Here are a few convenient tips to increase the energy efficiency of your gardening and landscaping efforts this summer:

• Plant, water your plants, and do general landscaping activities when it is cool outside. The EPA recommends doing these things in the early morning, as that is generally the coolest time of day during the summer.
• Collect rainwater and use it to water plants—it’s effectively free water!
• Mulching around your plants is a great way to reduce water loss, as well as making it harder for water-stealing weeds to thrive. Aside from purchasing mulch, you can use pine needles or compost. You can even use your grass clippings and fallen leaves in flower and vegetable gardens. Inorganic options include landscaping paper, rocks, and pebbles. However, these aren’t well suited for all climates—they can overheat in very warm parts of the country.
• Adjust how you manage your lawn. The typical suburban lawn can soak up over 20,000 gallons of water each year, but it doesn’t have to be that much! Choose varieties of grass that don’t require as much water. For example, Bermuda and buffalo grass require 20% less water than fescue, bluegrass, and other cheaper options. What’s more, keeping your grass a bit longer will shade roots and slow evaporation. To get this, you can mow less often, and when you do mow, raise the height of your mower blade.
• After mowing your lawn, leave the clippings around in your yard as a natural fertilizer for your grass.

Visit the rest of our Bright Insights blog for more energy efficiency advice!

The post Planting the Seeds of Energy Efficiency: Gardening Energy Efficiency Tips appeared first on .

Outdoor electrical work

• Have a qualified electrician do all of your outdoor electrical work. Given that outdoor electrical appliances and devices have to put up with the harsh elements of the outdoors, there are certain types of materials and installation techniques that need to be strictly followed—it is best to have a professional do these tasks!
• To prevent an electrical shock, make sure all of your outside electrical receptacles are ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) protected.

Power line safety tips

• When there is the need for yard maintenance around power lines (most notably trimming tree branches), be sure to have certified professionals do this work.
• If you must use a ladder to get up onto your roof, be sure that you put it up far away from power lines. You don’t want to risk the ladder falling off your roof and into the power lines!

Pool safety tips

• Have an electrician check out your pool, spa, or hot tub before you begin using it for the season. It should be up to code.
• Use battery-operated devices around your pool—never something with a cord!

Miscellaneous tips

• Check lighting and extension cords for damage before using them. If you find any hint of damage, replace them immediately!
• Don’t run extension cords under rugs, carpet, or other objects if you can avoid it.

Visit the rest of our Bright Insights blog for more great energy efficiency advice and renewable energy news!

The post You’ll Be Happy You Read These Summer Outdoor Electrical Safety Tips appeared first on .

• Change your thermostat settings before you leave—you don’t need to cool your home if nobody is there to enjoy it! Either turn your thermostat to a higher temperature, or turn it off altogether.
• Similar advice goes for your water heater, which can draw a lot of energy. Turn it to a low setting or turn it off completely. However, you should only turn it off if you will be gone for more than 3 days.
• Unplug appliances and electronics, or make sure they are plugged into a surge protector that is turned off. This protects your devices from power surges in your absence, as well as keeping them from sucking unnecessary power even while off.
• Depending on the length of your vacation, you might want to clear out your refrigerator and freezer as well so you can turn them off completely.
• If you have a pool, check the settings on your pool pump to make sure it will function properly while you are gone.

If you have people watching your house (picking up your mail, feeding pets, etc.) there are several things they can do for you as well, including:

• Keep drapes and curtains closed during sunny days to keep temperatures cool inside.
• Set lights on timers if you want to have lights on while you are away. Motion-detectors are a great option for this, too!
• If your trip is rather lengthy, have someone check your pool to make sure pool if operating properly—you don’t want to come home to an algae buildup!

Click here to learn more about preparing your home for summer vacation.

Looking for more ways to save energy around your home? Learn how to save energy in your kitchen by clicking here.

The post Preparing Your Home For Summer Vacation in Regards to Energy Efficiency appeared first on .

Air conditioners

Air conditioners are thought of as the de facto champion for cooling your home. Air conditioners come in many different varieties, from single room window units to air conditioners that cool an entire home.

The downside for air conditioners is their high price, both when they are installed and for running them over time. Therefore, if you are looking to save money on energy costs, an air conditioner might not be the best decision.

Even if you already have an air conditioner, you can supplement it with other cooling methods and technologies to lower your costs.

Ceiling fans

Ceiling fans can have a large number of benefits for your home, even in months that aren’t summer. Ceiling fans are designed to keep air circulating in the summer using the wind-chill effect to make you feel cooler. Ceiling fans also rotate air in the winter to bring warm air from your ceiling down to the surface.

Like any other fan, ceiling fans do not necessarily save you energy in the summer all by themselves. Instead, using a ceiling fan or other fan instead of running your air conditioner on high will save you energy.

