Every month you can take part in an energy-efficient home improvement challenge. These challenges will include seasonal topics to help you save on your energy bill all year long.

September challenge: Open the registers in your home.

Keep all air registers and returns open in your home.  A forced air furnace is designed to move a specific amount of air for the entire home, even spaces you don’t often use. Closing registers in unused rooms will actually decrease the system’s efficiency. It will cause drafts and cold spots. Keep the returns open to distribute cold air back into the system to heat.

Here are a few other ways to keep your furnace running efficiently.

August challenge: Time your showers

The average shower takes around eight minutes. Cutting your shower from eight to five or fewer minutes can save thousands of gallons of water and lots of energy over the course of the year. Grab a timer and take the challenge to time your shower today.

Here’s another way to save water and energy:

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