Change your lightbulbs to CFLs or LED lights
How it works: CFLs or LED lights use significantly less energy than incandescent bulbs and they have a much longer lifespan.
Cost: A typical CFL costs approximately $5. Look for multi-packs.
Eco-benefit: Natural Resources Canada estimates that if each Canadian household replaced one 60-watt incandescent bulb with a 15-watt CFL, national GHG emissions would be reduced by 396,000 tonnes.
Install a programmable thermostat
How it works: A programmable thermostat turns down the heating (or cooling) automatically when you’re away during the day or sleeping at night
Cost: Starts at about $50
Eco-benefit: According to Environment Canada, a 3ºC decrease will reduce a household’s annual GHG emissions by 1/2 tonne.
Add attic insulation
How it works: Heat rises, so it makes sense to stop it from leaking out your roof by adding insulation.
Cost: Easy-to-install batts of R-20 fibreglass insulation cost about $1/sq.ft.
Eco-benefit: A well-insulated attic also keeps your home cool in the dog days of summer, reducing AC usage.
Seal your cracks
How it works: Use caulking or foam to close off small openings that can add up to a basketball-sized hole in your wall.
Cost: A handful of $5 tubes of caulking, a can of $10 spray foam and an afternoon’s work.
Eco-benefit: The gaps around windows, doors and baseboards are a major source of heat loss.
Plant a windbreak
How it works: A strategically placed row of trees or shrubs can shelter your home from the prevailing winds.
Cost: You can pick up cedar shrubs for as little as $25 each—cheaper and offering more privacy than a fence.
Eco-benefit: Reduces winter heating costs, provides cooling shade in summer and traps carbon.
Change your furnace filters
How it works: Clogged filters force the furnace fan to work harder and, therefore, consume more electricity.
Cost: New filters are about $10 each. Check your owner’s manual for
recommended frequency of replacement.
Eco-benefit: Filters also help air conditioners run more efficiently, so you’ll reduce energy consumption year-round.
Read more in Home Reno & Design and Green Renovations
You might also enjoy:
1 Comment
There are 3 other things our large family does that are actually saving us money while helping the environment: 1) we do laundry without detergents or hot water 2) we purify our own drinking water (without using reverse osmosis which wastes water in the process of purification) 3) we recycle the electricity wasted by the inefficiency of motors in the home, while also providing surge and spike protection for our appliances and computers, etc, and "cleaning" the electricity those things use. If you want to know more, write me at apuresolution@gmail.com