Sunday, November 6, 2011

Winter is Here

Contribution by Stevie Kirby

It’s hard to believe it’s already the time of year when we need to turn on our heat in New York. After a beautiful summer and brief fall it’s getting colder by the day. Last year our heating bills were higher than my roommate and I were comfortable with so I decided to look online for some tips on energy efficiency. Although it won’t help, I learned a lot about building design and location and how it affects heating and cooling efficiency. Everything from topography and building location as well as where you place windows can have a major affect. I guess these ideas did not come into play in 1955 when my apartment building was built! After getting side-tracked by all the interesting information that I could not use, I went back to my original search for things that would be helpful. I visited www.newyorkenergyrates.com to see if I could get some pricing relief in my area. I also looked at the new energy star rated appliances at the major department stores. Maybe if I save enough on my bills I can get a new dishwasher!

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