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Answer by Texperson
Start with mid cool on the 5 setting. Adjust from there as needed to get the room to your comfort level.

Answer by Bonno
If the low cool setting did it, stick with it …slower moving air across the coil picks up more cool, & it might be that this coupled with the size of your cooled area, & heat gain, match up just right. The slower the fan speed & the less time the compressor runs, the less you pay………

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Answer by Kay H
The only good example that i can give you is that when i changed to energy saver bulbs, my light bill went down $ 20.00 the next month.

Answer by jones0220050001
Well before I switched all of my light bulbs to energy saving my bill use to be like 130.00 now with all energy saving bulbs including porch lights that stay on all night my bill is now 79.00 a month.

Answer by Tristan H
It saves you quite a bit, sometimes $ 20-$ 40 a month. However, be aware that the CFL bulbs contain mercury, and pose a severe environmental risk should you break one. As long as you have no kids, are not clumsy, and do not put them in standing lamps or anywhere around carpet, you will be fine.

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Answer by Joe
Power is power is power. Plugging an appliance into a cord only changes the path of the electricity. It will not save you money. Use a clothsline and wash dishes by hand if you want to save on electricity.

Answer by zildjian
yes, yes, yes. electric meter runs not on how electricity come out by how much electricity enters the home so, even if an appliance is on standby mode or switched off it still consumes energy by the fact that it is still connected to the source.

Answer by Robert S
Absolutely not. Appliances should not be plugged into power cords if it can be prevented. Electricity running through a wire creates heat and if the power cord heats up sufficiently, especially in the cheaper cords, then it could cause a fire. If a power cord is necessary, then the wire should be massive enough to carry the amount of current that the appliance draws without heating up excessively. Length of the cord also plays a major role in the cord you choose because the longer the cord, the more the wire resistance you add to the path of the electrical current. Some wire ratings go as such: Size 18 wire is good for 5 amps. Size 14 wire is good for 15 amps. Size 12 wire is good for 20 amps. Size 10 wire is good for 25-30 amps. size 8 good for 35-40 amps. Circuit breakers are designed to snap off at 80% of their rating. Thus a 15amp breaker will pop off at a continuous draw of 12 amps. A 20amp breaker will pop off at a continuous 16 amp draw. One thing to mention is that if your extension cord is to long, thus causing more wire resistance then you might be robbing the appliance of current it needs to operate properly. Giving the appliance especially if it has motors on it, less current to operate on will often cause the applinace motor to overheat and more often than not, will cause the appliance to burn out. Check the rating on the name plate of the appliance and then get a power cord that will carry the amount of current it requires.

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Answer by Desert Dust
I think standby is as close to off as it gets without unplugging the unit, which might cause it to lose it memory.

Answer by Republican2010
If you really wanted to save on electricity you would have to unplug it from the wall to actually save.
But you do not have to shut the receiver off it normally goes into standby mode automatically after awhile. That and you aren’t using much electricity in the first place. Think about it this way do you shut off your personal after your done using it each time??? Its all common sense!

Answer by nighthawk
to answer your question first even when you turn things off this day they do not go off they just shut off the feturs you use kinda like your pc you put it to sleep but it is ready to turn on in a minute . now as far as the bill goes unless you wach your tv one spacific time each day and shut it off each day at the same time . you will never know the diffrence in your bill . just shut it off when done and forget it if it doesnt shut off wen tv goes out no problem good luck

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Answer by Isaac Horwitz
I think a lot of says have wind turbines, and some houses are solar… people are doing stuff about it and the costs are handled, because it is saving electricity.

Answer by Eric
I did do something about it, I put a 2.53kW solar array on my home last summer.

You can see how it’s doing here:

http://enlighten.enphaseenergy.com/public/systems/3XLe4889

This month has been very snowy & overcast so not a ton of production lately, but overall I have been extremely pleased with the performance.

I’d encourage anyone interested in solar to look up what incentives might be available at http://www.dsireusa.org and get a quote from an installer, you might be surprised at how the cost has come down lately.

@Larry – I did not tax you, I diverted a portion of my own tax money for my own uses. Your taxes went to the military or nuclear subsidies or elsewhere, do not worry

Answer by ▄▀▄▀▄葉顔ღ ςยtєє侍合▄▀▄▀▄
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke_-xu-aXSI&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

I DO!!!! =P

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Answer by Richard P
The use of an extension cord has nothing to do with saving electricity. If you use one that is too long, then you are waisting power. This is a small amount though unless it’s really long.
There is a lot involve with saving electricity. To many to list here.
1. Changing A/C filters.
2. Letting air in or out of the house. Cracked doors, windows not shut properly.etc.
3. Over-temperature on the water heater. Wasting hot water.
4. and the list keeps going.

