How To Make Your Home Energy and Cost Efficient – Chapter 9

Chapter 9:  Energy Star:  Understanding What It is

Have you heard of Energy Star?  If you have not, this is your friend for sure.

If you are purchasing any new unit for your home, from a dishwasher or refrigerator to the hot water tank and the furnace, Energy Star is something that you do want to take full advantage of.

This is a term, a distinction that you should have on any of the appliances or major systems within your home.  When a product is deemed to be Energy Star ready, it is capable of providing the necessary service to you but through reduced energy costs.

The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, along with the US Department of Energy is the sponsor of Energy Star programs.  Their goal is to help each person to save money as well as to help each of us to protect the environment by using energy efficient products and by using energy benefiting practices.

The Energy Star program has been able to help people to save quite a bit of money.  The EPA claims that in 2005, Americans were able to save someplace around $12 billion dollars by using Energy Star products and therefore saving on their utility bills.

But, it does not stop there.  They also claim that by using these products, Energy Star has helped to avoid greenhouse gas emissions that would be about the same as that of 23 million cars in 2005 alone.  Therefore, it is a good program to take note of.

The program is in place to allow people to save money, but how much money can you actually save by using Energy Star products?  The EPA estimates that in most cases, by choosing an Energy Star product over one that is not, you can save about a third or more of your energy bill with the product.  In addition, you help to cut down on greenhouse emissions by about a third as well.

The problem was that it seemed for a long time that to get an energy benefiting product you must give up some features to cut back on the use of your product.  Yet, with Energy Star, the program was designed to allow for all of the same products and services with no sacrificing of the quality of comfort of the product but still saving money.

In Your Needs

So, how does Energy Star play a role in helping you to save money?  There are several ways.  In short, you want to select services and products that offer the Energy Star seal of approval.  There are several ways that you can gain these benefits.

When Purchasing New Appliances

For example, if you are purchasing a new appliance, you can save a good deal of money by purchasing a product that is Energy Star approved.  Most of us have seen the yellow tags on appliances to show us just what the benefits to our energy bill is if we purchase this product.

In order for an appliance to get this tag on it, it must pass some pretty amazing tests to insure that it is efficient enough to be considered an Energy Star product.  The guidelines are set for each type of product through the United States Department of Energy and by the Environmental Protection Agency.

If you are looking for a new appliance, such as a refrigerator, a washer or dryer, a dishwasher, an oven, a cook top…any appliance for your home, look for one that is Energy Star approved as it will save you a great deal of money in the long run.

In A Home

Something that has been just becoming available is the ability to tap into Energy Star benefits through your actual new home purchase.  As you will see in later chapters, you can now purchase homes that are Energy Star efficient.  If you do this, you will save a great deal of money.

Look for a home that has been designed specifically for energy efficiency and you will walk away with benefits.

Other Benefits

You can also go to the EPA’s website to gain tools that will help you to design and fix problems related to energy needs as well.  You can find how to lower your energy bills while still providing a great deal of comfort to you and to your family.

A business can also find benefits of using Energy Star products.  Just as you can implement these products into a home, they can fit well into most businesses as well.  Some times, the rewards here are better bottom lines.

----------------------
This is Chapter 9 of a 12 Chapter Series on How To Make Your Home Energy and Cost Efficient

Introduction
Chapter 1:  Determining Current Costs
Chapter 2:  Cost Over Savings Analysis
Chapter 3:  Getting Started Finding Your Biggest Needs
Chapter 4:  Start Small For Big Savings
Chapter 5: Your Window Savings
Chapter 6:  The Fireplace Advantage
Chapter 7:  Energy Saving Habits To Develop
Chapter 8: The Thermostat
Chapter 9: Energy Star: Understanding What It Is
Chapter 10:  Outside The Home
Chapter 11:  Alternative Sources Of Fuel
Chapter 12:  The Energy Efficient New Home
Conclusion

Build Your Own Magnet Power System, For a Better Tomorrow... Today!

