Say Bah-Humbug to an Energy-Wasting Christmas
Energy saving is all the buzz this season. And just about every company has their own set of rules and suggestions for conserving.
Direct Energy, one of the largest North American providers of energy and energy-related services, is offering consumers tips on trimming their holiday energy usage, which can spike significantly during this festive time of year.
Direct Energy is recommending these measures to reduce usage and maximize efficiency during the holidays:
– Turn down the heat a few degrees. Doing so could save 10 percent on
heating bills. Reducing the heat before guests arrive makes sense, too,
because all their extra body heat will soon warm up the room.— Dim the lights and have memorable holiday meals by candlelight. You
could even “go organic” and try soy candles.— Decorate using LED bulbs, which have a rated life of 50,000 hours,
representing nearly 20 years of normal usage. That’s a bargain,
especially when compared with incandescent lights, which last just 600
to 1,000 hours.— Wrap gifts with conservation in mind. If everyone wrapped just three
gifts in reused paper or fabric gift bags, it would save enough paper
to cover 45,000 ice hockey rinks.— Don’t open the oven door to peek at what’s cooking. It can lower oven
temperatures as much as 25 degrees, which increases cooking time and
gobbles energy. Use the oven light and window instead.— Remember your other cooking appliances when preparing a holiday meal.
Great for cooking or for heating up holiday dinner leftovers,
microwaves use about 50 percent less energy than conventional ovens.— Use your dishwasher for cleanup. A dishwasher requires 37 percent less
water than washing dishes by hand.— Buy miniature decorative lights, which use about 70 percent less energy
and last much longer than bigger bulbs. Connect them to an automatic
timer to reduce the chance of leaving your holiday lights burning all
night or while you’re away.
November 28 2007 | Green Lifestyle and Green Energy | No Comments »
