United States Senator Lisa Murkowski, Alaska
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Conservation Tips




Senator Murkowski meets with Dartmouth students, including two Alaskans, touring the country on a vegetable oil powered school bus.  The bus was on Capitol Hill in early June to promote conservation and alternative energy sources.

Every individual can make a difference in reducing energy costs and consumption by taking simple, easy measures to reduce energy use every day.  One of the things constituents ask me when I’m traveling around Alaska is what people in other parts of the state are doing to save energy. I’ve started compiling conservation tips and posting them here on my website so you can see what you can do to save energy now.

This week's tip:

Smart Home Tips:

- Cooler Showers Anyone?: Setting your hot water heater to 120 degrees F (moderate) instead of 134 degrees F. (hot) can save a surprising amount of money. Since water-heating typically accounts for 14 percent of a home’s energy costs (the third-largest home energy expense in Alaska) learning to shower in 120 degree water, assuming your shower lasts no more than 5 minutes daily, can reduce energy use for a family of four by nearly 10 percent.

- Keep the Heat In: If you have single outside doors without Arctic entrances, add storm doors at all entrances. They reduce the mass of air infiltration that occurs when the prime door is opened and also reduces the amount of heat transfer through the prime door when it is closed.

- Close It Down: Keep fireplace doors closed when not in use to reduce air infiltration and heat loss. If you have an open-masonry fireplace, install a glass screen, convective grate, fireplace insert or stove insert to cut down the loss of warm air through the chimney/vent.

- Bright Idea - Install compact flurescent lights (CFLs) in high-use fixtures. While the light registry is not perfect yet, CFLs can save you about 66 percent on average (up 75%) on lighting costs per fixture.

- Close It Down II: If you have a room away from an exterior wall that you aren’t using, like a guest bedroom, close the heating vents and close the door to unused rooms.

- Check your furnace and AC filters regularly. Cleaning or replacing filters once a month during periods of high use will insure proper air flow, promote better health, increase efficiency, and save money too.

- You can save as much as 30 percent on your home heating and cooling costs by using proper insulation and air sealing techniques.  Here are some quick and easy steps you can take to make sure your home is properly sealed:

- Test your windows for leaks.  Caulking, sealing or weather stripping air leaks can help you save 10 percent or more on energy bills.

- Install high performance, energy efficient windows.   Though they may be pricey, new energy efficient windows usually pay for themselves in reduced energy costs in a couple of years.
For more information visit here.

- Use kitchen, bath, and other ventilating fans wisely. In just 1 hour, these fans can pull out a houseful of warmed or cooled air. Turn fans off as soon as they have done the job.
For more tips click here to visit the Arctic Energy Alliance. http://www.aea.nt.ca/res_energytips.aspx


Smart Driving Tips:

Urgent breaking and acceleration can lower gas mileage by 33% at highway speeds, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.  Additionally, driving over 60 mph costs an extra $0.30 per gallon for every 5 mph driven over this speed.  For these reasons, the following smart driving tips can save money at the pump.

- Avoid aggressive driving and speeding.
- Don’t waste gas by idling your vehicle.
- Use cruise control on highways to limit acceleration and breaking.
- Use overdrive gears to reduce wear on the engine and conserve fuel.
- Eliminate excess weight in the vehicle.  Every 100 lbs. reduces gas mileage by 2%. 

Water Heating

Up to 25 percent of the energy consumed in your home can come from water heating, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.  You can reduce your monthly water heating bills by choosing the right water heater or appliance as well as following several energy saving tips, including:

· Wait until you have a full load of dishes or clothes before running your dishwasher and washing machine. If you plan to buy a new washing appliance, consider purchasing an efficient Energy Star model, which reduces hot water use.

· Take a shower rather than a bath as showers consume less hot water than baths in the average household.

· Set the thermostat on your water heater to 120° or even 115° F.

· Insulating hot water pipes can raise water temperature by up to 4° F, which allows for a lower water temperature setting.

For more water heating tips, click on http://www.doe.gov/waterheating.htm.

Keep Your Tires Properly Inflated

By keeping your tires properly inflated you can increase your gas mileage by about 3.3 percent.  Every drop of 1 psi in pressure can reduce your gas mileage by 0.4 percent.

For more tips on improving your gas mileage click here here.

I encourage you share your conservation tips here ConservationTip@murkowski.senate.gov.  Each week I will post a new conservation tip. 



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