Conservation Tips

Year-Round Energy Saving Tips From OUC

There are a number of simple things you can do around the house to save money on energy costs all year-round.

The Winning Number Is... 78

Air conditioning and heating account for more than 50 percent of the electric bill! To keep cool during summer's heat, set your air conditioning thermostat at 78 degrees. When you leave your house, turn it up a few notches to 85 degrees or higher and plan on a savings of 6-8 percent for each degree you raise the setting. In the winter, set your thermostat at 68 degrees.

Breezy Does It

Installing ceiling fans throughout your home will help you stay comfortably cool. In fact, you could raise your thermostat several degrees and not feel the difference. Turn fans off in unoccupied areas.

Made In The Shade

Close those curtains! Or mini-blinds, or shutters—and you'll keep the summer's heat out. During winter months, open your shades again and let in the warm sunshine. For extra shade, plant plenty of trees and shrubs.

Open And Shut Case

Looking for a snack? Try to figure out what you want before you head for the fridge. Frequently opening and closing the refrigerator door can increase your electric bill. For extra energy savings, clean the condenser coils behind or underneath the refrigerator every six months.

Change Is Good

Change or clean heating and air-conditioning filters monthly. Dirty filters put an unnecessary strain on the unit and can increase operating costs.

Tweak Those Leaks

Check air handler and ductwork for leaks and weather-strip or caulk around windows, doors, plumbing and other gaps so that heating and cooling energy won't escape. Check for water leaks, too. Toilets, in particular, should be checked often.

All Washed Up

Run your clothes or dishwasher only when you have accumulated a full load. You'll save on the electricity that heats the water and runs the appliances. Also, be sure to clean the dryer lint filter after every load.

Ready, Aim, Sprinkle

Water your lawn before 10:00 am This saves water from evaporation. Don't overwater and avoid watering the street and sidewalk by aiming your sprinkler away.

A Good Read

Learn to read your electric and water meters so you can monitor your usage.

Shed Some Light On The Subject

Try replacing incandescent lights with fluorescent. Fluorescents give you the same light output, but for one-third to one-half the cost. They also produce less heat for your air conditioner to cool.

Cool Suds

Try using the cold or warm setting on your clothes washer instead of hot. You'll be amazed at the savings. Set your water heater to 125 degrees.

Take The Next Step

Ready to save even more money on your monthly electric bill?

Try OUC's Free Online Home Energy Audit

Consumer Tax Credits

A tax credit can provide significant savings. It reduces the amount of income tax you have to pay. Unlike a deduction, which reduces the amount of income subject to tax, a tax credit directly reduces the tax itself. Find out which energy efficiency Federal Tax Credits you qualify for.

Summer Energy Saving Tips From OUC

Keep Your Cool... And Your Cash

It’s summertime, and you know what that means: sweltering temperatures across Central Florida. As you adjust your thermostat, remember that increased power consumption results in higher electric bills. Using energy efficiently makes good sense year-round, but it can really pay off during this time of year.

Rising fuel costs have made energy conservation even more important. The price of natural gas, a common fuel used to run power plants, has hit near-record highs in recent weeks and is expected to stay at elevated levels for the foreseeable future.

Cooling your home can account for half of your summer power use, so cutting back here is a good way to save. Remember, you can reduce your energy consumption without sacrificing comfort.

Energy Saving Tips

• At OUC, we recommend setting your thermostat at 78 degrees or higher, although some customers may need to keep the temperature a little cooler. Each degree you raise the thermostat above 78 degrees will save 6 to 8 percent on your cooling bill.
• Keep your central A/C unit on auto. To increase savings even more, turn off the unit completely or set it to 85 degrees when you’re away from home for more than four hours.
• Replace air filters monthly.
• Use shades, drapes and blinds to keep the sun and heat out.
• Use ceiling fans to feel cooler, but turn them off when you leave the room.
• Close windows and outside doors while the air conditioning is on so you are not air conditioning the outdoors.
• Caulk and weatherstrip leaky windows and doors.
• Wash only full loads in dishwashers and clothes washers.

OUC Apartment Energy Guide

What Goes Up Can Go Down

If your electric bill is higher than you want it to be and you'd like to bring it down... then you need to know what's making it go up.

