Wintertime Tips for Reducing Your Carbon Footprint (and Your Energy Bill!)

With warm weather on its way out and cool weather rushing in, we at Green Light New Orleans have gathered our tips and tricks for reducing your energy bill. By reducing the amount of heat you are using, you will reduce the amount of energy you are reducing—thereby reducing your energy bill, as well as your carbon footprint.

Run your ceiling fan at a low speed in the opposite direction. There is a switch on the fan that allows you to switch the rotation of the blades between clockwise and counterclockwise. Switching it to the opposite of its usual setting produces a gentle updraft that forces the warm air near the ceiling down into the living space.

Keep curtains open. In cold weather, keep curtains open when it’s sunny to take advantage of the sun’s warmth. Close them at night to reduce heat loss.

Rearrange your rooms. Exterior walls and older windows are likely to be drafty, so move your furniture around so that you are sitting near interior walls and away from windows.

Clean or replace furnace filters once a month. Dirty filters restrict airflow, which increases energy use because the air has to try harder to get through the filter. You can save up to 5% in heating costs if you keep your furnace clean, lubricated, and properly adjusted.

Wear warm clothing. It sounds silly, but wearing warm clothing can help reduce your energy bill and your carbon footprint! When wearing warm clothing—consider throwing a sweater and some socks on, maybe even some slippers if you want to get really cozy—you don’t need as much gas-produced heat, so you can turn down your heaters more often.

Turn down your thermostat. Turning down the thermostat to between 60°F and 68°F will save up to 5% in heating costs per degree. At nighttime or while away for an extended period of time, dial down your thermostat to 55°F (or turn it off) to save 5-20% of your heating costs.

Insulate your water heater. For older water heaters, consider buying a water heater insulation kit, which reduces the amount of heat lost through the walls of the water tank. Insulating the first five feet of pipe coming out of the top of your water heater (or less if it goes into the wall) will reduce the amount of heat lost through the pipes. Pipe insulation is available at most hardware stores.

Lower the temperature of your water heater. Lowering the water heater temperature from 140°F to 120°F can decrease your carbon footprint and reduce your water heating bill by 7%-11%.

Caulk leaks around windows and doors. Putting weather-strip and caulk around all entrance windows and doors will limit air leaks that could account for 15%-30% of heating and cooling energy. Check places where you have pipes, vents, or electrical conduits that go through the wall, ceiling, or floors; the bathroom, underneath the kitchen sink, pipes inside a closet, etc. If you find a gap anywhere, seal it up.

When keeping warm during the wintertime, please remember to be safe. Keep hot outdoor appliances (such as barbecues or camp stoves) outside where they belong. They are not meant to be indoors and could be hazardous to your health due to their high levels of carbon monoxide (CO) emissions—not to mention the obvious fire hazard.

More tips can be found here.