Click on the links below to learn more about how you can save energy and money at home. Contact our Customer Service Department at (413) 536-9300 to request a free guide prepared by the Department of Energy that contains even more simple ways to save.

Cut Loads of Energy While Doing the Laundry
Cut Your Cooking Costs
Audit Your Home for Energy Savings
Lower Your Lighting Costs
Close the Window on High Energy Bills
Buy Efficient Appliances and Save
Seal Your Ducts and Save Money
Chill Out with an Efficient Fridge
Keep Heating and Cooling Costs Under Control
Turn Up the Savings on Your Dishwasher
Insulate your Home Against High Energy Bills
Lighten Up Your Energy Bill with CFls
Cook Up Energy Savings in the Kitchen

Cut Loads of Energy While Doing the Laundry

It's easy to cut your energy costs for laundry. About 80-85% of the energy used for washing clothes is used to heat the water. You can reduce this cost by using less water by washing full loads and using cooler water and cold-water detergents - switching the temperature setting from hot to warm cuts a load's energy use in half. You can reduce drying costs as well: clean the lint filter after every load to improve air circulation, and don't over-dry clothes. Use the cool-down cycle to allow clothes to finish drying with residual heat. Also, periodically inspect your dryer vent to ensure it's not blocked. If you are in the market for a new washer or dryer, look for the Energy Star and read EnergyGuide labels.

Cut Your Cooking Costs

Follow a few tips to save energy and money when cooking: If you need to purchase a gas oven or range, look for one with an automatic, electric ignition system. An electric ignition saves gas because a pilot light is not burning continuously. In gas appliances, look for blue flames; yellow flames indicate the gas is burning inefficiently and an adjustment may be needed (consult the manufacturer or contact the HG&E Service Center at 413-536-9335 to schedule an appointment, service fees apply). For small meals, use small electric pans or toaster ovens rather than your large stove or oven; a toaster oven uses a third to half as much energy as a full-sized oven. Keep range-top burners and reflectors clean; they will reflect the heat better, saving you energy. It's also more efficient to match the size of the pan to the burner.

Audit Your Home for Energy Savings

Determine which parts of your home use the most energy, and how you can best reduce your energy costs, by performing an energy audit. You can conduct a simple audit yourself, or contact our home energy audit contractor, MMWEC HELPS at (888)333-7525 to request a free energy audit. If you choose to complete this task yourself, check your home's insulation levels, and check for open fireplace dampers. Look for holes or cracks around doors, light and plumbing fixtures, and other places where air may leak into or out of your home. Make sure your appliances and heating and cooling systems are properly maintained, and study your family's lighting needs and use patterns, paying special attention to high-use areas. Once you've determined where your home is losing energy, assign priorities to your energy needs; make smart purchases and home improvements that maximize energy efficiency and save the most money.

Lower Your Lighting Costs

Increasing your lighting efficiency is one of the fastest ways to decrease your energy bills. Turn off the lights in any room you're not using, or consider installing timers, photo cells, or occupancy sensors to reduce the amount of time your lights are on. Use task lighting; instead of brightly lighting an entire room, focus the light where you need it. For example, use fluorescent under-cabinet lighting for kitchen sinks and countertops under cabinets. Consider three-way lamps; they make it easier to keep lighting levels low when brighter light is not necessary. Finally, use compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs); they are much more efficient than incandescent bulbs and last 6 to 10 times longer. CFLs are more expensive than incandescent bulbs, but they pay for themselves by saving energy over their lifetime.

Close the Window on High Energy Bills

If your home has single-pane windows, as almost half of U.S. homes do, consider replacing them. New double-pane windows with high-performance glass are available on the market. Since you are located in a cold climate, you should select windows that are gas filled with low-emissivity (low-e) coatings on the glass to reduce heat loss. If you decide not to replace your windows, there are other ways to improve their performance. In winter months, close your curtains and shades at night, and open them during the day. Installing storm windows can also reduce your heat loss, by up to 50%. In summer months, install white window coverings to reflect heat away from the house, and close south- and west-facing curtains during the day.

Buy Efficient Appliances and Save on Energy Costs

Appliances account for about 20% of a home's energy consumption, with refrigerators, clothes washers, and clothes dryers at the top of the consumption list. When you have to shop for a new appliance, keep in mind that products have two price tags-the purchase price and the operating cost. You'll be paying on the second price tag every month through your utility bill for 10 to 20 years, depending on the appliance. To reduce your energy bill, look for the Energy Star label, which identifies energy-efficient appliances that usually exceed minimum federal standards by a substantial amount. And most appliances are required to display a bright yellow and black EnergyGuide label; these labels will not tell you which appliance is the most efficient, but they will tell you the annual energy consumption and operating cost so you can compare for yourself.

