Green Living Expo: Top 3 ways to save energy in your home

The Green Living and Energy Expo has the latest technologies in going green.  Everything from solar panels, foam insulation, and even a living roof is at the Roanoke Civic Center Friday till 6pm and Saturday 10 A.M. to 4 P.M.  Admission to the expo is free.

Some of these green improvements can get pretty expensive, so we’re going to take a look at the top three quick fixes for making your home more energy efficient.

Bill Beachy with Community Housing Partners says winterizing your home is great way to save energy.

“Most anybody can replace their furnace filters and be very significant in terms of energy conservation,” said Beachy.

He adds that simple things that you can do yourself like weather stripping, caulking, and insulating your pipes can save you up to 30 percent.

Greg Barrette with Ferguson Plumbing says adding low flow faucets and shower heads will reduce your water bill.

“If you think about a ten minute shower, you’re wasting ten gallons a minute.  That same ten minute shower with this shower head is going to give you five gallons of water.  If you multiply that out for 365 days a year, you can do the math and it’s a considerable amount of water,” said Barrette.

He says low flow can save your water bill up to 40 percent

Our number one easy way to go green in your home is as simple a changing a light bulb. 

“A regular light bulb uses 60 watts where this little spiral only uses 13 watts and another benefit of that is they last ten times as long,” said Eric Early with Save-A-Lec Lighting.

Early says fluorescent bulbs will save you up to 75 percent on lighting.

“Convert everything you have over to fluorescents and you’ll see immediate savings,” said Early.

It doesn’t take an outdoor woodstove to reduce your energy bills.  Simple things that you can do around the house can save you a lot of money and help keep our planet a little greener.