Energy Conservation Quiz Answers

Here are the answers to our energy expert quiz:

1. The biggest energy user in your home is heating and cooling. Heating and cooling can account for up to 40% of your monthly electric bill. Therefore, adjusting the thermostat just a few degrees can really save energy and money.
2. Your refrigerator should be set at 37°F. If a refrigerator is too cold, excess energy is being used. If it is too warm, food may spoil.
3. CFL’s use 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs.
4. False
5. 1 hour
6. Water heating can account for 15-20% of your household energy usage. The recommend temperature setting on a water heater is 120°
7. ENERGY STAR® is a label for energy efficiency for homes and household appliances.
8. True
9. Laptops use 90% less energy than desktop computers.

Let us know how you did and what questions you may have.

Another Heat Pump Efficiency Tip

With snow possible accumulating in your town, you see people shoveling out their cars and sidewalks, but here's an efficiency tip for you - don’t neglect your heat pump.

Be sure to clear an area around your heat pump so that it can ‘breathe’.

Just like we told you back in the fall to clear the leaves from out and around your unit, don't forget to shovel a path around it during wintry weather.

As temps rise during the day, snow begins to melt but will refreeze at night to ice. This ice can build up inside and prohibit the fan from running. Heat pumps will go through an automatic defrost cycle but be sure to inspect them for ice buildup.

There are also heat pump deflectors, but once again, don’t place too close to the heat pump as to restrict the air flow it needs.

Energy Conservation Quiz

Test your energy efficiency knowledge by taking our quiz. Answers will be posted next week. Good Luck!

1) Which uses the most energy in homes each year?
a. Refrigerator
b. Heating and cooling
c. Water heater
d. Light bulbs

2) What temperature should your refrigerator be at to ensure safety and efficient operations?
a. 37°F
b. 52°F
c. -32°F
d. 10°F

3) A Compact Fluorescent Light bulb uses ___% less energy than a typical incandescent bulb.
a. 25%
b. 50%
c. 75%
d. 95%

4) An electrically heated house has to be better insulated than a home heated with oil or gas. True or False

5) How long does it take for a 100-watt light bulb to consumer 100 watts of energy?
a. 1 minute
b. 1 hour
c. 24 hours

6) The cost of heating water for you home may amount to as much as what percent of your entire utility bill?
a. 5-10%
b. 15-20%
c. 25-30%

7) What label is a sign of energy efficient appliances and homes?

8) A cell phone charger is using electricity when it’s plugged in but not charging the phone. True or False?

9) Turn off computers when not in use. Did you know that a laptop uses __% less energy than a typical desktop?
a. 15%
b. 50%
c. 75%
d. 90%

Dominion Green Power - 2009 Recap

On behalf of Dominion, I would like to thank every one of our Dominion Green Power participants for a successful 2009.

Since our launch on January 1, 2009, more than 6,000 homes and businesses joined the Dominion Green Power program. These participants collectively supported 23 million kilowatt-hours of renewable electricity in 2009! This is equivalent to avoiding 36 million pounds of carbon emissions, which is like taking 33,600 cars off the road for a year.

The Dominion Green Power team worked hard to promote this program, and the numbers show. But the team who makes the biggest difference is you, the participants. Your participation is what helped make this program so successful in its first year.

Also in the first year, the program received Green-e certification from the independent, non-profit Center for Resource Solutions. This certification ensures that all Dominion Green Power purchases meet the strictest environmental and consumer protection standards in the industry.

The program’s first year certainly was a remarkable success by any measure. However, the program is still relatively new. Our friends working on the Dominion Green Power team need your help in getting the word out to get even more renewable energy on the grid. Please encourage your friends, family, and co-workers to participate. After all, more people participating in Dominion Green Power means more renewable energy development.

To learn more about how you or someone you know can make a powerful difference please visit http://www.dom.com/VaGreenPower or call 1-888-667-3000.

