The need to help the environment is at an all-time high as the world grapples with global warming, worldwide flooding, and a nasty global haze encircling the planet. Stopping power plants that generate tons of toxic pollutants every day is the real solution, but since that won’t be done anytime soon, there are a number of ways you can help reduce the amount of greenhouse gases produced.

Saving energy at home is something you can do on your own to make a difference. Sacrifice is one of the most common terms in the household, whether it’s cutting back on luxuries or some of life’s other necessities, but by lowering your electric bill as much as you can, your efforts will reduce demand for electricity. production.

Awareness is the other secret to the pollution problem that power plants create. Once you reduce your energy usage at home, spread the word and get all your friends and family to join your environmental bus.

Here are 5 easy steps to reduce energy use in your home to help the environment:

Step 1 – Turn off unnecessary lights. Turning off lights when not in use can help save energy at home. Also, switching from standard light bulbs to fluorescent bulbs helps reduce electricity consumption by at least ten percent.

Another way to automate lighting within your home is to have motion sensors in multiple rooms to automatically turn lights on and off when a room is occupied.

Step 2. Set your air conditioner thermostat to one temperature and leave it. Reducing home energy use is directly related to how long your air conditioner runs during the day. One way to really contribute to helping the environment is to carefully manage your use of air conditioning and heating.

The air conditioning and heating systems in your home consume the most energy. One way to reduce your monthly energy use is to set your home air conditioner’s thermostat at a nominal level of less than 20 degrees below the actual outside temperature and leave it there.

If the outside air temperature is above 90 degrees, you need to be careful where you set your thermostat, otherwise your AC unit will run continuously. If your air conditioning unit tends to never stop working, try turning up the temperature on the thermostat until it stops, then leave it. A programmable thermostat is a great way to automatically manage the run time of your air conditioning unit.

Another way to reduce your air conditioning unit’s energy use is by turning it off completely while you are away from home or during the evenings and nights while you sleep. This entire step is the same for your heater during the winter months.

Step 3. Remove power from unused appliances. You can help the environment simply by unplugging all appliances and electrical devices that are not used every day or are only used randomly every day. Examples of these types of appliances (most of which have digital clocks that run 24 hours a day) are microwaves, coffee makers, cable boxes, televisions, VCRs, computers, and their monitors in sleep mode. , stereo systems or other electronic devices. .

Simply unplug all the appliances and electronics you are not using and you can easily reduce energy consumption.

Step 4. Lower the heat setting on your water heater. Water heaters are insulated tanks that maintain the temperature of the water inside the tank. The average use of a water heater between 120 and 140 degrees is 111 kilowatt-hours per month.

One way to save energy at home is to set your water heater’s temperature thermostat between 100 and 120 degrees Fahrenheit. This will keep your water heater from having to work as hard and can significantly reduce electricity usage.

Step 5. Minimize machine drying your clothes. Dryers use more power while in operation to heat the element inside them that heats the air enough to dry clothes. The best home energy saving solution to help the environment in this case is to get a clothesline and dry your clothes instead of using an electric dryer. This will remove a large amount of energy usage from your total energy consumption.

By simply implementing the steps above and saving energy at home, you will personally help the environment by using less electricity. If you use less electricity, the power company won’t have to produce as much electricity.

Use common sense when it comes to helping the environment at home. It all starts with the electricity you use to make your life easier. Making small sacrifices here and there will benefit you in the long run. Learn more about how you can change your everyday habits at home and help the environment, then ask your family and friends to do the same so we can all make the world a better place for years to come.