Empowering Our Planet Through Energy Choices

Your daily decisions impact more than just your immediate surroundings—they resonate globally.

 

Let’s explore how energy choices matter and what you can do to make a positive difference:

 

1. Switch to Renewable Energy: Consider green energy sources like solar or wind power. By supporting renewable energy providers, you contribute to a cleaner grid. Imagine a world where our electricity comes from sunlight and gentle breezes! ☀️💨
2. Energy-Efficient Appliances: When it’s time to upgrade, choose energy-efficient appliances. Look for the ENERGY STAR label—it signifies lower energy consumption and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Plus, these appliances often save you money in the long run. 🌟💡
3. Unplug and Power Down: Be mindful of phantom energy. Even when devices are turned off, they often draw power. Unplug chargers, turn off lights, and switch off electronics when not in use. It’s a small habit with big impact. 🔌
4. Insulate and Seal: Properly insulate your home. Good insulation keeps your living spaces comfortable while minimizing the need for excessive heating or cooling. Sealing gaps and drafts also prevents energy wastage. 🏡❄️🔥

 

Remember, each energy choice you make contributes to a collective effort.

 

Let’s light up our lives while keeping our planet shining bright. Together, we’re unstoppable! 💚✨

 

Actions You Can Take

 

Use LED Lights

• Replace an incandescent bulb with an LED (a 7 watt LED can replace a 65 watt incandescent)
  • LEDs use 90 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs and half as much as compact fluorescents.

• Get a Free Assessment including free LED bulbs and other products. Members of the Larimer County Conservation Corps Water & Energy Crew perform free home efficiency assessments to Fort Collins Utilities and Loveland Water and Power customers. 

 

Improve Your Home's Insulation

• Add or replace weatherstripping on doors

• Sign up for a home energy audit

• Add insulation to attic or walls

  • One of the most cost-effective and accessible tactics to combating the climate crisis is better insulation. Older homes can lose up to 35 percent of heat through their walls. Old windows can lose up to 90%! Modern insulation reduces the energy needed to heat a home, therefore reducing emissions and saving you money.

 

Use Renewable Electricity

• Sign up for renewable electricity from the Fort Collins Green Energy Program 

• Residents and businesses in Fort Collins can purchase clean, renewable energy for an additional 1.6 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) on top of their normal utility bill.
• Add solar panels on your home
• Sponsor a panel addition on your church

• Buy into a solar voltaic garden (community solar project) if one is available

 

Use electricity at off-peak times

• This saves you almost 70% of the cost compared to peak times and also reduces the need for new power plants!

  • Fort Collins Time of Day Pricing

  • Xcel Time of Use Pricing

 

Do it Differently Around the House

• Wash your laundry with cold water
• Hang laundry to dry instead of using a dryer
• Switch ceiling fan direction seasonally for greater comfort with less energy
• Use passive solar and ambient temperature window coverings (open/close windows, shades, etc.)
• Choose energy-efficient appliances when it's time to upgrade

 

Convert from Gas to Electric

• Get an induction electric stove / cooktop
• Switch to an electric or electric heat-pump dryer
• Get a rechargeable electric lawnmower, weed whacker, leaf blower, snow blower, etc.
  • small gas engines are terrible polluters (and cause noise pollution, too!)

 

Install a Heat Pump

• This can replace your furnace and air conditioner
• Air-to-air may be simplest (here's an example of a mini-split heat pump)
• Go air-to-water or geothermal (this is a big project!)

 

Monitor Your Home Energy and Water Use

 

Volunteer via FCGov - Help others make their lives more efficient

 

Make a Plan for Cremation Alternatives

• Donate your body to Science Care
• Body Composting:
  • Did you know? Colorado was the second state to legalize human composting!
    • Article from The Natural Funeral
    • Article from Earth Funeral
• Water Cremation:
  • Alkaline hydrolysis, also known as water cremation, is a process that uses alkaline chemicals, heat, agitation and pressure to speed up the natural breakdown of human remains.
• Open-air Cremation
  • Colorado is home to the only legal open-air cremation sites in the country. Learn more at the Crestone End of Life Project

 

 

Other Resources

 

Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit can save you money on home improvements.
Save 30 percent on the cost of qualifying purchases—up to $3,200 each year from now until 2032.

 

Inflation Reduction Act Home Upgrades article from Sierra Club