Buildings and Grounds
Energy Conservation Tips
Lighting
Lighting accounts for as much as 40% of our electrical budget. Washington College has switched to energy efficient T-8 fluorescent tubes, compact fluorescent bulbs, and metal halide exterior lighting. You can help by:
- Turning off the lights when you leave an empty space. The rule of thumb for fluorescent lighting is to turn it off if you will be gone at least ten minutes.
- Requesting a compact fluorescent bulb (CFL) for your desk lamp. CFL's are up to 75% more efficient than incandescent bulbs which translate into 100 kWh per year of savings for each bulb—that's about $10.00 at current rates. [At home, replace the five or six most used incandescent lamps with CFL's—this could be worth $75.00]
- Requesting an infrared sensor to replace the light switch in your office. These turn your lights off automatically. I have had one in my office for more than ten years and it works very well.
- Working by daylight when possible. This will also help with the air conditioning load in the summer months.
Additional Conservation Tips
- Increase the setting on the thermostat during the cooling season to 78 degrees. This adjustment will reduce cooling costs by as much as 15%.
- Unplug your chargers when you are not charging—cell, phones, PDA's, cameras, and any other gadgets—keep them unplugged until you need them.
- Use power strips to turn off electrical equipment. Many of today's electrical gizmo's consume standby power, even when they have been switched off.
- Enable, if equipped, the sleep mode feature, and/or the hibernate feature, on your computer.
- Turn your computer off at the end of the day.
- Close your blinds and shades during the hottest part of the day.