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As Freezing Winter Wind Chills Blast 17 States, Alliance to Save Energy, 30 + Campaign Partners Urge Consumers to Take ‘6° of Energy Efficiency Challenge’ To Cut Energy Bills, Pollution, Greenhouse Gas Emissions www.sixdegreechallenge.org
WASHINGTON, D.C., February 6, 2007 /Alliance to Save Energy/ -- As freezing winter wind chills blast 17 states today, the Alliance to Save Energy, American Gas Association, The Dow Chemical Company, and 29 other Power Is in Your Hands campaign partners urge consumers to use energy more efficiently to cut energy bills, energy use, pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions as well as to improve our economic and energy security.
The campaign partners this winter launched a unique 6° of Energy Efficiency Challenge
social website -- www.sixdegreechallenge.org -- to challenge consumers to take at least one energy efficiency action and encourage others to do the same to create a multiplier effect. They offer these winter tips:
• Test your "Energy IQ," and take the 6° of Energy Efficiency Challenge. Commit to do at least one thing to lower your energy use, and challenge six friends, family, or colleagues to do the same at www.sixdegreechallenge.org. See how our energy waste, affects six key aspects of our lives – the energy prices we pay, our home comfort, the air we breathe, our energy security, our economic well-being, and the world we leave behind. Share your energy stories on the site.
• Plug energy leaks. Spend just a few dollars on sealant and weather stripping and plug leaks around doors and windows to make your home more comfortable and energy-efficient – and save on those heating and cooling bills year after year.
• Properly maintain your heating system. Clean or replace furnace filters regularly.
• Let Uncle Sam help pay for your energy-efficiency home improvements. Certain energy-saving products are eligible for federal income tax credits totaling $500 through 2007. They include insulation, sealants, weather stripping; new ENERGY STAR windows, including storm windows; and highly efficient furnaces, boilers, heat pumps, and central air conditioners. (Details in English and Spanish at www.ase.org/taxcredits.)
• A programmable thermostat “remembers for you” to adjust the indoor temperature according to your daily and weekend routines to avoid wasting energy and money while the house is empty and reduce heating costs up to 10 percent. This money- and energy-saving device is celebrating its 100th anniversary.
• Insulate heating ducts, and keep them in good repair to prevent heat loss. Your system can lose up to 60 percent of its warmed air before it reaches the register, if ducts are not properly insulated in unheated areas such as attics and crawlspaces. Also insulate your hot water heater and hot water pipes.
• Look for the ENERGY STAR label, the government’s symbol of energy efficiency, on 40 different types of products – including appliances, electronics, lighting, home office equipment, windows, and more – to save up to 30 percent on related home energy bills. TVs, VCRs, DVD and CD players, and cordless phones with built-in display clocks, memory chips, and remote controls continue to use energy in the “off” mode and account for 5 percent of total U.S. electricity use. Those with ENERGY STAR labels use less energy in the “off” mode.
• Open curtains and other window treatments on your west- and south-facing windows during the day to allow sunlight to naturally heat your home, and close them at night.
• Enjoy your fireplace, but don’t send precious, costly warmed air up the chimney! Reduce heat loss by opening dampers in the bottom of the firebox (if provided) or opening the nearest window about an inch, closing off the room, and turning down the thermostat to 50 to 55 degrees. And don’t forget to close the flue when you’re done enjoying the fire.
• Switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs, which use about one-third the energy of incandescent bulbs and last up to 10 times longer. Replace four 75-watt incandescent bulbs in your home that burn four or more hours a day with comparable 23-watt compact fluorescent bulbs to save around $200 over the life of the bulbs.
About the Alliance to Save Energy
The Alliance to Save Energy is a coalition of prominent business, government, environmental, and consumer leaders who promote the efficient and clean use of energy worldwide to benefit consumers, the environment, economy, and national security.
Source: Alliance to Save Energy
CONTACT: Ronnie Kweller: T: ; C:
Website: www.ase.org
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