Clearly Posted Home Address

If called for help, could the right people find your house?  By placing large numbers on your home or mailbox, police and other emergency vehicles can locate your house quickly. If you have a long driveway or obscured entranceway, be sure your address is in plain view and well lit. 

Pumpkins and Plumbing Don't Mix

Every Halloween season, American plumbers get the call to repair garbage disposers and kitchen sink drains clogged with sticky pumpkin pulp and seeds.  The goopy by-product of jack-o-lantern enthusiasts is, unfortunately, ideal for clogging household drains.  The pulp dries and hardens inside pipes and disposers causing all sorts of problems.  Never put pumpkin guts down the kitchen sink or worse, attempt to flush them down your toilet!  To guard against Halloween drain disasters, carve pumpkins on a bed of newspapers, then wrap up the mess and throw all pumpkin-related materials into the garbage can.

Childproof Window Guards

 

Keep your children safe around windows in your home

Leaving windows open in warm weather lets air circulate while screens help keeps bugs out, but without childproof window guards this can pose a potential danger of a fatal fall. Modern screens are not strong enough to protect kids because today's window screens are not made of the tough aluminum used years ago; instead these window screens are fabricated from a much weaker vinyl that will not stop someone from falling out. Therefore, it is more important than ever to use childproof window guards that keep kids away from windows but are easy to open by an adult.

Don't Take Bath On Hot Water Bills

Are you taking a bath on your hot water bills?  Here’s a tip to help you use less and spend less.  Simply lower the temperature!  With electric water heaters, drop the thermostat from the average setting of 140 degrees to just 110 degrees.  With gas units, lower the temperature dial incrementally, and then use a thermometer to check the water temperature at the faucet nearest the heater itself until it reads 120.  Doing this will provide plenty of hot water for showers, save energy costs and protect children from accidental scalding as well.

Water Heater Timers

By adding a water heater timer, you can lower your water heating costs.  While using an electric water heater can be the most expensive way to produce hot water, adding a simple water heater timer will program your water heater so water is heated only when you need it -- like early in the morning. For the rest of the day, the water heater timer turns the water heater off and saves you lots of energy dollars in the process.      

Programming Your Thermostat

The EPA's research has shown that most consumers with programmable thermostats do not know how to use them to maximize energy savings. When programmed properly, these products can save about $180 a year on energy bills - but the majority of consumers have not achieved their full energy and dollar savings potential.   The goal of a new Energy Star campaign is to help homeowners take full advantage of their programmable thermostats.  For example:
In the summer, raise the temperature setting by 7 degrees when you're away and 4 degrees when you're asleep.
Save even more by using the Vacation and Hold features to manage temperatures while you're away from home for an extended period.
Lower the temperature setting by 8 degrees when you're away or asleep in the winter
Learn more at www.energystar.gov/programmablethermostats.

Great Burglar Deterrent

Dark homes invite burglars, but keeping lights on all the time gets expensive. The answer? Motion detectors. These lights surprise unwanted visitors by coming on when anyone gets within 50 feet of your house.   It's a great deterrent for burglars and with most units you can select how long the lights stay on once tripped by the motions sensor.  

Leaky Outlets

Drafty windows aren't the only way air leaks into your home.  Your outside walls may have some even bigger holes to worry about.  Outlets on the exterior walls of your home can be big energy wasters. But air leaking through these holes can be easily sealed.  To do that, turn the power off at the breaker, remove the outlet or light cover plates and install inexpensive foam gaskets.  This will seal out drafts and stop energy dollars from leaking right out of your wallet.

Don't Launder Money in Dishwasher

Want to cut your dishwasher energy costs by one-third?  It’s easy with a simple flick of a switch.  Most automatic dishwashers have a “power dry” switch to speed up the drying process.  If you’re not going to run another load, turn the switch off.  The dishes will still dry spotless, and you’ll save about one-third of the energy costs..