Energy Efficiency Tips for Home and School
Appliances
General
 Buy appliances that use less energy and have a higher star rating. Depending on the size you choose, buying a 5-star fridge
instead of a 3-star can save 200kg of greenhouse gas emissions each year
 Switch off unused equipment or fit timer controls.
Air conditioning
 Before turning on air conditioning, put on extra clothes if cold, or remove them if hot
 Set the thermostat at the lowest comfortable temperature in winter (18-20C)
 Instead of using air conditioning, open the classroom early in the morning to let the cool air in. Close the classroom midmorning to keep the cool air in and the hot air out
 A change of one degree can reduce heating and cooling greenhouse gas emissions by 10 to 20%.
Washing machines and drying clothes
 Wash clothes in cold water to save on heating
 Use the solar powered clothes-dryer (the clothes line). A clothes-dryer can produce 2-3kg of greenhouse gas per use
Refrigerators and stoves
 If a refrigerator is one degree too cold, greenhouse gas emissions can increase by 5-10%.
 Place refrigerators in a cool spot, not next to the oven or in the sun.
 Switch off lights in display refrigerators overnight.
 Turn off refrigerators on weekend and holidays if they contain non-perishable items, such as soft drinks.
 A refrigerator that has been turned off saves more than 50kg of greenhouse gas per unit in a fortnight.
 At the end of term, pack perishable goods into as few refrigerators as possible and turn off the empty ones
 Use ovens and cookers as little as possible. Microwave ovens and gas cookers are low cost
Computers and printers
 Twenty computers generate about 2.5kilograms of greenhouse gas every hour they are on
 The screensaver feature on a computer does not reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Computers are not actually being used for
about 90% of the time that they are turned on. Switch off the computer instead. Switching off modern computers doesn’t
damage them
 A modern laptop computer can reduce electricity demand by up to 90% compared with an old-fashioned desktop
 Inkjet printers and inkjet facsimile machines produce the same quality as laser equivalents at comparable speed yet use only 1
or 2% as much electricity
Hot water heating
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Turn off small hot water heaters on Friday afternoon. Turn off larger hot water heaters during the holidays. If this is not
possible, install timers on the heaters.
Lighting
Every 100 watts of lights (for example, two fluorescent tubes) generates a kilogram of greenhouse gas every eight hours; that’s a
tonne every year. Replacing incandescent globes with compact fluorescent lamps will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80%.
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Turn off all lights when not required including fluorescent lights
Have the school ‘runner’ switch off lights not required while they are delivering messages
Replace old-style 40-watt fluorescent tubes (40mm in diameter) with thinner (26mm) 36-watt tubes
Appoint light monitors and use positive incentives and reward achievements
Install timers or movement-sensitive lights that switch themselves on if someone is passing by them
Ensure that lights near windows have a separate switch, so they can be switched off while others are on.
Buildings
 Use skylights for natural heating and lighting
 Insulate walls, ceilings and hot water pipes
 Seal up the gaps around doors and windows and use door ‘snakes’
 Take advantage of natural heating. Windows that face north will let the winter sun into rooms.
 In rooms with height ceilings, use ceiling fans on low setting to recirculate warm air from the ceiling in winter
 By converting from oil heating to natural gas, you can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20%
 Using evaporative coolers in dry climates instead of air conditioners reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90%
 By fitting AAA-rated, water-efficient showerhead, you will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about half a tonne each year
 Install renewable energy systems to provide electricity (e.g. solar cells). Make the system’s grid interactive so you can sell
power back to the energy supplier
Outdoors
 Plant deciduous trees around buildings. They give shade in summer and let in light in winter
 Plant wind breaks, particularly on the south side of buildings
 An unshaded 1.5 square-metre window in direct summer sun transmits as much heat as a single-bar radiator. Shading (with
shade cloth, external blinds or plants) can reduce this by 80%