Winter Tips

• Install a programmable thermostat. You can save 2% on your heating bill for every 1 ºC you turn down your thermostat. Lower your thermostat by 4 - 5 ºC (7 – 9 ºF) while you're sleeping at night and when no one is at home.
• Clean or replace the filter every 1-2 months.  A dirty filter reduces the airflow and forces the furnace to run longer to heat your home; a clean furnace doesn’t work as hard and therefore uses less energy. 
• Replace the air filters that keep dust out of the duct system; usually every three months for most models. 
• Apply a sealant or caulk around windows, doorframes, sills and joints. There is removable, temporary caulking on the inside of your windows that you can peel off in the spring.  On a windy day feel for leaks or use a couple of incense sticks to help identify leaks around windows, electrical outlets, vents and exterior doors. As well look for spider webs; if there is a web there is a draft.  
• Install or replace weather stripping around doors and caulk air leaks around windows, electric sockets and plumbing fixtures ($10 to $20). The air leaks in an older home can add up to a hole a St. Bernard could crawl through.  
• Keep return air grills and heating vents clear of furniture, rugs and drapes, so there is no interference with the flow of heat through your home.
• If you have an unfinished basement or crawlspace, check for leaks by looking for spider webs. A large amount of heat is also lost from an un-insulated basement, so add insulation to basement walls.
• On sunny days, open south facing drapes and let the sun in, a natural source of heat. If you have large windows that don't receive direct sun, keep the drapes closed.
• Close your drapes and blinds during the night. 
• Plug gaps around pipes, ducts, fans and vents that go through walls, ceilings and floors from heated to unheated spaces.  
• Up to 25% of heat loss is through windows, so plastic window covers can help reduce drafts. They can be purchased at most hardware stores.  
• If you have forced air heating in your home, give your furnace a break by having ducts cleaned regularly and checked for leaks. Leaky air ducts can cause distribution losses of up to 30%.  
• Don’t warm up your car by idling (it doesn’t need it) and turn it off if you’re stopped or parked for more than 10 seconds, except in traffic

   

• Get your air conditioner tuned up on a regular basis. You can clean the outside compressor yourself with a hose, removing debris that impedes air flow. 
• Following instructions and safety precautions from your air conditioner’s manufacturer, you can also clean the grilles and fan blades, clean and lubricate the fan motor, and clean the coil fins. 
• Reduce the time your air conditioner is on by raising the thermostat by 1 ºC and lower your electricity bill up to 5%. 
• Open windows at night and use fans to blow in cool air. During the day, close your windows and draw the curtains closed to keep out solar energy. 
• Use fans to cool your room. You can cool the main floor of a house by using a fan to blow cool air up from the basement. 
• Planting the right vegetation can lower your energy consumption. A tree or shrub that shades your central air conditioner can improve its efficiency by up to 10%. 
• Consider planting a deciduous tree on the south side of your lawn to block the sun during the summer, and let in solar energy during the winter when it sheds its leaves. 
• Water your lawn only once a week during dry summer periods and run the sprinkler for no more than 45 minutes. Keep your grass longer in length to conserve water. 

