8 November24,2007 NewsHopperTM

UP NORTH FIREPLACE GALLERY

Located at Aitkin Rental • 218-927-69071068 Air Park Drive, Aitkin, MN 56431

Multi FuelEnergy EfficientStoves

218-927-6919 • Open 6 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Highway 169 S., Aitkin ExprESS GAS & CAr WASH

Fill Your Tank TodaY!

927-2191 800-450-2191 www.mlecmn.net

Add beauty to your Christmas lighting display without adding to your electric bill! Mille Lacs Energy and Aitkin Public Utilities, along with Pamida, Hyytinen Hardware Hank and Aitkin True Value - Aitkin; Weidell Trustworthy Hardware

- Brainerd; Holiday “De-Lites” North - McGregor; and Agnew Hardware Hank - Onamia are asking you to get rid of your traditional holiday lighting and replace them with LED holiday lighting. Bring in your old lights and get $5 off LED lights - Limit 5 per customer/must be 50 bulbs or more per string.

Why buy LED? • LED (light emitting diode) bulbs use 10 times less electricity than mini-lights and 100 times less than C-7 bulbs• The lifespan of LEDs is extremely long—up to 100,000 hours inside and 50,000 outside• Holiday LEDs are available in mini-lights, flame-tips, globes, gems, ropes, icicles• All-weather, unbreakable and water-resistant• Cool to the touch, shatterproof, shock-resistant

This holiday season,Give yourself

The GifT of a

smaller

elecTric Bill

do The riGhT ThinG

replace a sTrinG Hyytinen’s

Hwy. 210/169 • Aitkin • 218-927-3117

Energy efficient LEDChristmas Lights

One of the largest energy expenses is heating your waterWater heating is the third

largest energy expense inyour home. It typically ac-counts for about 13 percentofyourutilitybill.Therearefourways to cutyourwaterheating bills: use less hotwater, turn down the ther-mostatonyourwaterheater,insulate your water heaterorbuyanew,moreefficientwaterheater.

Water Heating TipsInstall aerating, low-flow

faucetsandshowerheads.Repairleakyfaucetsprompt-

ly;aleakyfaucetwastesgal-lonsofwaterinashortperiodoftime.

Lower the thermostat onyourwaterheater;waterheat-erssometimescomefromthefactorywithhightemperature

settingsbutasettingof120°F provides comfortable hotwaterformostuses.

Take more showers thanbaths.Bathingusesthemosthot water in the averagehousehold.

Insulate your electric hot-waterstoragetank;becarefulnot to cover the thermostat.Follow the manufacturer’srecommendations.

Insulate your natural gasoroilhot-waterstoragetankbut be careful not to coverthe water heater’s top, bot-tom, thermostat or burnercompartment. Follow themanufacturer’s recommen-dations; when in doubt, getprofessionalhelp.

Insulate the first six feetof the hot and cold water

pipesconnectedtothewaterheater.

Ifyouareinthemarketforanewdishwasherorclotheswasher,considerbuyinganef-ficient,water-savingENERGYSTAR model to reduce hotwateruse.

Installheattrapsonthehotand cold pipes at thewaterheater to prevent heat loss.Somenewwaterheatershavebuilt-inheattraps.

Drainaquartofwaterfromyourwater tank every threemonths to remove sedimentthat impedes heat transferand lowers the efficiency ofyourheater.Thetypeofwatertankyouhavedeterminesthesteps to take, so follow themanufacturer’sadvice.

Althoughmostwater heat-

ers last10-15years, it’sbestto start shopping for a newone if yours is more thansevenyearsold.Doingsomeresearch before your heaterfailswillenableyoutoselectone that most appropriatelymeetsyourneeds.

• Long-Term SavingsTip:Buy a new energy-efficientwaterheater.Whileitmaycostmoreinitiallythanastandardwaterheater,theenergysav-ingswillcontinueduringthelifetimeoftheappliance.LookfortheEnergyGuidelabel.

• Long-Term SavingsTip:Consider installing a drainwater waste heat recoverysystem.A recentDOE studyshowedenergysavingsof25percent to about 30percentforwaterheatingusingsuch

asystem.• Long-Term SavingsTip:

Consider natural-gas on-demand or tankless waterheaters. Researchers havefound savings can be up to30percentcomparedwithastandard natural-gas storagetankwaterheater.

