Whether you want to use less energy to reduce your carbon footprint or your monthly costs, there are plenty of easy ways to conserve the electricity and natural gas you’re using in your home. Energy conservation can be as simple as closing your curtains, changing a light bulb, turning down your thermostat, or closing the fireplace damper. Many of the most inexpensive solutions quickly pay for themselves in conservation, which you ultimately benefit from when you get your power bill.

Do Your Chores During “Off Peak” Hours

One of the biggest ways you can conserve energy is to take advantage of “off-peak” hours. This is a step that everyone can take because it simply involves shifting your use of major appliances, such as ovens, washing machines, dryers, and dishwashers, to a time when the demand on the power supply is lower.

Check with your power company to see if they have peak hour rate changes and adjust your schedule as you can to do your laundry and dishes during the off-peak times.

And when it’s time, upgrade your large appliances to Energy Star products for the most efficient and use of your power.

Small Changes in Your Laundry Cycle

Another way you can save energy is by washing your clothes in cold water and only running full loads. This reduces the need for your machine to heat the water and has the double benefit of keeping your clothes in good condition for longer, further reducing your textile waste when you don’t have to replace your clothes as often.

To speed up the clothes drying process, add a dry towel or two to your machine to soak up excess moisture. Another option is wool dryer balls which not only help clothes dry faster, but you can also add drops of your favorite essential oils in place of single-use dryer sheets, which cause dust build up in your dryer vents and add to the landfill.

It’s also important to keep to a maintenance schedule with your washer and dryer. Clear out the lint trap after every load and make sure the dryer hose and vent are clear. Clean the filter on your washer once a month to keep things running efficiently.

More: Saving in the Laundry Room

Heating and Cooling Tips

Heating and cooling systems account for almost half of home energy consumption but luckily there are several easy ways you can reduce your home’s demand.

Conventional measures, such as setting back your thermostat, are effective at lowering your energy use and costs. In fact, the Department of Energy estimates you can save 10 percent on your power bill if you turn your thermostat temperature down by 10 degrees for eight hours a day. Here are a few ways you can reduce energy consumption and save money:

1. Experiment with the temperature that you’re most comfortable with to determine if you can keep your thermostat set to a lower temperature.
2. Set a schedule on your thermostat to change the temperature of your home when you’re asleep or not home, in the winter set it lower, in the summer set it higher.
3. Close your blinds and shades to keep the air from escaping through the windows, and to keep the sun from heating up the air inside your home.
4. Keep the fireplace damper closed unless you have a fire burning. Leaving the damper open can cause drafts and heat loss throughout your house.

It’s also important to keep your HVAC system clean and maintained. Change your furnace filter frequently, clear out any dusty ducts, and keep the air in your home clean with air purifiers. Doing so will enable your heating system to run more efficiently and be more cost-effective.

Update Your Lighting

It’s estimated that lighting accounts for 15 percent of your overall home energy bill, so another way you can conserve, other than turning the lights off when you leave a room, is by using energy-saving light emitting diodes (LEDs).

LEDs use about 90% less energy and last up to 25x longer than incandescent lightbulbs. They’re available in a number of shapes, sizes, and tones, making it an easy replacement for almost any bulb in your home. When shopping for LEDs, look for those with the Energy Star label on them—this ensures that you’re purchasing a product that has been approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

More: How to Find the Right Lighting For Your Home

For more information about energy conservation, please visit www.energystar.org.

Cat owners are often faced with many considerations as they fill their homes with toys and cat trees to appease the kings and queens of the household. One such consideration is how to best use the space. Adding a catio to your home will help keep your cat entertained and safe and can be easily customized to fit the needs of any living space.

• Buying with Your Pets in Mind

The Benefits of Adding a Catio to Your Home

A catio can offer a wide range of benefits for you and your cat, including daily enrichment opportunities. Catios provide easy access to the outdoors where they can stimulate their senses. By providing this connection to the outside world, cats can independently spend their days as they please with a wide variety of options to choose from.

Catios also keep your feline friends safe from the dangers that lurk outside. While they’re able to enjoy the outdoors, the enclosed space keeps them nearby while keeping predators out. This prevents accidents with cars on a busy street and run-ins with potentially harmful animals found in residential areas such as raccoons, and in certain areas, coyotes. It also keeps out other cats, preventing exposure to diseases and accidental pregnancies.

In addition to the benefits catios provide for your furry friend, you will also improve the livability of your home by reducing the damage to your furniture and rugs or carpet. When your cats can enjoy that space, they are less likely to exert their pent-up energy on your carpeted and upholstered pieces.

For those cats who act on their hunting instincts, a catio is also a great way to keep local wildlife out of your home. From their perch in their enclosure, they will get to smell and watch birds, mice, and rabbits, but they won’t have the opportunity to hunt them. Saving these lives helps your neighborhood’s ecosystem and saves you from having to clean up the mess afterwards.

Providing a litter box outside can also improve your indoor air quality by reducing smells, chemicals, and bacteria associated with cat litter. Of course, it’s not wise to replace an indoor litter box with an outdoor one, but by adding another one that’s nearby, your cat will use the indoor box less.

What Can You Do with a Catio?

The simple answer: anything you want. Catios are customizable for your space and your cat’s interests. Answering these two questions will help you start the process of designing or choosing a design to build.

1. How much space can you offer to the enclosure?
2. How will the cat(s) enter the enclosure from the house?

You may also want to consider what kind of exposure to the elements you’re comfortable with, whether it’s open air or if you need a little more protection from the elements with a solid exterior. While in some areas wire fencing might be all that’s needed, regions with harsher climates may require a more robust setup, such as insulated windows.

Catio Options

If you have a smaller space, you may consider a catio attached to a window, which won’t take up any additional square footage. Much like a garden box, you can attach a small shelf-like enclosure just outside your window and stretch it as far out as desired. The entry point can be the window, making it easy to open and close.

If you have a yard, you can give your cat a tunnel. A simple addition to the home, attach an elongated box that juts out into the yard for your cat to explore and get a 360-degree view of the elements. You can attach this to an existing cat door or add a cat door on an exterior wall.

For those with a larger space, or if you already have a patio set up, you can build out a catio like an extension on your home. Attach the large enclosure to the exterior and use either a window or cat door for entry. Use the structure to offer a multitude of options on the outermost walls, like shelves, ramps, and hammocks. Customize it with your cat’s favorite things, like scratching posts and pet-safe plants. You can even add a chair for yourself in there if you want!

For more ideas on caring for your pets, home maintenance, and more, visit the Living category of our blog:

Windermere Blog – Living 

Featured Image Source: Getty Images – Image Credit: Moyo Studio