Simply put—fans are a cheap way to make you feel cooler, though they do nothing to impact the actual temperature of your home.

Learn more about the energy efficiency of fans here.

Other methods

There are many other methods of saving energy on cooling costs by simply reducing the amount of heat in your home, including:

• Keep the sun out of your home during the sunny hours of the day by closing your shades or curtains.
• For long-term cooling savings, try strategically planting a tree in your yard so that it can provide shade during the day.
• Leave your windows open throughout your house to create a comfortable cross breeze.

Are you thinking about purchasing a new fan or air conditioner? Make your purchase through our new customer loyalty program, Star Rewards, and receive cash back with your purchase! Click here to learn more about Star Rewards.

The post What is the Most Efficient Way to Cool Your Home During the Summer? appeared first on .

Following the PUCO’s press release about electric outage preparation, we were inspired to provide you with more information about emergency electricity outage preparation. During extreme seasons—summer and winter—it is important to have a plan to beat the heat or cold, respectively.

How can you be prepared year-round for power outages?

First and foremost, it is important to be prepared for power outages before they happen. Putting together an emergency power outage kit and placing it somewhere safe is a great place to start. Here are some things you might want to include:

• Portable radio
• Flashlights
• Batteries
• Manual can opener and bottle opener
• Non-perishable canned foods
• Water stored in clean, non-breakable containers
• Hygiene products
• Cell phone
• Camp stove or other source of heat
• Warm blankets
• Clothing appropriate for the seasons
  • For example, you’ll want to have clothes that are appropriate for both hot summer temperatures and cold winter temperatures.

Aside from knowing where your emergency kit is stored, it is vital to learn how to get there in the dark, as well as knowing the location of your circuit breaker and main water shut-off valve. During a power outage, you may run into a situation that requires you to turn off your home’s circuit breaker or to cut off your home’s water.

For all of the above, practice doing these steps in complete darkness, with a flashlight as your only source of light.

What should you do during an outage?

The first thing you will want to do during an outage is report the outage immediately to your electric company. You may not get through to a real person on the phone (as many others are likely calling to report the outage), but there will likely be automated instructions for leaving a message.

Next, unplug all of your major appliances and electronics (such as desktop computers and TVs) to protect them from a possible power surge when your power is restored. If you have invested in surge protectors your devices should be safe, but it doesn’t hurt to unplug your surge protector from the wall just in case.

Remember to never run a generator inside of your home or garage. This will put you at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Check with local authorities to make sure that water is safe to consume. You may need to boil or filter your water, as water treatment facilities may be inoperable.

If any of your refrigerated food becomes hotter than 40 degrees Fahrenheit for more than 2 hours, throw it out. It may be unsafe to eat.

Tips for summer outages

Staying cool is vital in warm weather, and this is made especially difficult if your power is out. Normally, air conditioning or a fan can help to reduce your home’s heat, but during an outage this can turn into a serious problem.

Remember to drink plenty of fluids to avoid heat exhaustion; try drinking water every 15–20 minutes, up to a minimum of one gallon per day. Here are some more tips for staying cool that do not require electricity:

• Wear light colored clothes.
• Work during cool hours of the day only.
• Take regular cold showers or baths to stay cool.

If you believe your power will be out for a long time, consider going to a movie theater, mall, or other public building where you can stay for a significant amount of time and take advantage of air conditioning. If you must remain at home, go to the lowest part of your home (the basement, ideally) as it will be coolest there.

For more information about preparing for power outages, visit the resources below.

• CDC power outage information
• Ready.gov blackout information
• Red Cross disaster power outage information

The post Electric Outage Preparation appeared first on .

Therefore, it is important to takes steps to reduce your energy usage to both keep the heat down in your home and to make sure you don’t break the bank with all of your energy consumption during the warm summer months. Here are a few summer energy-saving tips to help you stay cool this summer.

• Turn up your thermostat while you are away from home. You don’t need your home to be cool while you are not there to enjoy it. General standards are to set your thermostat around 78 degrees F or higher when you are home and 85 degrees F when you are away from home.
• Make sure your fridge is mostly filled with food at all times. This will result in less heat getting into your fridge when you open the door several times in a row. With less heat inside, your refrigerator won’t have to work as hard, increasing your energy efficiency.
• Try cooking outside with a grill instead of using your oven. Not only will this get you out in the nice weather, but it will also keep you from using appliances in your home that require electricity. This will increase your energy efficiency by reducing the frequency that you use your appliances, as well as keeping the heat generated to cook your food outside instead of inside.
• Remember that fans don’t actually make your home colder, they just blow air around. In fact, fans make you feel cooler using the wind-chill effect. Therefore, don’t leave your fan on if you aren’t in the room—it is just wasting energy.

What are some of your favorite energy-saving tips during the summer?

The post Summer Energy-Saving Tips appeared first on .