View Gas - Energy Efficiency

Reduce your energy bills by following these helpful tips. For additional information and suggestions, download a copy of CoServ's "You Have the Power! A Guide to Cost-Cutting Conservation Measures".

Please click here for "You Have the Power! A Guide to Cost-Cutting Conservation Measures"..

In the Kitchen

• Plan what you need from the refrigerator before opening the door so the door is open as short a period as possible.
• Check the seal on your refrigerator door by closing the door on a slip of paper or a dollar bill. Tug gently on the paper and see if you can pull it out easily. If it pulls right out, your door may need new seals or the refrigerator may need to be replaced. If it sticks snuggly in place the door seals are working properly, keeping the cool air inside and the hot air outside.

Around the House

• Check to see if energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs will fit in your home's most often used lamps. They cost more to purchase, but you get the money back because they use only one-quarter as much energy as incandescent light bulbs and they last 10 times longer.
• Turn off lights, televisions and radios when no one is in the room or you are not using them.
• How often are your home's air filters changed? They should be changed at the beginning of each heating and cooling season if your home has central air conditioning. They are usually located in the heating or cooling unit, but are sometimes in the register at the end of the air duct.

Heating and Cooling Your Home

• Check the temperature setting on your thermostat. In the winter it should be set at the lowest temperature that keeps the house comfortable. Many recommend trying to keep it at 68° - 70°. Similarly, in the summer, it should be set at the highest comfortable setting. Try for 78° - 80°.
• Keep doors to the outside closed when the heat or air conditioning is on and close them quickly when you come in or go out. Each time you open a door while the heating or cooling system is operating heated or cooled air escapes.
• If you have a fireplace in your home, check to see if the damper/flue is open or closed. If it is open when the heating or cooling system is on, it lets heated or cooled air escape up the chimney.
• If your home has ceiling fans, make sure they are "off" when no one is in the room. Leaving fans on to cool an empty room is a common misconception. Ceiling fans don't cool the room they just make people feel cool by blowing air across the skin. In fact, fans actually warm a room because the fan motor gives off heat as it operates. When no one is there to appreciate the moving air, turn the ceiling fans off.

Windows

• If your home's windows only have a single pane of glass, you may be able to save on heating and cooling bills by adding storm windows.
• In the winter, keep the window covered with drapes or blinds to reduce heat flowing out. These window coverings add insulation to the glass and make it harder for your home's heat to escape. If the windows face south, east or west, open the curtains when the sun shines through the windows - this is essentially free heat. Windows that face north don't get direct sunlight, so keeping them covered as much as possible in the winter makes sense.
• While you're looking at your home's windows, is there a way to shade them or keep the sunlight out during the cooling season? Consider awnings on the outside or drapes or blinds on the inside that can be used to block the sun.

Water

• Place your hand on the side of your home's water heater. Is it warm to the touch? If it is, it is losing heat through its sides that is supposed to stay in your home's hot water. Consider installing an insulating blanket around the tank.
• Check the temperature of your home's hot water. Let the hot water in your kitchen sink run until it gets hot. Fill a glass with hot water and put a thermometer in the water to check the temperature. (Make sure you use a thermometer made for measuring high temperatures, not the kind for taking people's temperature.) Most homes can get by with the water heater set to provide 120°F water. If your water is hotter than this, consider turning the water heater's setting down to the lowest setting that still provides sufficient hot water.
• Check each sink and toilet in your home for leaks. Leaky hot water faucets waste both water and energy.

* Tips provided by Apogee Interactive