Answer by Buzz
No extension cords do not help, two many thing on it will over load your circuit breaker.
Try turning off the things you do not use.

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Answer by grumpy
Not sure of you situation but I know around here the apartment buildings do not charge for heat. A nice benefit up here in the Great Frozen North 6 months out of the year.

Apartments are kind of in a bad spot. Usually you do not have the opportunity to open the windows up to get a good air flow from one side of the home to another so you will probably be using fans to help circulate air.

Just try to be vigilante about turning appliances off when not needed, unplug is the ideal option.

Answer by Katie
Well for one thing you can do is in the summer set your thermostat high and in the winter set it low so your A/C unit runs less and turning it farther up/down when everyone is gone or get the digital ones from the hardware store to set your temps for when everyone is gone and when everyone is home. (I am assuming where you live it’s mandatory to have one or the other or both.) You can use either the low wattage or the new fluorescent bulbs. Just common sense type of things.. if you can have a washer and dryer units in your apartment you might want to upgrade to the high efficiency ones that use less energy to run..

other than that just the common sense things like turn the lights off when you leave the room and such…

Answer by TatrD
I good trick for winter is to place panty hose across the end of your dryer vent (secured with a think rubber band) and do not vent it to the outside of your apartment. The panty hose will keep any lint from getting in the air and you use the heat from the dryer to help warm the home. BE CAREFUL if you select to do this as many home fires begin from the lint accumulation from the dryer. It is very flammable but if you clean it out at least weekly, you will be fine.

Also – set the thermostat at 68 or 70 F in the winter. You cna wear a sweater while you are home and those few degrees can make a huge difference in your bill. You can do the same in summer by setting the thermostat at about 78F.

Don’t stand with the refrigerator door open pondering what is inside for long. Also, do not open the oven door while cooking as that lowers the temperature rapidly.

Make sure to turn off the lights. Even if you are in the room if possible. If we are sitting in the den watching tv we do not turn the light on.

Good luck!

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Answer by mjvincent
A powerstrip will not save you any money… It grants you to plug multiple things into one outlet and on some strips offer surge protection. But your devices STILL consume the same amount of electricity…

Answer by russ m
You can use a powerstrip to turn of multiple appliances at night and save the electricity they use in standby.
For something like the Television and stereo system, you would save maybe 0.5kWh of electricity per day, which might add up to a few dollars a month.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_load

Answer by Craig L
Powerstrips will save you nothing.

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Answer by Dax O
You were telling everyone about it yesterday now your asking questions? Why dont you just put your advertisment on here and get it over with!

Answer by Rocky
The energy audit costs about $ 350. If you pay someone to fix the problems that is another $ 800.

These things will save you $ 300 to $ 500 per year in energy. If you do the math, you will have your investment in efficiency paid back in 2 to 3 years. And then the savings will just keep going. You will likely save $ 5,000 or $ 10,000 in energy over 10 to 20 years. Total cost is about $ 1,150. (If you pay someone to do everything)

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Answer by nick s
seems logical.

Answer by Giddygoon
It is superior to turn it down and not off. It is easier for your heating system to maintain a lower temperature, rather than to bring it up to a normal temperature from being cold.
Of course, that being said, if your place doesn’t get that cold during the day they you might be able to get away with turning it off completely. But, you get the same results by just turning it down to the low temperature that it reaches during the day. You also have to think about any water pipes you might have. While the rooms might be above freezing, any pipes in outside walls are usually at a lower temp, so keeping the heat off might be bad if those pipes reach freezing.

I set my thermostat to about 10 degrees lower when I am not going to be home. It is cooler, but it doesn’t take too long to get the heat back.

Answer by Suzy Cutes
It is superior to turn your heat down 8-10 degrees below “normal” (whatever temperature is normally comfortable to you) for periods 6 hours or more (at night, at work). For periods, less, only a few degrees.

It is not just the unit working more to bring the temperature up in the room, your walls and furnishings lose ambient temperature, so it takes more energy to heat those things up before they stop leeching off their cold. (Example, you know when you bring a Christmas tree inside from the cold, even hours afterwards the interior of the tree still feels really cold….)

I was looking for the site/info, but a university study showed that it took 10-15 minutes per degree for the average couch to reach “room” temperature when the thermostat was raised. All that time, it is leeching off “cold” into the environment, making the heating unit work more to keep room temperature up.

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