Here are the culprits:

Plug Into Savings

You can take a number of steps to lower your electric bill, including:

Raise The Bar

The easiest way to save energy is to raise your thermostat a little when it's warm outside, and lower when it's cool. In the summer, keep your air conditioner thermostat set at 80 degrees or higher. Turn it off completely or set it at 85 degrees when you're away from home for more than four hours.

Less Is More

During winter months, set your heat thermostat at 68 degrees or less, and turn it down to 55 degrees at bedtime. (Add an extra blanket or comforter.)

Fantastic Idea

Use circulating fans to increase comfort; turn them off in unoccupied areas.

Monthly Ritual

Clean or replace air conditioner filter monthly.

Ready, Reset, Go

Reset both upper and lower thermostats on your hot water heater to 125 degrees or lower.

Off You Go!

If you leave your apartment for two days or more, turn off the power to your hot water heater at the circuit breaker.

Cool Suds

Wash and rinse your clothes in cold water.

Made In The Shade

Use shades, drapes, blinds or other window coverings to keep out summer heat and winter cold.

Watering Your Lawn Wisely

Did you know that irrigation accounts for more than half of Central Florida's total water consumption? How can you make a difference? Practicing water conservation in your yard is the best place to start. Remember: Over-watering is not only wasteful, it also promotes shallow root growth and makes your lawn more susceptible to insects and disease.

If you have an automatic sprinkler system, it's important to check the system regularly (once every month or two) for leaks and broken sprinkler heads, making repairs promptly. Also check for signs of broken or leaky sprinkler system pipes by looking for muddy or overgrown areas of turf.

Make sure your sprinkler system's timer/controller is operating correctly, as you've programmed it, so that it operates on the right days, at the right times, for the right durations. A variety of factors can result in a malfunctioning sprinkler system, including lightning strikes and failing timer batteries. Many homeowners don't realize their sprinkler systems are malfunctioning because the systems are programmed to operate overnight and they never observe them running.

To avoid wasting water, please follow these important irrigation guidelines:

• Water only before 10 am or after 4 pm to minimize the amount of water lost to evaporation
• Water just once a week in the cooler months, and twice a week in the warmer months (experts say this is enough to maintain healthy, green grass with a strong root system)
• Water for just 30-45 minutes per session (½ inch to ¾ inch of water per zone)
• Irrigation for odd-numbered addresses is allowed on Wednesdays and Saturdays
• Irrigation for even-numbered or no addresses is allowed on Thursdays and Sundays
• Adjust the timer/controller on automatic sprinklers according to seasonal water demands and weather conditions
• Turn off sprinklers when it's raining or install a rain shut-off device
• Avoid watering on windy days
• Adjust sprinklers so they water the lawn, not the pavement
• Avoid sprinklers that spray a fine mist, which increases evaporation
• Make sure plants are not blocking sprinklers
• Irrigation systems should be zoned so plants with different water needs are irrigated separately (grass, for example, should be watered separately from shrubs and flowers)
• Drip irrigation systems (which use less water than sprinklers) are recommended for trees, shrubs and flowers

Landscaping Your Yard

Water Conserving Tips For Your Yard

With a little bit of planning, homeowners can turn their landscaping projects into water-saving ventures. One of the most important steps in landscape design is putting the right plant in the right place.

Grouping plants together based on their water needs, not just their colors, is healthier for your plants and allows you to use water more efficiently.

Keep high-water use plants together in an "Oasis" area and locate the more drought tolerant species that will not need watering to the outer edges, or "Fringe", of the landscape. In between the "Oasis" and "Fringe" zones are the "Transition" plantings, which should be tough, durable plants that need some water about once a week.

Use good horticultural practices to keep your landscape looking its best. Improve sandy sites with organic matter before adding plants and remember to use mulch. When water is needed, wet the soil and then wait until it starts to dry before irrigating again. Only fertilize if you want growth and if adequate moisture is available.

In the beginning, all waterwise plantings will need irrigating until their roots take hold. Once that happens, watering can be reduced or even eliminated for some plantings. Check with your local nursery to learn about the variety of waterwise plants available in your area or visit Florida-Friendly Landscaping for a database of plants.

