Money Saving Talk

Driving Saving Tips

• Idling gets you 0 miles per gallon. The best way to warm up a vehicle is to drive it. No more than 30 seconds of idling on winter days is needed. Anything more simply wastes fuel and increases emissions.
• Aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration, and hard braking) wastes gas. It can lower your highway gas mileage 33% and city mileage 5%.
• Avoid high speeds. Above 60 mph, gas mileage drops rapidly.
• Clear out your car; extra weight decreases gas mileage by 1% to 2% for every 100 pounds.
• Reduce drag by placing items inside the car or trunk rather than on roof racks. A roof rack or carrier provides additional cargo space and may allow you to buy a smaller car. However, a loaded roof rack can decrease your fuel economy by 5% or more.
• Check into telecommuting, carpooling and public transit to cut mileage and car maintenance costs.

Source: EERE, U.S. Department of Energy

Tags: Driving Saving Tips, home office saving

Home Electronics Saving Tips

• Look for energy-saving ENERGY STAR labeled home electronics.
• Many appliances continue to draw a small amount of power when they are switched off. These “phantom” loads occur in most appliances that use electricity, such as VCRs, televisions, stereos, computers, and kitchen appliances. These phantom loads can be avoided by unplugging the appliance or using a power strip and using the switch on the power strip to cut all power to the appliance.
• Unplug battery chargers when the batteries are fully charged or the chargers are not in use.
• Studies have shown that using rechargeable batteries for products like cordless phones and PDAs is more cost effective than throwaway batteries. If you must use throaways, check with your trash removal company about safe disposal options.

Source: EERE, U.S. Department of Energy

Tags: Electronics Saving Tips, energy saving, home office saving

Home Office Energy Saving Tips

• Selecting energy-efficient office equipment—personal computers (PCs), monitors, copiers, printers, and fax machines—and turning off machines when they are not in use can result in enormous energy savings.
• An ENERGY STAR labeled computer uses 70% less electricity than computers without this designation. If left inactive, ENERGY STAR labeled desktop computers enter a sleep mode and use 4 watts or less. Spending a large portion of time in low-power mode not only saves energy, but helps equipment run cooler and last longer.
• To maximize savings with a laptop, put the AC adapter on a power strip that can be turned off (or will turn off automatically); the transformer in the AC adapter draws power continuously, even when the laptop is not plugged into the adapter.
• Common misconceptions sometimes account for the failure to turn off equipment. Many people believe that equipment lasts longer if it is never turned off. This incorrect perception carries over from the days of older mainframe computers.
• ENERGY STAR labeled computers and monitors save energy only when the power management features are activated, so make sure power management is activated on your computer.
• There is a common misconception that screen savers reduce energy use by monitors; they do not. Automatic switching to sleep mode or manually turning monitors off is always the better energy-saving strategy.

Long-Term Savings Tip

• Consider buying a laptop for your next computer upgrade; they use much less energy than desktop computers.

Source: EERE, U.S. Department of Energy

Tags: energy saving, home office saving