Our New Blog

While you may equate "green" to the warmer weather, the winter season is perhaps the ideal time to take some green initatives in and around the house.

1.  Douse Drafts: Drafts can drive up energy usage.  Caulk around windows and doors, or consider replacing drafty windows all together if it's in the budget.  Another way to stop drafts is with a "draft snake".  It's simply any piece of fabric (even a rolled towel) that's placed at the bottom of doors to prevent drafts.

2. Replace furnace filters: Clogged furnace filters compromise the flow of air through the system and can cause the unit to work harder.  Replace filters at least once a month.  An even greener option is electrostatic filters.  They trap around 88 percent of debris.

3. Turn down the water heater thermostat:  Many thermostats are set to heat the water at 140 F.  Turning down the thermostat to 120 F can save considerable enery and money.

4. Watch the thermostat: Statistics shoe that for every degree you lower the thermostat during heating season, you'll save between 1 and 3 percent of your heating bill.

5. Cozy up to save: Keep the thermostat a little lower and dress warmer

6. Beef up insulation:  Add more insulation to the home and insulate pipes for added energy savings.

7. Switch ceiling fan direction:  Enabling ceiling fan blades to spin clockwise will draw warm air trapped near the ceiling down to the living area.

8. Use an eco-friendly ice melter: Ice melters typically destroy surrounding vegetation where they are applied and can be harmful to wildlife.