1. Get started with easy
home conservation!
Identifying energy vampires, installing Energy Star appliances and taking other
simple steps will lower your carbon footprint and save money.
10 steps to getting started
1 Find the energy vampires (or phantom loads).
Look into how much energy your appliances waste while in standby
mode. One way to do this is to use a Kill A Watt meter, which helps
you identify what appliances are using the most electricity and which
appliances should be replaced. You can borrow a Kill A Watt meter
from the CEC.
2 Plug appliances into a “Smart” Power Strip.
Turn off your most wasteful appliances by plugging them into a
power strip. The “Smart” Power Strip has one master plug (which
stays on all the time) and five special plugs (which go off when the
master device is not in use.) This device is great for computer and home
entertainment systems, as it senses when your TV or computer have been turned off and automatically cuts power
to your peripheral devices (speakers, printer, monitor, and VCR) to eliminate their phantom loads.
3 Conduct a home energy audit.
Flex Your Power offers a do-it-yourself home energy audit to help
you prioritize energy efficiency upgrades.
www.fypower.org/res/energyaudit/diy.html
4 Only purchase new electronics that use little energy.
For efficiency recommendations, visit the U.S. Department of Energy
website. www1.eere.energy.gov/femp/
5 Purchase Energy Star appliances.
If looking for new household products, look for ones that have
earned the ENERGY STAR rating, which meet strict energy
efficiency guidelines set by the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency and Department of Energy. When making larger
improvements to your home, ENERGY STAR offers tools and
resources, including advice on insulation, heating and cooling,
common home problems and appliance replacement
recommendations. www.energystar.gov. (More on back page.)
Community Environmental Council • 26 W. Anapamu, SB, CA, 93101 • (805) 963-0583
www.FossilFreeBy33.org • www.CECSB.org • www.GetEnergized.org

2. 6 Set your computer to power save mode and 8 Avoid overheating or overcooling the home.
turn off the computer when not in use. Set the furnace thermostat down 3 to 5° F and the air
conditioner thermostat up 5° F. Lowering the
Power save mode will make your screen go dark
temperature 3 to 5° F can save you up to 20% on
if you have not touched it in a while. Your computer
heating costs, and raising the temperature 5° F can
is still ready to use with just a click of the mouse.
save you save up to 10% on air conditioning costs.
• Windows Vista/XP:
Control heat and cooling losses by closing doors and
Go to the Control Panel under the Start Menu
windows when the air conditioner or heater is running.
and select Performance and Maintenance>
Power Options. Set the “Turn off Monitor” to
how long you would like your monitor to idle
before power-save mode.
• Mac:
Click on the Apple icon at the top of
your screen and select System
Preferences. Click the Energy Saver icon.
Using the slider, select how long you
would like your monitor to remain idle
before power-save mode.
7 Replace incandescent light bulbs with CFLs.
Compact fluorescent light bulbs use 75% less energy
and last 10 times longer than an incandescent bulb.
Find out more at CEC’s fact sheet: Getting Started with
9 Run dishwasher & clothes washer when full
Better Lighting at www.FossilFreeBy33.org. & during off-peak hours.
Fewer loads reduce water and energy use. Turn off the
“heat dry” setting on the dishwasher, and wash your
clothes in cold water (About 90% of the energy use in
Computer Energy Savings a clothes washer goes to water heating.) Running
appliances during off-peak hours also reduces
Should you turn your computer off or just let it
statewide peak energy demand.
“hibernate”? You may hear conflicting information;
however the U.S. Department of Energy Efficiency
and Renewable Energy recommends turning off the
monitor if you are not going to use your computer
for more than 20 minutes and turning off the entire
system if you are not going to use your computer
for two hours. The Microsoft Small Business
Center says that with new “hibernate” and “sleep”
features, it doesn’t matter whether you turn your
computer off or not.
However, everyone agrees that it is important to set
your computer to power-save mode. ENERGY
STAR computers in power-save mode use 15 watts,
which is about 70 percent less electricity than a
computer without power management features.
Install low flow toilets, shower heads and
The U.S. EPA estimates that over 11 billion kilowatt
faucet aerators.
hours (kWh) could be saved through computer
As much as 19% of California electricity is used to
monitor power management. That’s enough energy
pump, transport and treat water. Ultra-low-flush toilets
to power over one million households for a year,
use approximately 20,000 gallons less water annually
and carbon dioxide reductions equivalent to
than older models. Low-flow shower heads and faucet
preventing the emissions from 1.5 million cars or
aerators can reduce home water consumption and
planting 2.5 million acres of trees.
water heating costs by as much as 50%.

