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Tips To Cut Holiday Energy Costs

With winter holiday festivities approaching, your clients face rising utility bills from the use of holiday lights, kitchen appliances and constant cooking. Here are some tips to help them enjoy being home for the holidays while keeping energy costs to a minimum:
	Use LED holiday bulbs to decorate your home and tree. Large, traditional colored bulbs used year after year burn a lot of energy -- up to 10 watts per bulb, while LED bulbs use up to 99% less energy than traditional bulbs. Here's an amazing comparison; these groups of lights all use the same wattage:
		- 12 regular outside incandescent holiday lights (C9 size). - 17 medium outdoor lights (C7 size). - 182 mini-lights. - 2,000 medium outdoor LED lights (C7 size).
	Use an automatic timer to avoid leaving your lights on all night.
	When cooking, don't peek at your food by opening the oven door. This lowers the temperature by up to 25 degrees, increasing cooking time and wasting energy.
	While your oven is on, cook several items at the same time.
	For stovetop cooking, use a pan that matches the size of your burner. A six-inch pan on an eight-inch burner will waste more than 40% of the energy.
	Use microwaves where you can; they use approximately 50% less energy than conventional ovens.
	Save energy otherwise consumed by your dishwasher by asking guests to volunteer to help wash and dry dishes.
For more information about saving energy, visit Alliance to Save Energy (ase.org), which features an online Home Energy Checkup; Energy Star (energystar.gov); and homefree (homefree.com).