Below are just a few examples of plants that can be used to make your yard more waterwise:

More Landscaping Tips:

• Give ground covering plants like ivy and ferns adequate room to grow. Congestion or competition leads to root rot. Make sure vines have something to grow on like a trellis or fence. Avoid letting vines grow up a tree. Examine each plant for insects, diseases and mechanical damage. Avoid power lines when planting trees.
• Remember over-watering promotes shallow root growth and makes your lawn more susceptible to insects and disease.

General Outdoor Conservation Tips

• When washing your car with a hose, always use a spray nozzle to stop water flow between rinsings
• Clean driveways and sidewalks with a broom instead of a hose
• Check for leaks in outdoor faucets, pipes and hoses, repairing any leaks promptly
• Cover your pool or spa to reduce evaporation
• Check for pool/spa leaks, making repairs promptly

Saving Water Inside Your Home

 

• Repair leaking faucets and toilets
• Install water-saver flush valves in toilets
• Install water-saver shower heads
• Take short showers
• Turn off the water while brushing your teeth or shaving
• Wash only full loads in dishwasher and clothes washer
• Recycle water rather than pouring it down the drain (For instance, used water from a fish tank is good for watering plants)
• Don't flush the toilet just to get rid of trash
• Use the garbage disposal sparingly
• When you wash dishes by hand, fill up the sink with water and turn off the faucet

Detecting Leaks

In a typical house, leaky toilets and faucets can waste hundreds of gallons of water each day, and that means unnecessary water and sewer charges. To help you identify and repair leaks, OUC offers the following advice:

• Make sure no water is running in the house and observe your water meter (If you see the meter's dial or triangle moving, you may have a leak somewhere).
• Check toilets for silent leaks by putting a few drops of food coloring in the toilet tank after it has filled. If coloring shows up in the bowl without flushing, you probably have a leak in or around the flapper valve. (Leaky toilets can usually be repaired inexpensively by replacing the flapper mechanism).
• Inspect the water level in the toilet tank. The correct water line is about a half-inch below the top of the overflow pipe. If it is higher, water is being wasted.
• Check faucets in the bathroom, kitchen, laundry room and outside the house. (Worn washers are the biggest cause of faucet leaks.)
• To find so-called "phantom leaks," such as those occurring in pipes behind walls, under floors or under foundations, homeowners may need to contact a leak detection company.

Always repair leaks promptly. If you can't make the repairs yourself, call a licensed plumbing contractor.

Leak Facts

• A 1/8-inch hole in a metal pipe, at 40 psi (pounds per square inch), leaks 2,500 gallons of water every 24 hours.
• A leak the size of a pinhead can waste 360,000 gallons a year, enough to fill 12,000 bathtubs to the overflow mark.
• A leaking toilet can use 90,000 gallons of water in 30 days.
• A dripping faucet/hose bibb can lose up to 180 gallons a month, or 2,160 gallons per year.
• About 1 in every 20 pools has a leak.
• About 1 in every 318 homes or buildings has a leak.
• A typical toilet leak at today's rate can add $500 to a single water bill.
• One trip through a car wash uses 150 gallons of drinking water.
• Collecting water for gardening from the faucet while waiting for hot water saves about 250 gallons of water a month.
• Using a broom to clean the sidewalk instead of a hose saves 150 gallons of water.
• Using a pool cover prevents about 1,000 gallons per month from evaporating.

Source for "Leak Facts": American Leak Detection

Click here for additional conservation tips.

You can also visit savewaterfl.com.

The OUC Water Guide

Conserving Our Water Resources

As Central Florida continues to grow, so does the demand for clean, safe water from the Floridan Aquifer. To prepare for our region's future needs, OUC has taken a leadership role in the search for innovative, reliable solutions while still providing clean, great-tasting water for our customers today.

To identify solutions for the short- and long-term protection of our vital water resources, OUC is working closely with water management districts, other utilities, and federal and state regulatory agencies like the EPA's WaterSense program. OUC is a partner in the WaterSense program, which makes it easy to save water and protect the environment by identifying water-efficient ideas and products.

Not only are we helping our customers save water, we're committed to making sure our own facilities are water efficient. In fact our new downtown customer service and administration center, Reliable Plaza, has earned a Florida Water Star certification for its water efficient features and Florida friendly landscaping. Reliable Plaza uses 40 percent less water than a similarly sized facility.