It’s one of those days when you step outside and the sweltering air hits you in the face, like you’ve just opened a gigantic oven door. You can barely walk to your car before the sweat makes your clothes cling to your back.
But before you turn that household air conditioner to high remember that making all that refreshingly chilly air requires a lot of energy. Unfortunately, a substantial portion of this energy comes from coal-burning power plants, which produce harmful pollutants.
Furthermore, summertime is a period in which power plants are straining to keep up with increased use. Extreme demand can lead to rolling blackouts. However, there are ways to keep comfortable while conserving energy, help everyone on the planet breathe easier and keep your own electric bills low.
|
We turned to Bob Siegel, chairman of the conservation committee with the Sierra Club of Rochester for some helpful energy saving tips for the summer.
First, Siegel recommends that consumers look for “Energy Star” stickers when shopping for air conditioners and other home appliances. Products with these stickers have passed strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Energy, will conserve energy and save the consumer money.
“The big environmental impact of air conditioning is the power plants … (air conditioners) demand a lot of energy and put a heavy load on power plants.”
As a result, older power plants that have not been active during the “off-peak” months are required to come online to support increased demand during the summer. It is these older plants that often provide power by burning polluting fossil fuels, says Siegel.
So how do you keep comfortable and conserve energy at the same time? Ed Dooley, an engineer at the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute in Virginia, urges people to not fiddle with the thermostat.
“Set the thermostat to the highest level you can stay comfortable with,” he says. “Don’t turn it up and down all day.” Also, you will save five to 10 percent of the cost of running your air conditioner for every two degrees of cooling you are willing to give up, he says.
Siegel suggests installing a reflective coating on windows and closing curtains and shutters to keep light (and heat) out.
“When you’re running an air conditioner, it runs most efficiently when you have a place to dump your heat,” he says. So keep that air conditioning unit ventilated and in a shaded area.
Another “cool” energy saving idea? Siegel recommends ceiling fans, which help circulate air and use a fraction of the energy required for an air conditioner.
To keep your cool in the car, Siegel says, “Block your windows and put sunblockers on your car.”
For those who have an air conditioner in the car, be sure that it doesn’t use the harmful refrigerant CFC-12 to produce the cold air. CFC-12 has been found to deplete the Earth’s ozone layer. According to Dooley, all vehicles were required to stop using CFC-12 beginning in 1995 and switch to cleaner, less harmful substitutes.
However, if you have an older vehicle, it still is possible to replace the refrigerant in the air conditioning system to meet today’s EPA standards for about $200. By doing so, you’ll revitalize your air conditioning system and minimize the harmful effects on the environment.
So do yourself a favor and conserve energy over the summer. Mother Nature (and your checkbook) will thank you.
