Conservation Tips
Interactive online tool
Discover new ways to use energy wisely with KillowatWay, an interactive online tool to help you understand your energy use
Hydro Hawkesbury offers some solutions to conserve energy.
Heating & cooling
- Install a programmable thermostat to manage the amount of energy used to heat and cool your home, especially when you are not home and at night while you are sleeping.
- Caulk, seal and weather-strip windows and install a seal sweep on doors to keep the heat in during the winter and the cool in during the summer.
- If windows are not airtight, use plastic window film during the winter.
- Set ceiling fans to force air down in summer and up in winter.
- Keep lamps, televisions, and other heat-producing appliances away from thermostats – they make air conditioners work overtime.
- Locate air conditioning units on north side of home or in shaded area if possible.
- Keep doors and windows closed when heat or air conditioning is on.
- Clear away anything blocking heating and cooling vents.
- Replace or clean furnace filters regularly.
- Consider an Electric Thermal Storage unit rather than electric space heaters.
Hot water tanks
- Wrap an electric hot water tank with an insulating blanket, especially when located in an unheated area.
- Insulate water pipes leaving the hot water tank.
- Consider replacing an old electric hot water heater with a new Tankless Water Heater, which heats water only on-demand.
Lighting
- Use ENERGY STAR qualified compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs – they use up to 75% less electricity than regular incandescent bulbs.
- Use correct CFL bulb for the application (dimmer switches, recessed lighting, tri-lights, outdoor fixtures, etc).
- Use LED holiday light strings instead of incandescent light strings.
- Dust bulbs regularly. A clean bulb is brighter.
- Turn lights off when room is not in use.
- Use timers and motion sensors for indoor and outdoor lighting so lights come on only when needed.
- Consider task lighting where needed instead of lighting an entire room.
Laundry
- Use a clothesline or clothes rack for indoor and outdoor drying.
- Operate dryer with full loads.
- Use dryer’s automatic cycle to prevent over-drying.
- Clean dryer lint trap after every load and make sure the vent is never blocked.
- Time washing/drying cycles so dryer drum stays warm when changing loads.
- Select correct water level for load size when washing.
- Use cold water wash and detergent whenever possible.
- Rinse with cold water.
- When purchasing a new washer, consider a front-load model – they’re more energy efficient and use less water.
Bathroom
- Install low-flow showerheads and low-flow toilets to reduce water consumption.
- Take showers instead of baths – try to keep showers less than 10 minutes.
- Repair or replace leaky faucets and toilets.
Kitchen
Fridges and Freezers
- Ideal fridge temperature is 1 to 4°C, ideal freezer temperature is –15 to –18°C.
- Try to avoid standing with the fridge door open.
- Do you really need that second older fridge?
- Vacuum coils on back and/or under fridge regularly.
- Make sure there is enough air space between fridge coils and wall.
- Use small appliances like microwave, toaster oven or barbeque instead of oven when possible.
- Turn on oven light and look through glass window instead of opening door to check food.
- Use electric kettle for boiling water instead of a pot on the stove and boil only as much water as needed.
- When purchasing an electric kettle, select one with a water level indicator and an automatic shut-off feature.
- Use pots the same size as the element.
- Use covers/lids on pots.
- Keep trays under stove elements clean to reflect heat up.
Cuisinière
- Autant que possible, privilégiez les petits appareils comme le four à micro-ondes, le grille-pain four ou le barbecue.
- Allumez l’ampoule du four et regardez à travers la vitre au lieu d’ouvrir la porte pour vérifier la cuisson.
- Faites bouillir l’eau au moyen d’une bouilloire électrique plutôt que dans un poêlon et ne faites bouillir que la quantité nécessaire.
- Au moment d’acheter une bouilloire électrique, optez pour un modèle doté d’un indicateur de niveau d’eau et d’un dispositif d’arrêt automatique.
- Utilisez des casseroles de la même taille que l’élément chauffant.
- Posez le couvercle sur la casserole.
- Gardez les plaques sous les éléments chauffants propres pour qu’elles reflètent la chaleur.
Dishwasher
- Use cold water to rinse dishes.
- Only run dishwasher when full.
- Use delayed start or timer feature on newer models of dishwashers to run during off-peak hours.
- Use dishwasher’s shortest (econo) cycle.
- Air dry rather than use dishwasher’s heat dry feature.
- Use a thermal cover on your pool or hot tub to trap heat inside when not in use.
Around the house
- Use a power bar for all computers, entertainment and peripheral devices to shut down and power off all equipment when not in use.
- Plant leafy trees on south side of home and evergreen trees on north side – for shade in summer and wind protection in winter.
- Use the most energy efficient type of lawn mower.
- Install solar-powered LED garden landscape lights to increase outdoor visibility.
- Use motion sensors on outdoor lighting that does not need to always be on.
- Top up existing insulation or add to a non-insulated attic – it could reduce annual energy costs by 5 – 30%!