Higher Energy Costs Need Not Dim Your Holiday Cheer; Alliance to Save Energy Offers Fun Yet Practical Tips For an Energy-Efficient Holiday Season

Washington, DC, November 17 – Fun yet practical energy-efficiency tips from the Alliance to Save Energy can help reduce holiday stress and home winter energy costs, so you can enjoy the festivities.

• Don’t let “Ole Man Winter” keep you from lounging around in that slinky new holiday nightgown and robe set. A well insulated house will keep you cozy – and lower your heating costs – even while you are lightly clad! Appropriate insulation for your climate can increase indoor comfort and reduce home heating costs by as much as 30 percent. More info at www.simplyinsulate.com.
• When you’re done waiting for Santa or cuddling with your honey in front of a roaring fire, don’t forget to close the chimney flue. Leaving it open is like punching a foot-square hole in the roof – and watching your money blow away.
• Too much “holiday cheer” at that party? Don’t worry – a programmable thermostat will “remember” for you to lower the heat when you leave the house empty to go to work or to the mall for a day of gift shopping, and to warm it up again shortly before you return.
• Be festive yet smart with holiday lighting:
  • Consider using energy-saving, solid-state LED (Light Emitting Diode) holiday lights and strands that use about 99 percent less energy than larger, traditional incandescent holiday bulbs – and last up to 100,000 hours.
  • Once you’ve lit the Chanukah menorah, use a dimmer switch to lower the lights. By the eighth night, you may not need any electric lights at all! And spin a dreidel – it uses no energy!
  • Use timers to limit holiday light displays to no more than six evening hours a day to curb energy use and costs, and to avoid having to remember to turn them on and off every day. Leaving lights on 24 hours a day will quadruple your energy costs – and create four times the pollution.
  • Lonely lights. Untended lights can cause fires, so for safety’s sake, always unplug your interior holiday lights before going to bed or leaving the house.
• In the spirit of Kwanzaa – the African-American spiritual week of remembering, reassessing, recommitting, and rejoicing –reassess your power consumption, recommit to energy-efficient practices, and rejoice in the savings.
• Pay the local kids to shovel your driveway. Better to give them some extra spending money than to use it towards the purchase of a smog-producing, gas-guzzling snow blower.
• Decorate your home with “Energy Stars.” Appliances and electronics with the Energy Star label – the government’s symbol of energy efficiency – can cut related home energy bills in each category up to 30 percent. Use the savings to jump-start your children’s piggy bank accounts.
• No roasting chestnuts over an open halogen torchiere! It can burn hot enough to cause a fire, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Instead, give yourself the gift of an energy-efficient Energy Star-labeled torchiere lamp, for a brighter, thriftier, safer holiday.
• When you’re looking for that last stocking stuffer for the kids, remember there’s nothing wrong with gifts that are powered by the imagination, rather than by batteries or electricity.
• Strap on those cross-country skies or roller blades or ride your bike to tour the neighborhood holiday decorations. It’s a great way to work off those extra holiday calories, and it’s much cheaper than filling up your family SUV.
• Although frost on windows may be charming in holiday movies, it’s uncomfortable in your own home. Depending on your financial capabilities, either cover single-pane windows with plastic film to avoid drafts, install storm windows, or upgrade to energy-efficient windows with double panes and low-emissivity coatings to dramatically improve indoor comfort, add beauty to your home, and save money during the holiday season and beyond.
• Unplug the video games and turn off the millionth broadcast of It’s A Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve – and read your favorite holiday story instead. Your children may appreciate your attention and time, and you will be saving energy in the process.
• Instead of leaving your door open to carolers and losing all that precious heat, pull on your parka and join in the fun. It’s a great way to meet your neighbors, too!
• Make a New Year’s resolution that’s good for your pocketbook and the environment. Get started on those energy-efficient home improvements you’ve been putting off for too long.
• Then you can give your family the extra gift of your time – while energy-efficient products and technologies do the work for you – reducing home energy and water bills and needless air pollution and increasing comfort day after day.

Additional year-round, energy-efficiency tips and numerous resources can be found on the Alliance’s new consumer web site. The Alliance’s informative consumer booklet, PowerSmart: Easy Tips to Save Money and the Planet, is also available by calling 1-888-878-3256.