• Wash laundry in cold water; 85 – 90% of the energy used to wash your clothes is used to heat the water. By turning the dial to cold on your washing machine, this does just as good a job, keeps your colours bright, and saves lots of energy. 
• Wash full loads of laundry.  
• Install low-flow showerheads and faucets.  
• Always wash a full load in your dishwasher and air-dry your dishes on the “energy saver” setting.  
• Turn off lights, TVs and other appliances when they are not needed.  
• Take short showers instead of baths. A 5 minute shower uses about 50% as much water as a bath.  
• You can also control the intensity of your incandescent bulbs with dimmer switches to save money. A bulb dimmed by 25% uses 10% less energy.  
• Install motion sensors on light switches.  
• Using a low-flow shower head can save up to 15% of hot water costs; aerators on your sink faucets can reduce water use by about 10%.  
• Use small appliances such as a microwave, slow cooker, electric kettle or toaster oven instead of the stove.  
• Take clothes out of the dryer and fold them while they are still warm to prevent wrinkling; your iron uses a lot of energy.  
• Shower and run your dishwasher, washer and dryer early in the morning or late at night.  
• Consider a home energy audit to find out how energy efficient your home is and the best way to spend your home-improvement dollars.  
• Set the temperature in your refrigerator between 1.7 and 3.3 ºC (35-38 ºF) for the refrigerator compartment and at  –18 ºC (0 ºF.) for the freezer, if you have separate controls.  
• Don’t peek while using your oven; you lose about 20% of the heat every time you open the door.  
• Reheat small food portions with your microwave oven, which uses less than ½ the energy of a conventional oven/range.  
• Use the short-wash cycle on your dishwasher and turn it off and open the door at the start of the dry cycle.  
• Don’t run the water continuously when washing dishes by hand, shaving, washing your face and hands or brushing your teeth. Avoid rinsing dishes with hot water before putting them in the dishwasher.  
• Minimize water used per flush in your toilet by adjusting the float and/or putting a brick in the tank.  
• Take a five-minute shower, which uses half as much hot water as a bath or a 10-minute shower.  
• Set the temperature on your hot water tank to 50 ºC (120 ºF). Every 5.5 ºC (10 ºF) reduction saves up to 13 % on your water heating costs.  
• Wash clothes in cold water whenever possible and always rinse in cold water (heating water typically accounts for up to 90 per cent of the washer’s total energy use. 
• Dry clothes outside on a line (if it’s okay with your local bylaw) or indoors on a rack, when possible. Use the moisture sensor feature on your dryer, if it has one, to prevent over drying, or select the perm-a-press setting, which uses cold air at the end of the cycle.  
• Turn the lights off when you leave a room.  
• Unplug VCRs, TVs and their set-top boxes when you’re away or not using them for extended periods. Even when turned off, their standby power consumes a considerable amount of electricity. 
• Turn your computer off when it is not in use for more than a few hours. When your computer is on but not in use, turn off the monitor, which uses at least ½ of the computer’s energy.  
• Install low-flow showerheads (about $15).  They cut your shower water use in ½ with no change in performance, saving sweaty families more than $100 a year in hot water use.  
• Install low-flow aerators (about $4 each) on your faucets. They cut the flow rate in half by mixing air with the water, with no discernable change in performance.  
• Wrap foam insulation around the first metre of hot water pipe above your hot water tank (about $1) and put an insulating jacket (about $20) around older hot water tanks.  
• Repair leaky faucets and toilets (a few dollars for washers or toilet flapper valves). Leaks can account for 5% of total water use.  
• Driving 90 kilometres per hour on the highway uses 20% less fuel than driving 110 kph. 
• Do several errands in one outing, rather than jumping in your car every time you need to buy groceries, go to the bank, rent a video, etc.  
• Walk or cycle to work – you’ll save money and get a good workout.  
• Join a car pool and save much of the $15 a day it costs to operate the average Canadian vehicle.  
• Take public transit, which is twice as fuel efficient, per passenger kilometre, as driving the average private vehicle. Taking the bus or rapid transit once a week will cut almost 15% off your vehicle fuel bill.

   

• Replace an incandescent light bulb with an energy efficient, compact fluorescent bulb in the light fixture you use the most ($15 to $20). These bulbs use 75% less energy and last about 10 times longer than incandescents. 
• Install a motion-detector light outside your main house entrance (starting at $20 for the fixture; look for Energy Star models). 
• Remember to check the energy efficiency rating of an air conditioner before you make this important purchase. An energy efficient air conditioner may be more expensive but it could pay for itself during its lifetime. 
• Choose a front loading washing machine. Not only does a front loading washing machine save water, it saves energy as well. It uses about 40% less water and about 50% less energy.  It also uses less detergent than a top-loading washer and cuts dryer costs because the high speed spin cycle wrings more water from clothes. 
• Buy energy-efficient refrigerators, which use as little as 400 kilowatt hours of electricity per year, half the energy use of standard fridges from the early ‘90s and one quarter of those from the early 1980s.
• Shop for dishwashers with built-in heat boosters, which raise their hot water heat to at least 60 ºC (140 ºF).  This allows the temperature on your hot water tank to be set at an energy-efficient 50 ºC (120 ºF). 
• Replace old toilets, which can use upwards of 20 litres per flush, with models that use as little as three or six litres.
• Look for furnaces that are more than 90% efficient. These can reduce fuel costs by up to 30%, a savings of perhaps $500 or more per heating season.
• Upgrade your hot water tank to a higher-efficiency model and perhaps save more than $90 in water heating costs per year. When replacing old windows (which can allow 25 per cent of your house’s heat to escape), look for double-glazed, low-emissivity models. They can cut home heating costs considerably and provide more comfortable indoor temperatures in winter and summer.
• Buy the most fuel-efficient vehicle that still meets your needs. A compact car for running around town uses less than half the fuel of a big Sport Utility Vehicle.
• Get rid of your old clunker. A pre-1998 car produces 65 times more hydrocarbon emissions than a 2001 model and gets much worse fuel economy.