Apartment dwellers looking to reduce their energy use may sometimes feel the biggest impact can only be achieved through upgrades which are out of their control. Here are 8 tips to help anyone save energy and increase the efficiency of their apartment (or house!):
- Switch out five standard light bulbs for compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) and you can save as much as $60 a year on electricity
- Thaw frozen foods in the refrigerator before cooking.
- Foods in covered pans begin boiling or steaming faster, which allows you to use lower temperature settings.
- Set your refrigerator temperature between 30°F and 42°F and your freezer between 0°F and 5°F. Use the power-save switch if you have one and make sure that the doors seal tightly.
- When you use your dishwasher, make sure you are washing full loads of dishes. Also, instead of using the heat cycle to dry your dishes, just open the door and let them air-dry.
- Refrigerators and freezers operate most efficiently when full but not overcrowded. If your refrigerator is overloaded air may not circulate properly, causing your compressor to work hard and use more energy.
- During warm weather months, set your thermostat to 78°F or higher when you’re at home and 85°F when you’re not. You can save up to 3% off your bill for each degree the thermostat is set above 72°F.
- Use the sunlight to your advantage. During winter, open the shades and blinds on sunny days as a way to light and heat the interior of your home. Close them during the summer to keep your apartment cooler.
By Lauren, Green Mountain Energy Company
July 6, 2011
July 6, 2011
5 Comments
It’s such a fallacy to think we can switch all out light bulbs to CFL to save money. CFL are only good in fixture where you leave the light on for long periods of time. If you are constantly turning that light on and off, you decrease the life of the fluorescent and thus the long-term savings, since CFLs cost more.
Furthermore. please do not throw them away in the trash. They have high mercury content. They need to be disposed of separately. If your building does not have a CFL collection, see if your local hardware store has a bin for them.
Jeff, thanks for your comments. According to EnergyStar.gov, CFLs help consumers save money because they use 75% less energy and last up to 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs. You’re correct that frequent switching on and off can decrease the lifetime of a CFL. Because of this, Energy Star recommends CFLs be used in all fixtures that stay on for at least 15 minutes at a time to maximize their savings. Learn more about frequent on-and-off switching here: http://energystar.supportportal.com/ics/support/kbAnswer.asp?deptID=23018&task=knowledge&questionID=14672.
However, we can still save money by switching to CFLs. Consider this: the average American household has about 30 light fixtures, and it’s likely that some of these stay on for longer than 15 minutes. If every American home replaced just one incandescent bulb with an ENERGY STAR certified CFL, we would save enough energy to light 3 million homes for a year, save about $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent 9 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions per year, equivalent to those from about 800,000 cars.
CFLs do contain a small amount of mercury – about 4 milligrams. Your advice about disposal is very good! And even though CFLs contain a small amount of mercury that could ultimately end up in the environment, that amount is significantly less than the amount of mercury avoided from power plants as a result of the energy savings. Learn more about CFLs and mercury here: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=cfls.pr_cfls_mercury.
Thanks Tony. Those are great stats. The only thing about the mercury is the concern over volume. One bulb has very little, but a mass increase of use and improper disposal will create a toxic mess. Take 1 bulb per household and how many get disposed a year?
Yes, and all the more reason to dispose of them properly. You’re very right about that. Home Depots have CFL recycling which are in just about every community so a convenient option for most people.
Good tips – what about getting your landlord to install more controllable heating? Also, use fans instead of AC (until the heat gets too much!)