Seal Your Ducts and Save Money

Many duct systems are poorly insulated or not insulated properly. Ducts that leak heated or cooled air into unconditioned spaces (spaces that aren't heated or cooled, like crawlspaces) can add hundreds of dollars a year to your heating and cooling bills, so insulating these ducts is usually very cost-effective. Although minor duct repairs are easy to accomplish, ducts in unconditioned spaces should be sealed and insulated by qualified professionals using appropriate sealing materials. For minor repairs, look for duct sections that should be joined but have separated, and then look for obvious holes. If you use duct tape to repair and seal your ducts, look for tape with the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) logo. Note that water pipes and drains in unconditioned spaces could freeze and burst if the heat ducts are fully insulated, because there would be no heat source to prevent the space from freezing in cold weather. However, using an electric heating tape wrap on the pipes can prevent this. For cooling ducts, be sure a well-sealed vapor barrier exists on the outside of the insulation to prevent moisture buildup.

Chill Out with an Efficient Fridge

Refrigerators are among the most energy intensive appliances in a home, but with a few steps you can keep your energy costs to a minimum. Check that your refrigerator isn't too cold. Recommended temperatures are 37 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit for the fresh food compartment and 5 degrees for the freezer section. Long-term storage freezers should be kept at 0 degrees. (Stick a thermometer in a glass of water and read it after 24 hours; for the freezer, stick the thermometer between frozen packages.) Frost build-up decreases energy efficiency, so regularly defrost manual-defrost refrigerators and freezers. Replace your refrigerator door seals if they are not airtight, and cover liquids and wrap foods--uncovered foods release moisture and make the condenser work harder. Move your refrigerator out from the wall and vacuum its condenser coils once a year unless you have a no-clean condenser model. Finally, if you're in the market for a new refrigerator, pay attention to the EnergyGuide label, which lists electricity use in kilowatt-hours--the lower the better.

Keep Heating and Cooling Costs Under Control

Heating and cooling your home typically accounts for about 44% of your utility bill. What's more, U.S. heating and cooling systems emit more than half a billion tons of carbon dioxide each year, contributing to global warming, and they generate large amounts of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, chief ingredients of acid rain. You can significantly cut energy costs and use by setting your thermostat low in the winter and high in the summer, but it's also important to maintain your heating and cooling systems. Clean or replace filters on furnaces once a month or as needed, and clean warm-air registers, baseboard heaters, and radiators periodically, making sure they're not blocked by furniture, carpeting, or drapes. Also, use kitchen and bathroom fans wisely; in just one hour, these fans can pull out a house full of warmed or cooled air.

Turn Up the Savings on Your Dishwasher

With a few easy steps, you can cut your dishwashing energy costs. Most of the energy used by a dishwasher is to heat the water. Check your dishwasher's manual for recommendations on water temperature; many have internal heating elements that allow you to set the water heater in your home to a lower temperature (115 degrees Fahrenheit). Scrape, don't rinse, off your plate; soaking or prewashing is generally only recommended in cases of burned-on or dried-on food. Be sure your dishwasher is full, but not overloaded. Let your dishes air dry, and don't use the "rinse hold" on your machine for just a few soiled dishes; it uses three to seven gallons of hot water each time you use it. Finally, when shopping for a new dishwasher, look for the Energy Star label.

Insulate Your Home Against High Energy Bills

A good insulating system can help keep your home warm during winter and cool during summer. Check the insulation in your attic, ceilings, exterior and basement walls, floors, and crawl spaces to see if it meets the levels recommended for your area. (Insulation is measured in R-values--the higher the R-value, the better your walls and roof will resist the transfer of heat.) Consider factors such as your climate, building design, and budget when selecting insulation R-value. The easiest and most cost-effective way to insulate your home is to add insulation in the attic.

Lighten Up Your Energy Bill with Fluorescent Lamps

If you replace 25% of your lights in high-use areas with fluorescents, you can save about 50% of your lighting energy bill. Fluorescent lamps are more expensive than incandescents, but they more than pay for themselves because they save energy and last 6 to 10 times longer. Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) can be used in portable table and floor lamps, and even in torchiere fixtures; consider carefully the size and fit of CFLs when you select them. Exterior lighting is one of the best places to use CFLs because of their long life. If you live in a cold climate, be sure to buy a lamp with a cold-weather ballast. Use 4-foot fixtures with reflective backing and electronic ballasts for your garage and laundry areas, and consider 4-watt mini-fluorescent or electro-luminescent night lights.

Cook Up Energy Savings in the Kitchen

Cut down on your cooking costs by following some of these energy-saving tips: Use a covered kettle or pan to boil water; it's faster and it uses less energy. It's also more efficient to match the size of the pan to the burner. If you cook with electricity, turn the oven and stovetop burners off several minutes before the allotted cooking time, as the heating element will stay hot long enough to finish the cooking without using more electricity. Use pressure cookers and microwave ovens to save energy by significantly reducing cooking time.