Energy Saving Tips
Making a few simple changes can boost your home's value, as well as make it more energy efficient:
1. Lower the thermostat on your water heater.
2. Check for air leaking around doors, windows, and insulation. An energy audit with your local power company will help with that. In metro Atlanta, that would be Georgia Power.
3. Close the air vents in rooms not in use.
4. Keep heat producers far from your thermostat in summer.
5. Clean your furnace and air conditioner filters. Great to do once a year!
6. Operate large appliances during low-use periods in summer.
7. Replace deficient insulation around pipes and in your attic.
8. Replace old or inefficient appliances. If your budget limits you to replacing one appliance, buy a new refrigerator, which represents about half of your electric bill!
9. Buy new light bulbs. Replace incandescent bulbs with fluorescent, which pay for themselves in energy conservation.
10. Look into EEM Mortgages. An Energy Efficient Mortgage is federally recognized and provides benefits to a borrower purchasing a home that is energy efficient or can be made energy efficient through the installation of energy-saving improvements. (For more information about EEMs, contact the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.)