• Long-Term SavingsTip:Heat pump water heatersareveryeconomicalinsomeareas.

Solar Water HeatersIfyouheatwaterwithelec-

tricity, have high electricrates,andhaveanunshaded,south-facing location (suchasaroof)onyourproperty,consider installing a solarwaterheater.Thesolarunitsare environmentally friendlyandcannowbeinstalledon

your roof to blendwith thearchitecture of your house.Morethan1.5millionhomesandbusinessesintheUnitedStates have invested in so-lar water heating systems,andsurveysindicateover94percent of these customersconsiderthesystemsagoodinvestment.Solarwaterheat-ingsystemsarealsogoodfortheenvironment.Solarwaterheaters avoid the harmfulgreenhouse gas emissionsassociated with electricityproduction.Duringa20-yearperiod,onesolarwaterheatercanavoidover50tonsofcar-bondioxideemissions.Whenshopping for a solar waterheater,lookforsystemscerti-fiedbytheSolarRatingandCertificationCorporation.

Saving money doing laundryAbout90percentoftheen-

ergyusedforwashingclothesisforheatingthewater.Thereare two ways to reduce theamount of energy used forwashing clothes—use lesswater and use cooler water.Unless you’re dealing with

oilystains,thewarmorcoldwatersettingonyourmachinewillgenerallydoagoodjobofcleaningyourclothes.Switch-ingyourtemperaturesettingfromhot towarmcancutaload’senergyuseinhalf.

Laundry Tips

Wash your clothes in coldwaterusingcold-waterdeter-gentswheneverpossible.

Washanddryfull loads.Ifyouarewashingasmallload,use the appropriate water-levelsetting.

Drytowelsandheaviercot-tonsinaseparateloadfromlighter-weightclothes.

Don’tover-dryyourclothes.Ifyourmachinehasamois-turesensor,useit.

Clean the lint filter in thedryeraftereveryloadtoim-proveaircirculation.

Use the cool-down cycletoallowtheclothestofinishdryingwiththeresidualheatinthedryer.

Periodically inspect yourdryerventtoensureitisnotblocked.Thiswillsaveenergyandmaypreventafire.Manu-facturers recommend usingrigid venting material, notplasticventsthatmaycollapseandcauseblockages.

Considerair-dryingclotheson clothes lines or dryingracks. Air-drying is recom-mendedbyclothingmanufac-

turersforsomefabrics.• Long-Term SavingsTip:

Look for theENERGYSTARandEnergyGuidelabels.EN-ERGYSTARclotheswasherscleanclothesusing50percentless energy than standardwashers.Most full-sizedEN-ERGYSTARwashersuse18-25gallonsofwaterperload,compared to the 40 gallonsusedbyastandardmachine.ENERGY STAR models alsospintheclothesbetter,result-inginlessdryingtime.

• Long-Term SavingsTip:

When shopping for a newclothes dryer, look for onewith a moisture sensor thatautomatically shuts off themachine when your clothesaredry.Notonlywillthissaveenergy,itwillsavewearandtear on your clothes causedbyover-drying.

• Long-Term SavingsTip:ENERGYSTARdoesnotlabelclothesdryersbecausemostofthemusesimilaramountsofenergy,whichmeansthereis little difference in energyusebetweenmodels.

Water heater energy efficiency tips• Make sure water heater

issetatthelowestpoint,try120degrees.

•Trywashingclotheswithwarmwaterandrinsingwithcold.

• If your water heater islocated in anunconditionedspace, consider installing a

thermalwraparoundit.• Consider buying a new

energyefficientwaterheater.While it may cost more ini-tiallythanastandardunit,theenergysavingswillcontinueduringthelifetimeoftheap-pliance.Mostelectriccoopera-tivesofferincentivestoreduce

thecostsofareplacement.•Althoughmostwaterheat-

erslast10-15years,it’sbesttostartshoppingforanewoneifyoursismorethan7yearsold. Doing some researchbefore your heater failswillenableyoutoselectonethatmost appropriately meetsyourneeds.

• Drain a quart of water

fromyourwatertankevery3months to remove sedimentthat impedes heat transferand lowers the efficiency ofyourheater.Thetypeofwatertankyouhavedeterminesthesteps to take, so follow themanufacturer’sadvice.

•Trytouselesshotwateroverall.Thishelpskeepyourcostsdown.