Switching to Green & Energy Saving

Video Transcript

"You may be wondering how you can switch to green energy. Well one of the simplest things you can do in your home is to switch to energy efficient lighting. Lighting accounts for about 40% of the energy costs of most homes. This particular bulb is called a compact fluorescent bulb and it is the first generation of energy efficient bulbs to come out that has had a significant impact on reducing our energy costs. There are other technologies that are called LED lights which are very compact, very low energy, low wattage need lights. They produce very little heat which makes them very efficient. They don't have the mercury, the trace amounts of mercury that these compact fluorescents do and they last even longer than the compact fluorescents do over time. Another thing that you can do for yourself and in your home to switch to greener energy habits are to have an energy audit done of your home, The Tennessee Valley Authority will send you a free energy kit which will allow you to take a test on line, provide you with some starter materials to begin to reduce energy costs for your home and some tips on how to do that. A lot of your local utilities also have those resources as well but really one of the many things that people are also finding that they can do that is very simple is to buy a power strip at a Lowe's or Home Depot or other hardware supply stores because most of your appliances in your home will stay on even after they are turned off. When you see those little red lights or those green lights that let you know that this particular appliance is plugged in. If you connect that appliance to a power strip and several of the appliances that are in the same area you can simply just cut off your appliance and then go over and cut off the switch of the power box or power strip which cuts off all the power from your wall or from the appliance when it is turned off which saves you money and saves you energy. Those are among just a few of the things that you can do and there are lots of other things that you can do on line or through your local utility."