My apologies for the absence of posts lately...I have been away from the office.

Thanks to those who took the time to comment on what works for you on this blog, and what we could be doing better. All suggestions were good ones which we will work to incorporate in future blogs. Based on the feedback, we are starting a series today on ways to reduce your energy bills. In this first installment we'll focus on your home in general, and on hot water, which accounts for a fair chunk of the electricity used in many Yukon homes.

Your house

• Use the smoke from a burning stick of incense to find spots in your house where the air is leaking (air leakage can represent up to 40 per cent of the heat loss from a house).
• Use caulking and weatherstripping to seal cracks around doors or windows.
• Install plastic or a storm window on single-or double-pane windows.
• Install foam gaskets behind the cover plates of any light switches and electrical outlets that are on outside walls.
• Book an EnerGuide for Houses audit through Yukon Housing Corporation. Call (867) 667-5759 or 1-800-661-0408 ext. 5759.

Hot water

• Install low-flow showerheads.
• Fix leaky faucets – one drop per second out of a leaky tap wastes 27 litres of water per day.
• Install a kitchen faucet aerator – this can cut the amount of water coming out of your faucet by half.
• Wrap hot water tanks with fiberglass insulation and poly or with foil bubble pack.
• Wrap all hot water pipes with foam insulation.
• If the hot water tank is on a concrete floor, raise the tank and lay a two-inch pad of styrofoam under it.
• Turn the hot water tank temperature down to 55 degrees Celsius.
• If you are going away for a week or more, turn off the hot water tank breaker at the electrical panel. When you turn it back on, you’ll have some hot water within 10 minutes, and a full tank of hot water in a couple of hours.
• If you are buying a new hot water tank, purchase the one with the most insulation (R-16 or better).

Check back tomorrow for more tips, or send us some of your own.