OAR -- Maria Vargas -- Energy Star Judy Pino: Did you know that typical household spends $1900 a year on energy bills alone? Well, what if you could make changes around your house and choose products that would decrease the cost of your energy bill, thus saving money, say up to 30 percent or more than $600 per year with similar savings of greenhouse gas emissions? Then follow the Energy Star. Hi, I’m Judy Pino with the office of multimedia, and this is Green Tips. [music] Recently energy prices have become a hot news topic and a major concern for consumers, but there is something you can do to truly make a difference. Look to EPA’s Energy Star for advice on what you can do in your home. Buy Energy Star products that are approved by the EPA as energy efficient products. And to explain just what these are is our expert, Maria Vargas with EPA’s Energy Star program. Welcome Maria. Maria Vargas: Thank you. Judy Pino: Employees at EPA work very hard to make every day Earth Day, and taking care of your environment also begins at home, you would agree. Well, what are your suggestions to make your home a greener one? Not in color, but in ethic. Maria Vargas: The first step to a green home is using energy more efficiently. Remember, the energy we use in our homes, often comes from the burning of fossil fuels at power plants, which contributes to smog, acid rain and global warming. So the less energy we use in our homes, the less greenhouse gasses we create. One easy thing that everyone can do right away is to change our lights. Energy Star qualified lighting, both lamps and fixtures, provide bright, warm light and uses at least two-thirds less energy than standard lighting. It also generates 70 percent less heat and lasts up to 10 times longer. It may sound like not a lot, but if every household in the U.S. replaced their five most frequently used lights, we could prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those of 10 million cars. Judy Pino: Wow, that’s amazing. And it’s a start. How can we make our home energy efficient throughout the seasons? Maria Vargas: There’s a lot people can do in their home, and EPA has some great recommendations that people can follow to make simple changes in their home and really helps them look for the right products when they’re shopping. First thing to do is to find and seal air leaks that cause drafts around your home. So if you add up all the cracks and holes and leaks in your home envelope, so that’s leaks around doors, and windows as well as where pipes or drains come into your house. It’s the equivalent to leaving the window open all year long. So you want to make sure that you use a licensed contractor that follows EPA’s recommendations on sealing up your home and really tightening up your envelope. So making sure the outer walls, the ceilings, the windows, and the floors are all sealed. If you experience uneven temperatures in parts of your homes, this might mean your ducts need to be inspected too. Sealing and insulating your living space can prevent the loss of cooled air, to areas between walls, ceilings and floors, and can help you save up to 10 percent on your energy bills. Judy Pino: And we all like that. Maria Vargas: Absolutely. Judy Pino: What else? Maria Vargas: Another tip to do is to really make sure that you’re looking for the Energy Star when you purchase cooling products for your home. Products such as room air conditioners, programmable thermoses, furnaces, boilers that display the Energy Star label, operate more efficiently, and that saves energy and helps protect the environment. But remember you can also look for the Energy Star on over 50 different products for your home. Not just heating and cooling equipment. So make sure you look for the Energy Star on lighting, consumer electronics, TVs, computers, and appliances. When you choose a product that’s earned the Energy Star, you know you’re getting a product that meets strict energy efficiency guidelines set by EPA and DOE. Judy Pino: Now, Maria, what kind of maintenance can you do around your home to be energy efficient and when should you do it? Maria Vargas: Any time is a great time to make your home more energy efficient. But spring and fall are natural times when we’re looking at our house and making sure it gets ready for the upcoming season. There’s a couple pieces of advice of things you can do today. First is to get a system check up. So make sure that you hire a licensed contractor to come and give your heating or cooling system a check up. Dirt and neglect are the number one causes of your system to fail. So make sure that it’s clean, it’s operating right, and that it’s been checked by a licensed contractor. Another thing you want to do is change your system’s air filter. Probably about once a month. Make sure to keep it clean, that also helps your system run as efficiently as possible and for as long as possible. Another thing to keep in mind if your cooling or heating system is more than 12 years old and needs replacing, make sure you look for a furnace or a boiler that’s earned the government’s Energy Star. It’s important not only to buy an efficient unit, but size it correctly. And at energystar.gov, you can get all sorts of information about buying the right system for your home and to make sure that it’s properly sized and installed. Judy Pino: Energy Star has a host of energy efficient products from light bulbs to washing machines, but what products do you recommend as the seasons change? Maria Vargas: One important place to really focus is on our heating and cooling systems. Heating and cooling accounts for about half of a home’s energy bill. And one easy thing that consumers can do is install a programmable thermostat. That thermostat can be set and should be programmed so that when you’re away from your home, it’s not heating or cooling your home to the extent you need it to when you’re there. And that really is a great way to save energy. And a programmable thermostat used and set properly can save up to about $150 a year in energy costs. And that’s a great saving with no compromise in comfort at home. That’s a great thing for people to do. Another thing to do, which is pretty easy, is to look for Energy Star qualified ceiling fans. And if you use a ceiling fan, when you’re in the room, you can turn the thermostat up or down, depending on the season. And then you use the fan to deliver extra cooling or heating to that room. So remember, when you leave a room, turn the fan off, but it really is a nice way to add to your comfort in the home, but also lower your energy bills. Judy Pino: There are 50 categories of Energy Star products. Anywhere else we can look for Energy Star? Maria Vargas: Lots of places. Anybody buying a new home should make sure that they look and ask for and demand an Energy Star qualified new home. But we also encourage you to look for EPA’s Energy Star where you work, play, shop and learn. Schools, hospitals, hotels, and many different buildings across the United States are also eligible for the Energy Star. So we encourage you to look for Energy Star in your community too. Judy Pino: Now, on the Energy Star home page, you have a couple of really cool programs you could look into to help find out how to make your home more energy efficient. Let’s talk about that. Maria Vargas: Yes. Most people don’t realize that the average home is responsible for twice as many greenhouse gas emissions as the average car. Learning how to use energy in your home more efficiently is an important step to cutting costs, improving your home’s comfort and protecting our environment. There are a couple tools at energystar.gov that can really help. The first is “Energy Star at home.” It’s a fun tool to use that shows you all different rooms in most people’s homes and identifies different things in each room that you can do to save energy, both by buying products or just doing things differently in your home. It has advice for all over your home, including the home envelope. Another tool EPA offers is the “Energy Star home advisor.” This is an easy tool that asks you a couple questions about your home and then will give you some customized suggestions about places to get started in making your home more energy efficient. Remember these suggestions are a great place to start to make your home more green. Judy Pino: Well, there you have it. Thank you, Maria Vargas, with EPA’s Energy Star program for your green tips. [music] [end of transcript] OAR -- Maria Vargas -- Energy Star 1 4/16/2008