Tips for the heating season
by Jake Kenick

Energy saving tips

The high cost of energy in rural Alaska has everyone concerned. It takes more income to heat the home, leaving less money for other things we all need or want. Here are some quick tips you can find in any relative book, magazine and web site for cost effective solutions to keeping your homes warm and energy efficient. Some of the recommendations found will require some adjusting in the normal daily habits, but if they are done, these minor changes can keep energy costs down quite a bit.
Without having to buy solar, wind or hydro power generator equipment to power your homes, the best solutions we found for our area are as follows:

• Keep the thermostat at the lowest comfortable setting.
• If the home is normally empty during the day time, consider a digital thermostat you can program to lower the day time temperature in the home to 60 degrees, and then raise to normal temperature when you come home.
• Caulk windows (interior and exterior) to prevent drafts.
• Clean the windows where they seal. Check on weather stripping in the window frame at the same time, repair as needed. Replace broken windows.
• If you have tilt-turn windows- adjust the Allen screws for tighter shutting.
• Wait to do laundry until you have a full load, use proper water setting for the load and use the coldest setting you can.
• Pretreat your stained clothes so you won’t need a second wash.
• If possible, hang dry your laundry. If you must use the dryer, do full load, not just 1 or 2 items.
• Iron your clothes if wrinkled, don’t use the dryer to smooth out wrinkles.
• Clean filter intakes on dryer. Also, clean the air intake and coils on your refrigerators and chest freezers twice a year.
• Limit your shower times.
• Turn off water in the shower when you are wet, then soap up, turn on the water again to rinse off.
• Buy a water saver shower head that uses less hot water flow, but gives you a good shower.
• Insulate your hotwater maker storage tank (don’t insulate the “on demand” burner style hotwater makers). You can use a commercial made jacket from a hardware store, or an old blanket. If there is a thermostat on it, don’t cover it.
• Use your fire place (if you have one) along with your primary heat.
• Use an Energy star rated ceiling fan to circulate warm air from the wood stove in the home. The fan uses little energy and warms more of the house.
• Keep curtains open in day for natural light heating, close at night for insulation.
• Use/buy energy efficient labeled appliances in your home.
• Defrost your freezer.
• Change all bulbs from incandescent to florescent.
• When possible, buy more insulation and add it to your attic.
• Check the seals on your entry doors, replace them if they are worn or missing.
• Install rubber or brush sweeps at the bottom of the door to eliminate drafts.
• Install foam “plate insulators” in the plug in outlets on your perimeter walls to stop drafts from coming in from your outlets.
• Make repairs to fractures in your drywall. Even small cracks can let in the cold.
• Clean and service your boiler, replace nozzles and filters every summer.

As you can tell, there are plenty of ideas that are fairly easy to do to help lower your energy bills. These cost effective solutions are the best ways to insure your home will be warm and energy friendly without breaking your budget.
You may have noticed the continual reference to conserving hot water. That is because making hot water is one of the most expensive operations in your homes. Refrigerators are also a large consumer of power, so keep the settings just cold enough to keep your milk cold and your ice cream firm.
Windows account for a lot of heating loss, even the best ones will loose heat. Just keep them caulked, and open the curtains on your south windows in the day to maximize solar gain, and then close the curtains at night to keep them insulated. Use the sun as much as possible to warm the home.
Good habits and a few inexpensive upgrades may make a big change in staying afloat this coming winter.

All my best,

Jake Kenick