Ask anyone who’s tried to lose weight, stop smoking, start an exercise program, or change a habit. It isn’t easy, and it takes time. But in the end, once you’ve done it, you reap a lasting benefit. The same is true for changing how you behave about energy. That’s something to ponder the next time you’re passing an evening repeatedly gazing into the fridge unaware you’re squandering energy.
“We almost all have opportunities to reduce wasted energy with simple, no-cost behavior changes. But the first step is to monitor your energy use and see where your usage goes up month to month,” said DuWayne Dunham, energy services supervisor at Clark Public Utilities. “We offer a consumption chart on the bill or online in MyAccount that allows customers to track annual and seasonal consumption patterns. Give us a call if you notice an increase so we can help determine what may be the cause, and offer recommendations on how to bring usage back down.”
Although efficient appliances, weatherization measures and heat pumps also save energy, they’re more costly than behavior changes.
“It’s really quite easy to make small behavior changes that can add up to energy savings over the long run,” said Matthew Babbitts, energy services project manager at the utility. “Three effective changes someone can make are turning off lights when they’re not in a room, adjusting the HVAC thermostat by a degree or two and checking to make sure the water heater temperature is set to 120 degrees.”
Heating water accounts for about 90 percent of the energy used to wash a load of clothes, according to Energy Star. Using cold water and running full loads conserves most of that. Full loads in the washing machine mean you avoid running small loads in the dryer too, and air drying takes no energy. As long as it’s not raining, using an old-fashioned clothesline is a big energy saver.
Dishwashers are another consumer of both water and electricity. It’s the hot water that cleans your dishes. Most dishwashers have a hot-drying cycle, which uses extra electricity. “Using heat to dry a dishwasher load is an unneeded energy drain,” said Dunham. “Skip the heated drying option and save.” You can also hand wash larger dishes and let them air dry in a dish drainer at little cost.
Heating and cooling eat up the greater part of your utility bill throughout the year. “Using the correct thermostat settings for winter and summer also helps customers save,” said Dunham. He recommends setting your thermostat to 76 degrees during the summer and about 68 degrees in the winter. If you use portable heaters, turn them off when you’re not in the room.
“On warm days, open your windows early in the day and later in the evening to let hot air out and cool air in,” Babbitts said. “If you have a ceiling fan, use it to keep the air circulating.” Running one fan for six hours a day for a month increases your utility bill by less than a dollar.
Removing incandescent and CFL bulbs and switching to LEDs saves because they burn less electricity. There’s a small cost to get started, but you recoup that in a short time. The utility lets customers swap out burned out screw-in CFLs for the more energy efficient LEDs. Both Babbitts and Dunham encourage customers to turn in their burned-out CFL bulbs for free LEDs at any of the utility locations, two per household, per day. And then remember to turn them off, along with any electronics or appliances, when you leave the room.
Energy Adviser is written by Clark Public Utilities. Send questions to ecod@clarkpud.com or to Energy Adviser, c/o Clark Public Utilities, P.O. Box 8900, Vancouver, WA 98668.
