Conservation & Sustainability Tips

Conserving energy and water in your own unit can save you $ on your monthly utility bills and also help our planet.

Quick Facts

Electrical

Heating & Cooling

Water

Gas

Waste

Electrical

Turn Off Lights When You Leave a Room - Every time you turn off lights when they're not needed, you're saving energy and money. Keeping one 75-watt bulb off for just one hour a day can save $2.46 a year.

Install Compact Fluorescent (CFL) Bulbs Where You Can - Over the life of one CFL bulb, you could save approximately $55. Just a handful around the house and you could notice a difference in your energy bills. They cost a bit more, but you'll change them less often and they produce little or no heat.

Unplug small appliances that aren't being used, such as phone and music player chargers and plug computer equipment and entertainment systems into a power strip with an on/off switch. Cutting off power from the strip when not in use prevents them for continually drawing energy and charging you money.

Switch your computer to sleep mode when it's not used for five minutes. If you plan to be away from the computer for more than 30 minutes, turn it off. This does not damage the computer.

Replace old appliances with ENERGY STAR^TM appliances.

Use Lids and Turn Off Electric Burners Early - Use lids to trap steam and help food cook faster. If you're cooking with an electric range, you can turn off the burners a few minutes early because the burners retain heat.

Use Small Appliances - Use an electric skillet, broiler oven or toaster oven instead of your conventional oven for cooking and baking small quantities. These may use just half the energy.

Dry Loads Back-to-Back - Since your dryer retains heat, dry several loads in a row. You can reduce the heat level on the last load or two. Dry your lightweight items together, using a lower heat setting for less time. Or even better, use your outdoor clotheslines.

Heating & Cooling

Ensure Your Home Is Properly Insulated - Poor or no insulation means losing up to 25 percent of your heating energy. Your attic needs at least six inches of insulation, and make sure to also insulate crawl spaces, walls, floors and heating ducts to save money and increase your comfort.

Control Air Leaks in Your Home - Plug gaps around pipes, ducts and vents that go through walls to prevent losing heated air and having cold air drawn in to replace it. Caulk or seal plumbing and wiring holes at ceiling level. Add weather-stripping to doors and windows for the most cost-effective way to protect your home. Keep fireplace dampers closed to avoid losing up to 10% of furnace heat through the chimney. Make absolutely sure your fire place damper is in the open position before every use to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.

Clean or Replace your Furnace Filter Regularly and tune your furnace every two years.


Seal Household Window Drafts Older homes in particular can benefit during winter from covering windows with plastic film. Home improvement stores carry easy-to-install window-sealing kits. You'll block out drafts and could save more than $40 on your energy bill in one heating season.

Use Passive Solar Heating On Sunny Days Open drapes on south-facing windows when it is sunny. At night, close drapes to retain heat. Close drapes to provide insulation where windows receive no direct sunlight. Up to 15 percent of your heat can escape through unprotected windows.

Open Windows on Cool Nights On cool days and nights, turn off your air conditioner and open your windows. Don't open windows when the outside temperature is warmer than the inside of your house.

Water

Repair Leaky Faucets One drop per second from a leaky faucet wastes up to 400 gallons of water a year. Not only is water being wasted, but so is the energy used to heat the water.

Scrape, Don't Rinse Your Dishes Scrape your dishes instead of rinsing to save water and the energy needed to heat the water.

Run Your Dishwasher Only When It's Full Get in the habit of running your dishwasher only when it's full to maximize energy savings.

Air-Dry Your Dishes, Even in the Dishwasher Air-dry the dishes or use the unit's energy-saving features. Avoid using the heat-dry, rinse-hold and pre-rinse features.

Take shorter showers to save water and water heating costs.

Gas

Wash Clothes in the Coolest Water Possible About 80 percent of the cost to run your washer is used for heating the water. Except for all-white loads, there is little benefit to washing in hot water.

Install a Tankless Water Heater.

Install low-flow shower heads and faucet restrictors and take short showers. Hot water heaters are often one of the most expensive energy uses in a home. A low flow shower head only costs a few dollars and can save a family as much as $70 a year.

Waste

Recycling One Ton of Paper saves 17 trees, 2 barrels of oil (enough to run the average car for 1,260 miles), 4,100 kilowatts of energy (enough power for the average home for 6 months), 3.2 cubic yards of landfill space, and 60 pounds of air pollution.

Recycling just One Aluminum Can saves enough energy to operate a TV for 3 hours.

Hard to Recycle Materials For hard-to-recycle materials such as books, textiles, shoes, plastic bags (#2 & #4), white block foam (#6), cooking oil, porcelain, bike tubes, bike tires, and big, durable plastics (#2 molds), use the Eco-Cycle/City of Boulder Center for Hard to Recycle Materials (CHaRM) at 5030 Pearl St. which is open 9:00 am to 4:00 pm Monday to Saturday.Call (303) 444-6634 or visit www.ecocycle.org for details of what they accept.

Construction Waste To donate used building materials for reuse visit ReSource at 2665 N. 63rd St. Call first at (303) 419-5418 or visit www.resourceyard.org to find out what materials they need and what is available for your next remodeling project.

* Energy tips provided by Xcel Energy, Boulder Climate Smart, Eco-Cycle, & HUD

Assistance Opportunities

• Longs Peak Energy Conservation - Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Weatherization, Audits
• Colorado Governor's Energy Office Rebates
• Boulder Climate Smart Loan Program
• Energy Outreach Colorado
• Xcel Energy Rebates, Incentives & Programs

Additional Resources

• Boulder County ClimateSmart
• Center for ReSource Conservation
• Xcel Energy Tips
• Colorado Governor's Energy Office
• EnergyStar
• Department of Energy
• Plastic Recycling Codes