Melting polar ice caps, rising sea levels, and holes in the ozone layer – all suggest the environmental crisis is speeding up. But residents and businesses across the country are trying to find the off switch to an environmental meltdown.
Rocky Mountain Power, a subsidiary company of Pacific Corp, which serves Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming, recently said their Blue Sky program continues to be a big draw for customers trying to reduce their impact on the environment. According to RMP data in Utah alone, clean wind energy has kept more than 500 million pounds of carbon dioxide out of the air since the program launched almost 9 years ago. That’s like taking 42,700 cars off the street.
You can safely assume these numbers are even better in more heavily populated states, providing they exist. While that’s good news for the grid and the environment, what else can homeowners do to make their homes more eco-friendly? Here’s a checklist.
Any changes to the home should be adding money to your bank account. Install a high-efficiency tankless water heater. It reduces natural gas charges and will pay for itself over time. Also, get the plumbing refitted with a new water efficient showerhead. Ultra Oxygenics has a model that turns a trickle into a power jet. It reduces the usage by 70 percent and is compatible with most showers.
- Get an energy audit. Non-profit companies dedicated to energy efficiency will inspect your home. They provide a detailed report of your home’s energy efficiency and reveal where the home is losing energy and which appliances need to be changed out.
- Clean the air ducts. This reduces the work it takes to heat and cool you home. It also eliminates many allergens and harmful mold.
- Perform regular maintenance or have a professional give the furnace a tune-up. Most people can’t tell when these systems aren’t running at peak efficiency.
- In hot weather, don’t run your cooling system at a low temperature for a long period of time.
- Install ceiling fans. This will help the performance of the air conditioning unit.
- When it turns cold again, set the thermostat one or two degrees lower from its normal setting. This can save big bucks in the long run.