Energy Efficient Claremore was created as a resource to provide residents with tips and conservation methods to aid in conserving energy and lowering costs this winter.
Below you will find some tips and tricks geared at helping residents to save energy and keep costs down when the weather is cold and you are trying to keep your home warm.
Below are a few easy measures to help practice simple energy conservation and reduce heating bills over the winter months:
By opening your curtains and blinds during the daytime, you take advantage of the greenhouse effect and allow the sun to naturally heat your home. Unfortunately, windows can also be a source of heat loss, as they are not as well insulated as your walls. Close your curtains and blinds when the sun goes down to prevent cold chills from cooling your home.
Doors are a major trouble spot for drafts. If you have a drafty door, check the weather stripping and seals around the door frame. Replace any damaged or missing weather stripping and apply new caulk to any broken seals.
Windows, especially in older homes, are a major source of drafts and heat loss. Insulate your windows in winter by sealing the frame with clear plastic cling wrap.
Doors and windows are obvious sources of drafts, but there a few more you may not think of. Cold air can leak into your house through electrical outlets, light fixtures, AC units, and gaps in your insulation.
If you have a room in your house that people rarely enter, you’re wasting valuable energy heating it in the wintertime. Close off all vents in the room and shut all doors. This will prevent you from heating uninhabited space.
After heating and cooling systems, water heaters are the second highest source of energy usage in the home. It takes a lot of energy to heat water, and most people have the thermostat on their water heater set way too high.
Your water heater heats water to a set temperature, then maintains that temperature 24/7. That means that your water heater just cycles on and off, continually reheating water to that temperature, whether you use it or not.
Normally, ceiling fans rotate counterclockwise, pushing air down and producing a slight wind chill effect, allowing you to feel cooler. However, most ceiling fans have a reverse switch that will enable them to turn clockwise, producing an updraft and moving the warm air that collects near your ceiling down into the rest of the room.
Conservation and Environmental Resources
The City of Claremore asks its business and industry partners to join its efforts in preventing stormwater pollution and stay in compliance with laws and local ordinances. To aid in this effort the City has created a Conservation Resources Poral with helpful information for commercial hazardous waste disposal.
These resources include the State issued construction and industry permits for businesses regarding stormwater compliance.
To support these efforts, the City of Claremore also performs business inspections and educates the public on methods to prevent pollution. The Conversation Resource Portal contains examples of inspection forms and best management practice examples used by organizations to prevent pollution for entering the stormwater and sanitary sewer system. We encourage all local businesses to utilized the inspection example sheets to perform regular self-evaluations.
Landscape Information
Recycling and properly disposing of chemicals are not the only ways you can help protect our environment and water supply. Responsible land and lawn care are also important practices to reduce impact on our water quality.
Below are a few easy steps you can implement today.
Eliminate or reduce the use of chemicals on your land.
Put leaves, grass and sticks in a compost pile. As a reminder, it is against local ordinance to blow leaves and grass into the street or storm drain.
Create a rain garden or pollinator garden.
Use native plants and grasses in landscaping to reduce the need for maintenance and water.
Check out the Conservation Resource Portal for more helpful tips.
For more helpful information on how to efficiently cool your home this summer and other energy conservation tips, visit our partners at GRDA.
Low-income Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
What is LIHEAP?
The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is a federally funded program that provides financial assistance to low-income Oklahoma households each year to help meet the cost of home energy.
