What Can You Do Right Now?

Set sprinklers to water the lawn or garden only - not the street or sidewalk.

 

Use the microwave to cook small meals. (It uses less power than an oven.)

 

Purchase "Green Power" for your home's electricity. (Contact your power supplier to see where and if it is available.)

 

Scrape, rather than rinse, dishes before loading into the dishwasher; wash only full loads.

 

Cut back on air conditioning and heating use if you can.

 

Turn off appliances and lights when you leave the room.

 

More Tips »

 

Tips at Home

Cold Facts About Fireplaces

09:06 AM CST on Friday, January 4, 2008

Earth Share

When you light a blazing fire on a cold winter day it looks and feels wonderful, but it can be an expensive and inefficient endeavor. A fireplace sends most of the heat in your house straight up the chimney. A fireplace can exhaust as much as 24,000 cubic feet of air per hour to the outside! But, there are ways you can limit the loss of heat when enjoying a quiet evening by the fire.

* Reduce heat loss by opening dampers in the bottom of the firebox (if provided) or open the nearest window slightly - only about an inch - and close doors leading into the room.
* Install tempered glass doors and a heat-air exchange system that blows warmed air back into the room.
* Check the seal on the flue damper and make it as snug as possible.
* Use grates made of C-shaped metal tubes to draw cool room air into the fireplace and circulate warm air back into the room.
* When you aren't using your fireplace, keep its damper closed!
*If you are planning to install a new fireplace, consider a gas fireplace. These provide the enjoyment of looking at flames but can be 70% more efficient than regular fireplaces. Earth Share, a federation of America's leading non-profit environmental and conservation charities, promotes environmental education and charitable giving in workplace employee giving campaigns. For more tips and to find out how your workplace can help the earth, visit www.earthshare.org or call 1.800.875.3863
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