Holy kilowatts

kilowatt crazy

Did you know that in 2018 the average annual electricity consumption for a U.S. residential utility customer was 10,972 kWh, this equaling about 914 kWh per month. 

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Take a bite out of your budget

The people are paying roughly $2200 a year for utilities, $1200 of that on electricity alone.  Energy takes a huge bite out of the American household budget every month!

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New Year, New Make Over!

Americans have one of the world’s highest per-person carbon emission rates.  These carbon tracks can be traced all the way back to your bathroom, your kitchen and your basement. ​

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WAYS TO SAVE

Ways to save carbon emissions in your kitchen. 

• Run a full dishwasher to avoid 100 pounds of carbon pollution per year.  The dishwater uses 3 gallons per load, whereas hand washing can use as much as 27 gallons of water.
• Add a faucet aerator that screws.  This will reduce tap water flow to 1.5 gallons of water per minute rather than the standard 2.2 gallons per minute.
• Upgrade your refrigerator and save 5000 pounds of carbon pollution over a 5-year period. By recycling your refrigerator, you ensure that your old refrigerator won’t be reused, which will prevent 10,000 pounds of added emissions.

 Ways to save carbon emissions in your bathroom.

• LED lights for the vanity use 90% less energy than incandescent bulbs. 
• Run towel heater/toilet warmer/ floor warmer on a set timer.
• Swap out the old shower-head for a more efficient one.  This will help save 180-500 pounds of carbon pollution per year.
• Lower hot water tank temperature to 120 degrees.

 Ways to save carbon emissions in your bedroom & living room.

• Use weather strips or caulking around all windows or doors.
• Use your ceiling fan year-round. Fans use 90% less energy than air conditioners. 
• Use your fan clockwise in winter to help with heating and counter-clockwise in the summer to keep your house cooler.
• Unplug fully charged devices. 23% of electricity consumed at home is wasted standby power!
• Do not stream movies from gaming consoles. It takes 75 watts to play a single movie!
• Change your television setting to energy consuming.

Less Power

By reducing your energy use, you help to decrease power plant emissions. Power plants burn coal, crude oil and other fossil fuels to generate electricity. These methods are generally inexpensive, but the planet pays the price. Carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide are by-products that cause airborne pollution and are also greenhouse gases. The greenhouse gases absorb the sun’s warmth and keeps the heat in the atmosphere.  
By using less power, you reduce the number of toxic fumes released by power plants.  This in return will conserve the earth’s natural resources and protect the ecosystem from destruction.

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Fun Facts:

• 1/3 of all households own a refrigerator that is over 10 years old.
• 50% less energy used when using warm water than hot to do laundry- cold water is best!
•  “Watersense” shower heads helps you save roughly 2300 gallons of water per year.​

​Going green doesn’t mean- major lifestyle changes!

Just committing to a few easy tweaks in your routine can do wonders for the environment and your wallet!