Home > Lighten Up > Turn Down Your Thermostat

Lighten Up

By Solvie Karlstrom | Back To the Blog

Turn Down Your Thermostat

4:55 pm - January 29, 2008

Photo: Turn Down Your Thermostat

Before you leave for work these wintry mornings, make the thermostat your final stop. During cold months, lowering the thermostat 10 degrees when no one is home can save 326 pounds of CO2 over the course of the year, and can reduce heating costs by ten percent. Plus, you'll avoid the sensation of walking straight in from the cold to the sauna. Instead, your home will warm up gradually as you do.

If you have an afternoon free, go on a hunt for heat leaks around the home. Hold a lit beeswax candle next to windows, doors, ceiling fixtures and any other seams in your walls. If the flame flickers to the side or (worse yet) is blown out, you've got a leak. Caulking, sealing or weather-stripping gaps will boost your heat savings and will allow you to turn down the thermostat even more. Try Geocel's VOC-free Quick Shield sealant (www.geocelusa.com) or other low-VOC varieties.

Lastly, never turn the heat off completely (or below 55 degrees during freezing weather), or you'll likely come home to frozen pipes!

© The Green Guide, 2008

Share | Email this post

Discuss this blog


Calculator for CO2 from electrical power
posted by maestra222 on 2008-03-23 13:01:34  

The co2 impact from electrical power seems to vary a lot based on location. Why is the case.

I am looking for a calculator to calculate impact in Canadian provinces the only one I found is

http://www.zeroghg.com/carbon_calculators.html

Does anyone know of any other Canadian calculators ?


Green Gab is for registered users only. If you are not a registered user and would like to join the discussion, register today.

Already registered? Log in here:
Username: Password:
If you have forgotten your password, click here.