Green Home

Photo of Songbird Essentials Climbing Cat Window Thermometer

If you’re a cat and it’s 90 degrees outside, you’d visit the hottest room in your home, and pick a cozy spot in a blazing sunbeam to stretch out and snooze. You certainly wouldn’t want your human to turn on the air conditioner because you LOVE the heat.

On the other hand, if you’re a human, you’d probably find the hot weather stifling and stuffy. You’d look for the coolest room in the home, and bask in the refreshing breeze of the fan or air conditioner running at full blast. But during the hottest days of the year, home cooling is one of the largest uses of electricity in your home.

Approximately two thirds of American homes have air conditioners, and collectively these cooling units use close to 5{456796300b989ac2391159a2df073ed1ad38074dfcdb28494d5d1df8ab5972d8} of all the electricity produced in the U.S. This adds up to 100 million tons of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere each year or an average of two tons per home. In addition to the environmental cost, air conditioners cost homeowners over $11 billion each year to run them.
(Source: Energy Saver, U.S. Department of Energy)

Here’s what it costs each month to run your air conditioner:

• Central Air Conditioner (3500 W) – $245 per month
• Large Window Unit (1440 W) – $100 per month
• Medium Window Unit (900 W) – $62 per month
• Small Window Unit (500 W) – $35 per month

Estimates are based on a rate of $0.14/kWh, with the unit running 16 hours/day. (Source: comfort-pro.com)

As you can see, it can be quite pricey to cool your home especially if you live in a hot climate. Fortunately, there are things you can do to lower your costs, save electricity, and naturally keep your home cooler.

1. Time the opening and closing of blinds and curtains

In the morning, keep all east-facing windows covered. Once the sun has moved higher in the sky, these windows can be uncovered.

In the late afternoon and early evening, close the blinds and draw the curtains for all west-facing windows. Depending on the time of year and how the sun shines in your home, you may need to do this for south-facing windows, too.

If you have slat blinds, angle the slats upwards to cut down on the amount of direct sunlight entering the room. And if you’re thinking of installing blinds, consider cat-friendly options that are also better for the planet:

• Roller blinds made from eco-friendly materials
• Slat blinds with cloth tape manufactured using greener processes
• Honeycomb style blinds made with OEKO-TEX-passing fabrics; honeycomb blinds also help to insulate windows, saving you energy in both the summer and winter

For all blinds, keep string cords away from your cat. You can use a nail in the wall to hang a cord out of reach. For roller blinds, anchor the chain at the bottom so that it doesn’t look like a cat toy and is also safer for small children. And if your kitty absolutely must have a sunbeam to bask in, open the window covering just enough to let in some sun, but keep the majority of the window covered to maximize the cooling effect.

2. Take advantage of nature’s air conditioner

Open your windows at night and close them during the day to let cooler air in at night and keep warmer air out during the daytime. If you can, create a cross breeze to cool down your home faster.

This works particularly well in western states such as Washington, Oregon, California, and Arizona where the nights are often much cooler than the days.

3. Program your thermostat–with a twist

Set your thermostat at the highest temperature that you can tolerate for the hottest time of the day. When it’s sweltering outside, that’s when your air conditioner is working the hardest to cool your home. It’s running more often.

And because the cold air blasts on longer, this makes you feel cooler so you can turn up the temperature and still feel comfortable. It’s like at wintertime when the heater turns on and you feel warmer because of the heat coming from the vents.

And while you’re adjusting the thermostat, why not consider setting it two or three degrees higher overall? Your cat will love basking in the heat. Just be sure to keep her water bowl topped up during the hot summer days.

When you cut back on running the air conditioner, you reduce carbon emissions and save big on energy costs. Imagine all the cat treats you can buy with the money you save!

For cat lovers looking for a way to lower their impact on the environment, water conservation is a great place to start. And while cats are already great at water conservation because they don’t drink a lot of water and they never shower (thanks to their self-cleaning habits), YOU can also make a positive impact for the environment.

When you conserve water, not only are you acting in an environmentally-friendly manner, but you can also help reduce water pollution in local watersheds, lakes and rivers, and also lower your water bill. Simply reducing the amount of water you use in a day provides a wide array of benefits, including reducing soil saturation and even prolonging the life of septic systems.

Here’s a handy water conservation calculator that will help determine just how much water you use in a single day, and help you find ways to conserve. In addition, the following tips will show you just how easy it is to implement water conservation steps into your daily life.

Tips for Conserving Water Inside the Home

• Regularly check pipes, faucets and toilets for leaks, and fix any leaks that you find.
• Install low flow faucet aerators on every sink and water saving shower heads in every shower.
• Fill plastic bottles with pebbles or sand and place them in your toilet tank.
• If you’re upgrading your toilet, choose a model that is low flush.
• Never use your toilet as a way to dispose of debris besides bodily waste. It is not a wastebasket or an ashtray. Contact imagineear.com/pharmacy/ your local municipality for their guidelines on flushable cat litter and cat waste.
• Check for leaks by reading your water meter and then, for two hours, don’t use any water. After the two hour period, check the water meter again. If the meter has raised, you have a leak somewhere.
• Reduce the amount of time you are in the shower.
• Install inexpensive pipe insulation around your water pipes.
• Don’t leave the water running when brushing your teeth.
• Don’t run washing machines or dishwashers unless you have a full load.
• Reduce the amount of times you use your kitchen garbage disposal since it takes a lot of water for it to run properly.

Tips for Conserving Water in the Yard and Garden

• Plant laws, trees, flowers, shrubs and other plants that are drought-resistant and won’t require consistent watering.
• Add mulch around the plants and trees to help hold in moisture, reduce weed growth and protect the roots.
• Set your water sprinklers so that the water lands on your garden or lawn and is not wasted on sidewalks, gutters or driveways.
• Use a broom instead of a water hose to clean walkways and driveways.
• When you do have to water your lawn, do so deeply so the water soaks into the ground. A light watering will evaporate and promote a shallow root system in your lawn.

If you’re already doing all of these things, give yourself two paws up fur being green! And if you’re looking for more ways to conserve water, check out this article on 10 Ways to Save Water When You’re Already Hard Core About Reducing Your Water Consumption.