Reduce Electric Usage

• Switch to compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL). While the upfront cost is greater for a CFL than an incandescent bulb, a CFL lasts approximately ten times longer, burns cooler and utilizes seventy-five percent less energy—so you save money and resources. The coloring cast by a CFL is the cool side of the color spectrum, emitting a bluish light (incandescent light bulbs cast a warm or yellowish light). However, the newer CFL lights on the market cast a full-spectrum light—look for bulbs described as “warm white,” “daylight” or “full spectrum.”
• When shopping for a CFL, the following is considered the standard equivalent for incandescent versus CFL. However, I have found this comparison to be a little off—that CFL’s tend to cast less light than their incandescent equivalents. However, because a watt is a watt, if your lamp indicates a maximum of one hundred watts, and a twenty watt bulb CFL isn’t bright enough, you can safely use a twenty-three CFL watt bulb.

  Incandescent------------------------CFL

  60 watts------------------------------11 watts

  75 watts------------------------------18 watts

  100 watts-----------------------------20 watts

  150 watts-----------------------------23 watts

• Natural-spectrum bulbs are another great choice, and they mimic natural sunlight and last thirty-five hundred hours. As the name implies, the light cast imitates the full-spectrum—or natural daylight—and so makes colors appear bright and true.
• Purchase appliances with the Energy Star Label. Energy Star appliances use less energy than their counterparts, thus saving you money on utility bills and helping to protect the environment. For example, replacing a refrigerator purchased in 1990 with a new Energy Star qualified model would save enough energy to light the average household for three months and prevent more than three hundred pounds of pollution a year.
• Use the “miser” switch on appliances.
• Use rechargeable batteries for small appliances and cut down on the amount of toxic batteries that end up in landfills.
• Choose gas appliances when possible, as they use less energy, create fewer emissions and are cheaper to operate than electric models.
• Keep all appliances in good condition to maximize their efficiency.
• Ensure that your refrigerator has adequate ventilation, as a poorly ventilated refrigerator can use ninety percent more energy to operate. Skip the automatic ice makers and through-the-door dispensers, as they increase energy use by fourteen to twenty percent. Check the door seal—if you can close the door on a dollar bill, for example, and easily pull it out, the seal is not effective. Replace seal. Do not over chill, but keep the refrigerator at thirty-seven to forty degrees and freezer at zero to five degrees. If every refrigerator in America were turned up one degree, three million tons of carbon dioxide would be kept from entering the atmosphere.
• Use solar-power for outside lighting fixtures.
• Set your dishwasher to “off” for the dry cycle.
• Turn off lights, televisions and other appliances when not in use.
• Buy a washing machine with a horizontal-axis instead of the tub variety, as they consume less water and energy. For even more energy savings, look into the newest washing machine/dryers-in-one.
• Air dry your clothes instead of using a dryer.
• Motion-detector light switches will shut off lights automatically when no one is in room.
• Use the air conditioner sparingly and raise the thermostat. Use less air conditioning by opening windows and operating fans. Circulating air feels cooler than stagnant air. So consider installing an attic fan and adding ceiling fans.

Excerpt from the award winning book, Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify & Energize Your Life, Your Home & Your Planet, copyright 2007.