My name is Tomas and I have spent a great part of my life working for power plants and electricity companies. I am now retired and I no longer fear to share what I have learned over the years. Power companies are charging you way too much for electricity! They have been using the recent fuel problems to justify their price increases, but this just isn't fair to people like you and I.

You know why?

Click here to check it out online now http://tinyurl.com/mq8jjj

Because power production costs are way under what people believe them to be! Power companies are charging ridiculously high costs for their electricity because they know that no matter how much they ask you to pay for it, you will HAVE to pay it. Who can live without electricity, right? I am here to help you get out of this exploitation circle. My Magnet4Power kit is going to teach you everything you need to know to reduce your utility bills to $10 a month or even eliminate them completely. Even better: if you produce more energy than you use, the power company will actually pay you for your electricity!

Click here to start using the system for yourself http://tinyurl.com/mq8jjj

Magnet generators are being sold at prices averaging $3000. I am here to teach you how to make your own for less than $60!

My Magnet4Power manual is going to teach you everything you need to know to convert your house into a green home even with an extremely limited budget.

Most people believe the only way to get magnet power is to buy factory-built magnet generators and that it is too costly to be envisageable by average-class people. WRONG! I am here to show you the OTHER way most people don't know about. The CHEAP way.

Just visit http://tinyurl.com/mq8jjj to see how this is possible!

Speak soon,

Magnet4Power systems.
http://tinyurl.com/mq8jjj

Easy Ways to Make your Home More Eco-Friendly

We all want to do our part to protect the environment, but without a large paycheck, that can be seem difficult, if not impossible. But doing your part doesn’t have to be hard. Small steps add up to a big difference, you just have to know which ones to take. 

Use less water.

Saving water is all about small steps, here are a few that will help save big.

- Shut off the water while you brush your teeth
- Take showers that are a minute or two shorter
- Only flush the toilet when you need to
- Only run full loads of laundry and dishes
- Buy from sustainable producers. These are farmers, ranchers, and other producers that use techniques that pollute less and use less water. You can do some research online or ask at your local organic market to find these products.

Use less energy.

If you don’t have the money to buy a hybrid car or convert your house to solar power, you can make a big difference with small changes.

- Buy energy efficient appliances.  They may be more expensive, but make up for the increased cost in lower energy bills.
- Unplug chargers when you’re not using them.  Cell phone and other chargers use up powers even if there’s nothing attached to them.
- Put devices with remotes, like T.V.s, VCRs, and stereos, on a power strip and turn it off when you’re not using them.  These devices use a lot of power to run the remote receiver even when the device is off.
- Walk or ride your bike for short trips.
-  Buy local products. It takes energy to transport food and other products across the country. Buying local not only supports your local economy, it helps them use less energy.

When it comes to saving energy and water, it’s a great idea to get the kids involved. You can even make it a game. Have them track how much water and electricity everyone is using. You can compete to see who uses the least water.  You can often count on your kids to help keep you on track when given the task. 

Reuse. 

Most of us know the three R’s: reduce, reuse, recycle, but when we work on conserving, we often leave reuse out of the picture. While you can often find tips on how to reuse common products from other people, what you need most is creativity. With a little thought there are many items around your home that can be reused – toilet paper holders can be used to sow seeds for the vegetable patch. And old yogurt containers can be cut into strip to make plant labels. Old food jars can be refilled with homemade foods or can make great impromptu vases.

Use environmentally friendly products. When you go to the grocery store, you probably see more and more “natural” or “eco friendly” products every time.  There are generally two big problems with these products: 1. Just because they’re more natural than regular products, doesn’t mean they’re entirely natural. 2, They’re often expensive.

If you want inexpensive, natural, safe products, why not just make them yourself. Vinegar is a great way to clean and disinfect glass and other surfaces. Need to remove stubborn stains? Just add some baking soda to your vinegar cleaner. Some quick searching online will lead you to hundreds of other natural safe home-made cleaning products.

We all knowing that going green means better for the environment, but it’s also better for you.  Conserving resources also helps save you money, which is something most of us are happy to live with.