Save Money On Energy Bills And On Taxes

We’ve reminded you in past posts about energy saving tips and how they can turn into savings on your taxes. Here is some new information for 2009 taxes:

• Tax credits are available at 30% of the cost or up to $1,500.
• You will still submit Form 5695 to claim all the energy investment specifics. Then transfer that figure to your 2009 1040 form on line 52.
• What products or improvements are eligible? Pretty much any substantial improvement that would help make your home more energy efficient will likely qualify. Improvements like adding insulation, installing more efficient heat pump, updating a water heater, installing windows and doors or even going the renewable route with geothermal heat pumps and solar water heaters qualify.
• Or perhaps you invested in an energy efficient gas sipper in 2009 and went the hybrid route. If so, check out tax incentives for vehicles as well.
• If you are a business owner, the government has options for you as well.
• The IRS has more information and tips as well. You can also consult your local tax accountant.
  

Discounted Holiday LEDs

What’s the best way to start energy conservation in 2010? - By finding great deals!

Conservation is in full swing for 2010. At Dominion, we have lots up goodies up our sleeve for this year and can’t wait to get started!

But before we get too far into 2010, why not snatch some goodies from 2009? The 2009 holiday season has recently wrapped up, but there are still great deals to be found.

One of the best deals that people are finding includes major discounts on LEDs. It’s a smart idea to go out to the store and grab what you will need for the 2010 holidays and stash them away, while enjoying a hefty 30% discount. Here’s a 17.5 ft multi-color strand of LEDs for $11.99. LEDHolidayLighting.com is also known for fantastic discounts and clearance items in January.

When searching for a great deal, don’t forget about your local hardware store trying to clear shelf space for new items, resulting in discounted items for you!

As we all know, LEDs are fantastic because they’re extremely efficient, have a really long lamp life, and are really bright.

To learn about holiday light year round, you can always check out our holiday lighting calculator.

New Year’s Eve, Conservation Style

Since 1907, folks have enjoyed watching the ball drop on New Year’s Eve in Times Square. This year, you can enjoy knowing that the Ball is illuminated with the latest technology and is energy efficient.

There are 32,256 LEDs that will brighten the sky of New York. The Ball used LEDs the past two years, but this year will be even more brillant, with three times the number of light-emitting diodes compared to last year.

The light show also will display 16 million colors and special effects, demonstrating the variety of applications that LEDs can be used for in the future. These LEDs will use an equivalent amount of energy as needed to power two conventional ovens.

No matter where you are in the world, you can enjoy the festivities of New Year’s Eve.

We wish you a wonderful 2010.

What Would You Like to See Next Year?

Wow, we sure have had a fantastic 2009 here at the blog! We’ve welcomed new visitors and taught old dogs new tricks when it comes to conservation. We had a successful and fun year, including…

• 2009 New Year’s Resolution theme
• Information on EE Tax Credits
• A video blog for EE Month
• Links to other blogs
• Reviews of neat books
• A Live Blog
• A Feature of Hot Lips Pizza

While it has been a wonderful 2009, we’re already gearing up for next year! We’ll be changing the frequency of our blog posts to once a week and when we hear something we urgently need to share, we’ll be sure to have a special post!

We also plan to have more fun and creative posts to help you save energy and money.

If you have anything you would like to see us blog about, feel free to add it in the comments section of this post.

See you in 2010!

Bob, Alison, and Tom

Have a Great Holiday Season

From everyone on the E-Conserve.blogspot.com team, we wanted to wish every one of you a fantastic holiday season.

No Bake Recipes for the Holiday’s

With many family’s gathering in kitchens to cook, why not take a break from cooking with some easy to prepare, no bake recipes?

I tend to spend very little time in the kitchen so when I have to, I prefer easy to make recipes. I have managed to collect a few from friends over the years and here are some of my favorites:

• No Bake Chocolate pie – The ingredients you need include: a pie crust, instant pudding, the milk to make pudding, and whipped cream topping. You pour the pudding in the pie crust and top it off with whipped cream and for added decorations, fruit is a good garnish on top.
• If you are cheesecake person, there are brands that sell no bake cheesecake where all you do is add milk and pour the cheesecake into a pie crust.
• As an appetizer, a 7-layer Mexican dip is always easy to just grab the jars of materials and compile into a dish. In my recipe, I substitute the sour cream for more guacamole. The scooping chips are an excellent choice to compliment it.
• I like citrus salads too, adding cranberries, oranges, apples and almonds to a salad is refreshing taste.