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10 Hot Tips for Fall and Winter Savings

Use a block heater timer

  • Even in the coldest Yukon temperatures, your vehicle only needs four hours to be drive-ready. A timer can save you over $30/month per vehicle.
  • Plug it and forget it — plug in your vehicle to the timer when you get home and don’t stress about paying for unnecessary electricity through the night.

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Take advantage of heat from the sun

  • Open curtains on your south-facing windows during the day to allow sunlight to naturally heat your home. Close them at night to reduce any chill from cold windows.
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Cover drafty windows

  • Use a heavy-duty, clear plastic sheet on a frame or tape clear plastic film to the inside of your window frames during the cold winter months. Make sure the plastic is sealed tightly to the frame to help reduce drafts.
  • Install tight-fitting, insulating drapes or shades on windows that still feel drafty.
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Adjust the temperature

  • When you are home and awake, set your thermostat as low as is comfortable.
  • When you are asleep or out of the house, turn your thermostat back 5°–10°C for eight hours and save around 10 percent a year on your heating and cooling bills.
  • A smart thermostat can make it easy to keep the temperature where you want it.
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Find and seal leaks

  • Use the smoke from a burning stick of incense to find spots in your house where the air is leaking. Air leakage can represent up to 40 percent of the heat loss from a house.
  • Add caulk or weatherstripping to seal air leaks around doors and windows.
  • Seal the air leaks around utility cut-throughs for pipes, gaps around chimneys and recessed lights in insulated ceilings, and unfinished spaces behind cupboards and closets.
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Lower your water heater costs

  • Water heating accounts for about 18 percent of the energy consumed in your home.
  • Insulate your hot water tank and hot water pipes.
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Change your furnace filter frequently during winter

  • It will burn cleaner and use less energy.
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Clean warm-air registers, baseboard heaters, and radiators as needed

  • Make sure they're not blocked by furniture, carpeting, or drapes.
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Turn down the heat in rooms you don't use often

  • Lower the temperature gradually during colder weather to ensure that your home does not experience any problems such as bursting water pipes.
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Choose LED Christmas Lights

  • Seasonal LED lights use up to 90 percent less electricity and last up to 10 times longer than traditional incandescent holiday lights. The same LED string could still be in use 40 Christmases from now.
  • LED holiday lights have other advantages, too:
    • Safer: LEDs are much cooler than incandescent lights, reducing the risk of fire or burnt fingers.
    • Sturdier: LEDs are made with epoxy lenses, not glass, and are much more resistant to breakage.
    • Easier to Install: Up to 25 strings of LEDs can be connected end-to-end without overloading a wall socket.
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5 Cool Tricks for Spring and Summer Savings

Use your windows to gain cool air and keep out heat

  • In Yukon, even on a hot day it cools off at night. Open your windows while sleeping. When you wake in the morning, shut the windows and blinds to capture the cool air.
  • Install window coverings to prevent heat gain through your windows.
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Use fans and ventilation strategies to cool your home

  • Use a fan. Ceiling fans can provide the equivalent of four degrees of cooling comfort.
  • Turn off ceiling fans when you leave the room. Remember that fans cool people — not rooms — by creating a wind chill effect.
  • When you shower or take a bath, use the bathroom fan to remove the heat and humidity from your home. Your laundry room might also benefit from spot ventilation. Make sure bathroom and kitchen fans are vented to the outside (not just to the attic).
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Don’t heat your home with appliances and lighting

  • On hot days, avoid using the oven. Cook on the stove, use a microwave, or grill outside.
  • Install efficient LED lighting that is much cooler than incandescent lighting. Only about 10–15 percent of the electricity that incandescent bulbs consume results in light — the rest is turned into heat.
  • Wash only full loads of dishes and clothes. Consider air drying both dishes and clothing.
  • Take short showers instead of baths.
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Lower your water heating costs

  • Water heating accounts for about 18 percent of the energy consumed in your home.
  • Take shorter showers
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Shut off baseboard heaters

  • In the spring ensure your baseboard heaters are turned off in your garage and your crawl space.
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Quick Tips

Electronics

Avoid using screen savers on your computers. They cause monitors to consume the same amount of power as when they are running normally.

Appliances

Consider getting rid of your second fridge or freezer. An older fridge could be costing you up to $100 in electricity each year.

Appliances

Arrange food to allow for air to flow throughout your fridge.

Appliances

Allow hot foods to cool before placing them in the fridge or freezer. Adding hot foods will make your appliance work harder and use more electricity to cool the space.

Appliances

Clean the lint trap after each dryer load and check the outside vent regularly for maximum efficiency.

Lighting

Install timers and motion sensors on outside lighting and Christmas lights.

Electronics

Turn on your TV’s power-saving mode. Most new TVs have one that can be activated by the user.

Appliances

If you use your dryer, throw a dry towel in with the load to speed up drying time.

Lighting

For work that needs good light, install task lighting close to the job.

Electronics

Purchase an ENERGY STAR® certified TV. ENERGY STAR® TVs reduce the amount of standby power while in off mode and use up to 40 percent less energy when on.

Appliances

Unplug appliances when you can; i.e. a single-cup coffee maker is like a small hot water tank. When plugged in all the time, it can contribute up to $10 a month to your electricity bill.

Appliances

Match the stove burner to the size of your pot and use a lid to conserve heat.

Appliances

Don’t place your fridge or freezer where the temperature is high, such as a sunny area or close to the stove or dishwasher. It will have to work harder and use more electricity to stay cold.

Appliances

Only buy what you need and will use – think twice about that wine chiller or lava lamp.

Lighting

Not using a light? Switch it off.

Appliances

Always keep your appliances well maintained for highest efficiency.

Lighting

Keep shades, light covers and bulbs clean to get the most out of your lights.

Appliances

Hold off on running the washer until you have a full load of laundry.

Appliances

Wait until there’s a full load before running the dishwasher, and use the air-dry cycle.

Appliances

Fill the dryer before use, but don't overfill as that can lengthen drying time.

Lighting

Use low-energy night lights.

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