Whether you do it to be greener, or you do it to save money, changes that make a difference come down to changing the way we live and not just buying more efficient electronics and appliances--though that helps. However, whatever your motivation, it all helps, because need for electricity is growing, and the less we use, the less chance there will be for overloading the system, the fewer resources we use now to make the electricity the more we'll have for the future, and the less need there will be for rolling black outs and other measures electric companies take that just, well, suck.
Treehugger got a list of energy-saving tips from Georgia Power, which included a number they hadn't ever featured on their site before.
Some of the ideas include:
• Change or clean your air conditioner filter regularly to maximize the unit's cooling potential. Dirty filters restrict airflow and reduce efficiency.
• Keep your food covered. Moisture buildup in the refrigerator makes the air inside harder to cool.
• Adjust your ceiling fan to turn counterclockwise in the summer.
• Whenever possible, cook a lot of meals at the same time. This uses less energy than when you cook each meal separately.
Why would rotating your ceiling fan counterclockwise conserve electricity? WHY? This is going to drive me around the twist until somebody tells me.
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I am going to take a wild guess on this.
I had a ceiling fan that I used year-round (in the woods of new england) that could spin in either direction -- and at multiple speed settings.
In the summer it helped cool me by shooting air downwards and directly upon me when i sat underneath it. In the winter is helped distribute heat to far reaches of my cabin by pushing air upwards and around to the walls, while minimizing the amount of draft I felt in my personal space.
Can I assume that the standard flow direction for air is upwards for ceiling fans? And the author suggests pointing it downwards so it feels like a stronger breeze to those directly under it?
This is my best guess of course.
Regardless a sure fire way to save energy is to use the fan in conjunction with one's air conditioner (if one uses AC). The fan will help evenly distribute the refrigerated air, and you will find your AC unit cycling on less often as you do so.
On another note:
Check out this energy efficient heater/ceiling fan I found.
http://www.fanheatlight.com/the_fan.phtml
I think this is pretty neato.
cheers,
M.
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