Dec. 10, 2007

PGE holiday tips help the environment and save money
Using energy wisely and staying safe

Portland, Ore. — While you’re trimming the tree, you can also trim your electricity usage and fight global warming. With more lighting, more entertaining, more cooking and more heating coming all at once, a typical Portland General Electric customer will use a fifth more electricity in December compared to an average month.

The utility has lots of ideas for reducing that figure.

“It’s like giving yourself and the whole world a holiday present,”” said John Karasaki, PGE energy specialist.  “For every 10 kilowatt hours saved, you’ve shaved almost a dollar off your bill and avoided putting almost 10 pounds of carbon dioxide into the air – a major contributor to global warming,” Karasaki said.

An average PGE residential customer uses 900 kilowatt hours per month, but that figure jumps to about 1,100 kilowatt hours in December, a 22 percent increase. (The numbers run higher for folks with electric heat.

Special tips for saving energy during the holidays include:

• Use energy-efficient holiday lights. LEDs use1/100^th of the power of old fashioned night light-sized bulbs and 1/10 the power of mini-lights. A string of LEDs will, for most households, never need to be replaced. “Because LEDs are so durable, you can expect to use them for several decades instead of just several years” said PGE lighting specialist Mark Whitney.
• Turn holiday lights off before bedtime. A timer or remote control device can make that easier.
• Inspect cords and plugs carefully each year for wear and damage.
• Plug electronic devices into power strips or surge protectors that can be turned off when the products aren’t needed. TV sets, battery chargers, plug-in transformers and many other devices consume power while they’re turned “off.”
• Look for the “Energy Star” label when shopping for anything that uses electricity. That assures you’re buying gifts with the most energy efficiency. They help limit greenhouse gas emissions by meeting strict energy-efficiency specifications set by the federal government.
• Be careful climbing ladders, especially outdoors where overhead power lines may be near.
• Use a microwave for cooking whenever practical. Keep oven warm-up to the minimum time, and turn down the heat under saucepans to the minimum needed to keep a boil or simmer going.
• Close the fireplace damper once the embers have died. Otherwise, heat from your house goes right up the chimney.
• Don’t leave candles or fireplace fires unattended. You don’t want to be in a news story about a house fire.

PGE recommends these additional steps to take the edge off your fall and winter heating and lighting bills:          

• With most heating systems, set the thermostat to 68 degrees when at home and 55 at night or when away at work or other extended periods. If you have a heat pump, set the thermostat back five degrees or less at any hour – consult your owner’s manual.
• Better yet, use a programmable thermostat that will automatically turn down the heat at night and when you’re at work.
• Install compact fluorescent lights. They use a quarter of the energy of conventional bulbs on those long winter lights and quickly pay for themselves.
• Seal gaps around doors and windows.
• Turn off computers, TVs, stereos and room lights when not in use.

Dozens of additional ideas can be found in our energy efficiency section or from the PGE Energy Experts at 1-800-722-9287. Both sources can put you in touch with a variety of Energy Trust of Oregon cash incentives and Oregon Department of Energy tax credits that will help pay for energy saving home improvements and appliances.

The PGE Web site also has a calculator to help you project your dollar savings, a list of energy myths and a virtual home tour pointing to potential savings in each room.

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