COST AND ENERGY SAVING TIPS FOR RENTERS

How can you save money and stay green? Cut back on your use! Here are a few tips to help you with both goals:

Conserve Heat:

• Ask your landlord to caulk or weather strip any leaks to windows, doors, etc. to trap escaping air.
• During the winter set your thermostat to 68 degrees during the day and 60 degrees at night or when no one is home.
• Keep drapes and furniture away from baseboards so heat can flow freely.
• Instead of turning up heat, wear a sweater, a blanket, or a bathrobe.
• If you have good windows, open curtains to let the sun in during the day and close them to keep the heat in at night.

• Instead of turning on the air conditioner, put on a pair of shorts or turn on a fan.
• Clean your AC filter.
• Set your air conditioner to 78 degrees. Keeping it lower than that can raises your costs by 40%.
• Dont air-condition an empty room.
• Install a programmable thermostat on your AC so you can set it to cool off your place 30 minutes before you come home.
• Use fans instead of air conditioners to significantly reduce your energy use.
• Shade windows facing south, east, and west to keep unwanted heat out of your apartment.

• Conserve hot water.
• Take showers rather than baths.
• Take shorter showers.
• Install a low-flow showerhead.

• Use fluorescent energy efficient bulbs that use 25% less energy and last 10 times longer than regular bulbs. They can also be recycled.
• Shut off lights when you leave a room.
• During they day open your curtains and let the sun do your lighting.
• Outdoors use motion censored lighting.

• When you have control, purchase energy efficient models to save up to 30% on your energy costs over the life of the product.
• Turn off and unplug items when you are not using the (this includes TVs, cable boxes, computers, etc.)
• Plug home entertainment systems into power strips to make it easy to turn them on or off.
• Set your computer to hibernate when not in use for 30 minutes.
• Turn your monitor off when you leave the room for more than 20 minutes.
• Unplug phone, MP3, and PDA chargers when not in use. They use electricity even when they are just plugged in.
• Pack items tightly in the freezer to keep things cool and loosely in the refrigerator to allow air to flow.
• Cover liquids in the refrigerator.
• Use a microwave versus an oven when possible. They use less than half the energy.
• Use a crock pot for recipes that have long cooking times.
• Dont preheat your oven for more than 5-8 minutes.
• Dont open your oven door unless needed. It looses 25-50 degrees.
• Use glass or ceramic pans. They allow you to reduce cooking temps by 25 degrees while maintaining the same cook time.
• Scrape dishes before placing them in the dishwasher.
• Run a dishwasher only when full.
• Use the air dry feature on your dishwasher and prop the door open after the final rinse.
• Run your washing machine with cold water.
• Clean your lint filter before each load.

• Pay your bills online. Save paper and money on stamps.
• Print only what you need. Save paper, ink, etc.