchasing a vehicle, choose a smaller, lighter vehicle. You may be able to purchase a small vehicle and borrow or rent a truck or other large vehicle when needed.
  • Drive conservatively:
    • Reduce your speed. The amount of fuel needed to push air out of your vehicle's path increases exponentially with increases in speed. As a result, fuel efficiency drops rapidly.
    • Accelerate slowly. Getting your vehicle "up to speed" quickly is hard on your vehicle and uses more fuel than a slow start. Also, braking softly farther from your intended stopping point will make your brakes last longer.
  • Keep your vehicle running efficiently:
    • Keep your tires inflated to the recommended tire pressure.
    • Change spark plugs when recommended by your owner's manual.
    • Check your air filter regularly; more frequently if you drive in dusty conditions. To check it, hold it up to the light: if you cannot see light through the filter, replace it.
    • Use regular-grade gasoline unless premium or mid-grade gasoline is specifically recommended by your owner's manual.

Reduce electricity usage

  • Turn off all electric appliances (lights, computers, televisions) when they are not in use.
  • Set your computer to automatically shut off the monitor and switch to standby mode (if available) after a certain number of minutes of disuse.
  • Use products with the Energy Star logo (or similar). In particular, recycling and replacing old refrigerators with an Energy Star-approved one can save a few hundred kilowatt-hours a year. Replacing old refrigeration and air conditioning units (even if they are still functional) with more efficient ones is often an economically and ecologically sound decision.
  • Unplug appliances that will not be used for an extended period of time; many devices, especially consumer electronics, use a small amount of electricity even when they are switched off, due to indicator lights or listening for remote-control signals.
  • Set your furnace/AC fan to "auto" rather than "on" so it will not run when the furnace/AC unit itself is off. The fan uses a significant amount of electricity.
  • Clean the condenser coils on your refrigerator so they can operate more efficiently
  • When cooking with an electric stove/oven:
    • Turn off the burner shortly before the end of the required cooking time; the heating element will still be hot enough to finish the cooking process.
    • Cover pots to reduce heat loss.
    • Do not heat a small pot on a large burner.
    • Microwaving water or other beverages is less energy-efficient than heating it on a stove.

Other conservation tips

  • Use toilet paper and paper towels made of recycled paper.
  • Ask your local energy utility about credits or rebates given for the purchase of energy-efficient appliances.
  • Check books out from your local library rather than purchasing your own copy. This saves the energy and wood needed to produce another book.
  • Donate usable clothing and other items to charity rather than discarding them.
  • At public restrooms, use electric hand dryers (if available) instead of paper towels. The energy needed heat and blow air at your hands is far less than the energy needed to make and transport paper towels and haul waste away.
  • Do not regularly use disposable plates, cups, and silverware. Washing non-disposables is more energy efficient.
  • Use a digital camera in place of a conventional film camera and get prints of only the best photographs. Use a printing service rather than purchasing your own photo printer.
  • Purchase used items when possible.

Issues with energy conservation

The most effective way of energy conservation is not to use any, of course. An idealistic person may also prefer to refuse using appliances that have been costly in terms of natural resources to make, and usually any new appliance with an increased technological complexity has been much less energy-saving to manufacture than its predecessor. It is an important point to consider, if the consumer has more than his personal finances in mind.

See also

External links

Categories: