Year Round Savings Let Energize Delaware help you put the "green" back in your wallet with simple low- and no- cost energy saving solutions. Here are some useful tips and practical steps to help cut energy waste, protect the environment and save you money - today and throughout the year.

Light the Way to Savings

Replace traditional light bulbs in your home with compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs). Only 10 percent of the energy used by an incandescent bulb provides light. The rest is lost as heat. ENERGY STAR® qualified CFLs produce a fraction of the heat and use 75 percent less energy, while lasting up to 10 times longer. Replacing the five most frequently used light bulbs with ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs, can save homeowners at least $70 per year.

Program your savings

Save about $180 a year with a programmable thermostat that automatically adjusts the temperature for the hours that the house is unoccupied. ENERGY STAR qualified programmable thermostats come with pre-programmed settings. Once you install it, select the ENERGY STAR setting or modify it to your household. You can learn more about programmable thermostats at  energystar.gov.

First things on the first

On the first of every month, check your air filters. Change them if they are dirty and at least every three months. A dirty filter will slow down airflow and make the system work harder to keep you warm or cool. It not only wastes energy but can also lead to expensive maintenance and/or early system failure.

Test the waters

Make sure your water heater temperature is set appropriately (about 120 degrees and 130 degrees if you have a dishwasher). It’s likely that the only difference you’ll notice is when your utility bill arrives, as a 20-degree reduction can result in savings of up to $60 each year. Energize Delaware is offering a rebate for more efficient water heaters – a great way to save even more.

Turn it off and unplug it

We all know to turn off lights when leaving a room, but we also spend about $100 a year for electronic products that are in “standby” mode. Put home electronics on a power strip and turn them off completely when not in use. Unplug chargers for cell phones and MP3 players when they are not in use.  Chargers lose what is known as “phantom energy” when left plugged in all the time. Products that have earned the ENERGY STAR use less energy in the standby mode, while providing the same performance and features as conventional models.

Weatherize your home

Caulk and weatherstrip any doors and windows that leak air. Insulating attics and basements can increase your comfort and reduce your cooling costs. If you add insulation to your under-insulated attic for winter, you can save up to 20 percent on heating costs, and you could also qualify for an ENERGY STAR tax credit of up to $1,500.  The U.S. Department of Energy recommends that Delaware attics maintain an R-38 insulation level (about 12-15 inches of insulation).  Four in ten Delawareans live in homes that were built more than 30 years ago, and only 20 percent of homes built before 1980 are well insulated. 

Use your ceiling fans year-round

Used in combination with your air conditioner in the warmer months, and heaters in the cold months, a ceiling fan will allow you to adjust your thermostat setting without affecting your comfort. Ceiling fans set to run in a counterclockwise direction in the summer can help you feel cooler. However, save energy by turning the fan off when you're not in the room – ceiling fans cool people, not rooms. Using a fan in the clockwise direction in the winter helps circulate warm air that tends to rise and collect near the ceiling. Ceiling fans help disburse this air and circulate heat around the entire room.

Don’t let potential savings go up in smoke

Turn down the heat each time you light a fire. Let it warm the room. To keep from losing heat up the chimney, make sure your damper is in good working order and close it when you’re not using your fireplace. If you find yourself making more fires in the winter, consider installing glass doors on your fireplace. This will prevent heated air from escaping through the chimney after the fire dies down.

Upgrade and save

Replacing your old, energy sapping appliances (dishwashers, washers, room air conditioners, water heaters, etc.) to more energy-efficient ENERGY STAR models can qualify Delawareans for rebates and long-term savings on utility bills. Energize Delaware provides mail-in rebates for  new ENERGY STAR qualified appliances. The money-back rebates range from $30 to $200. New appliances purchased under this program are already in use across the state and are generating thousands of dollars in savings and dramatically reducing CO2 emissions.

In addition, Energize Delaware’s recently launched commercial lighting program is providing all non-residential energy consumers, including business and industrial consumers, non-profits and public sector organizations rebates ranging from $2 to $55 for upgrading to a variety of efficient lighting technologies. In Delaware’s commercial sector, approximately 20 percent of all energy consumption is for lighting or up to $237.5 million annually.

Consider a home performance evaluation and make an efficiency plan

A home performance evaluation can help you find hidden problems and opportunities to reduce waste and save more. One option is to hire an energy auditor to conduct a comprehensive inspection of all systems in the home. Once the evaluation is complete, homeowners receive a report that recommends improvements they can do themselves or hire a contractor to do. Another option is to conduct an online evaluation yourself. For more information about home energy audits, including free tools and calculators, visit the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Savers program.

After you have identified where your home is losing energy, set your savings priorities by asking yourself some important questions:

• How much money do you spend on energy?
• Where are your greatest energy losses?
• What is your budget and how much time do you have to spend on maintenance and repair?
• How long will it take for an investment in energy efficiency to pay for itself in energy cost savings?
• Do the energy-saving measures provide additional benefits such as comfort, air quality, and noise reduction that are important to you?
• Can you do the job yourself or will you need to hire a contractor?

Once you prioritize your energy needs, you can develop an efficiency plan, which will guide your efforts to make smart purchases and home improvements.