3. Do you have phantom loads in your home?
Don’t get spooked by your energy bill
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 75
percent of the electricity used to power home electronic
equipment is consumed while the products are turned
off. Receivers for televisions and VCRs, for example,
use almost as much electricity when they are switched
off as when they are on, and any small appliance with a
timer, clock, memory or remote on/off switch uses
energy just by being plugged into an outlet.
The average American household constantly leaks about
50 watts of electricity — four percent of the home’s
total electricity use. It may not sound like much, but it
becomes significant when you add up all the audio
systems, garage-door openers, clock radios, phone/
answering machines, microwave ovens, DVD players,
computers, coffee machines and televisions just
standing by, waiting to be used. In fact, the amount of
energy wasted by these “phantom loads” in the U.S. is
equivalent to seven large electrical generating plants.
Examples of some of the appliances most commonly associated with “phantom loads,”
which cost U.S. consumers about $3 billion a year.

4. Additional home conservation resources
EnergyStar appliances
ENERGY STAR is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and
U.S. Department of Energy to help save money and protect the environment through
energy-efficient practices. Energy-efficient choices can save families about a third of their
energy bill without sacrificing features, style or comfort. ENERGY STAR appliances
range from refrigerators and electronics to home heating and cooling equipment. Over its
lifetime, ENERGY STAR-qualified equipment in a single home office (e.g., computer,
monitor, printer, and fax) can save enough electricity to light an entire home for more
than four years. Learn more at www.EnergyStar.gov
CEC’s Get Started series
CEC has a collection of easy to read, informational
brochures to help you learn more about energy
conservation at home. Vist our website at
www.FossilFreeBy33.org to also download: Get
started with solar; Get started with water heating; and Get
started with better lighting. You can also request a hard
copy by calling us at (805) 963-0583.
CEC’s Get Energized! pledge
Take CEC’s personal action pledge to reduce your carbon
footprint. The pledge will calculate how many pounds of CO2
(and dollars from your budget) that you will save by taking
energy-saving actions. Get Energized also offers monthly
campaigns on new ways to save energy, as well as profiles of
Santa Barbara residents sharing their personal stories and tips for
living green. Visit www.GetEnergized.org to take the pledge, sign up for monthly e-newsletters, and to find
information on energy conservation, renewable energy, relocalization and more.
CEC’s online Amazon store
CEC has setup an online store thru Amazon.com (astore.amazon.com/getener-20) filled with resources
mentioned in our Get Started series of brochures. Order a “Smart” Power Strip or Kill A Watt through our store
and a portion of your purchase is donated to CEC!
Community Environmental Council
CEC is one of the oldest environmental organizations in southern California, having been founded in 1970 as a
result of the oil spill off Santa Barbara’s shores. Over the last three decades, CEC has pioneered real-life solutions
for the community in the areas of pesticide reduction, organic agriculture, green building, hazardous waste
collection and recycling.
Today CEC is focused on eliminating the use of fossil fuels in our region within the next generation. Promoting
energy conservation is one of several strategies that CEC has outlined to reach this aggressive goal in our report
A New Energy Direction: A Blueprint for Santa Barbara County. For information on the campaign or to get involved,
visit www.FossilFreeBy33.org
Community Environmental Council • 26 W. Anapamu, SB, CA, 93101 • (805) 963-0583
www.FossilFreeBy33.org • www.CECSB.org • www.GetEnergized.org