
1. Let the sunshine in! Natural light can save you money – Drawback the curtains and pull up the blinds to let natural light in and let the warmth from the sun help heat your home. Be sure to close them at night to keep the heat in.
2. Cook with small appliances – Use your slow cooker, microwave, air fryer, toaster oven, or other small cooking appliances whenever possible. These devices use less energy and often cook faster than your stove top or conventional oven.
3. Use the dishwasher – Hang up that dish cloth. Dishwashers use less water than washing by hand. Make sure the dishwasher is full and if you are in the market for a new one, choose ENERGY STAR®.
4. Wash clothes in cold water – Water heating accounts up to 90% of the energy your washer uses. Wash clothes in cold water and hang on the clothesline if the weather is good.
5. Look for offline activities – If you have kids, challenge them to a few hours of “unplugged time” each day. Turn off all screens and electronics and find a fun offline activity. They could read, play a board game, ride their bikes outside, do art, or make music. You can use up your kids’ energy while saving energy in your home.
6. Set back the temperature on your thermostat – Heating accounts for the largest portion of energy used in the average home in Newfoundland and Labrador. Moving your thermostat just a couple of degrees lower can have a huge impact on your bill. Set back the temperature by five degrees while you’re asleep and in sparsely used rooms to save energy and money.
7. Set up sleep mode on your computer – Is your computer getting enough sleep? Setting your computer to sleep after 5-15 minutes of inactivity can cut its energy consumption in half. Simply enable “power management” or “sleep mode” and wake up to the savings.