BUTTON UP NH 101 hosted by RiverWoods

Energy saving tips

Advice that's Good for the environment and the wallet.

Bev Tappan, RiverWoods Resident

RiverWoods hosted an energy conservation seminar co-sponsored by the Town of Exeter Energy Committee on Tuesday morning, February 21, at The Boulders for our residents and staff as well as townspeople.. The UNH Cooperative Extension program Button Up New Hampshire 101 was presented by energy auditors Paul Chalifour and Josh Zylak, who work with low income families to save on fuel and power costs.

TURN IT OFF, TURN IT DOWN and TUNE IT UP are the slogans of Paul and Josh, who point out that NH homeowners can save up to $4000 in rebates on home insulation, Energy Star appliances, and more efficient heating systems.  (Tell your children and grandchildren. to look up nhsaves.com)

We RiverWoods residents can pare down our community power and fuel bills by a few simple energy saving measures:

• Turn refrigerators to minimum cold settings and turn off for long absences.

• Ask for low-flow shower and sink faucet heads and water heat of 120 degrees. Take shorter and fewer showers. (This also conserves natural skin oils and helpful bacteria.)

• Launder clothes in cold water (This avoids setting stains.) and hang larger items on drying racks in your bathroom (adding helpful humidity in winter)

• Change to (new and improved) CFL and LED bulbs and turn off lights when leaving.

• Unplug vampire loading appliances and chargers.

• Use surge protective power strips and turn off at night or when away.

• Turn down thermostats gradually to lowest comfortable temperature in winter (highest in summer) and wear warm winter clothing. This also saves humidity.

• Close bedroom doors.

• Make minimal use of dishwashers and disposals. (Waste Management needs your organics to produce methane fuel for the University of New Hampshire.)

[One can view the printable PDF Button Up NH 101 handout by clicking here]

As for the rising cost of gasoline, (They expect it to go to $5/gallon by summer.) Paul and Josh suggest minimal driving and maximally efficient vehicles.

Some helpful websites for you and your families are myenergyplan.net and cleanair-coolplanet.org

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At RiverWoods Continuing Care Retirement Community, you can always discover something new, meet friendly people and have the time to do the things you’ve been putting off for years.