New Apartment? New Opportunities to Save on Electric Costs

CHICAGO, Aug. 30, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- It's the time of the year when moving vans crowd major thoroughfares and many people sign new apartment leases. While settling in, ComEd encourages customers to think ahead about saving energy and money on upcoming electric bills.

"Energy efficient choices can save customers about a third on their energy bill with similar savings of greenhouse gas emissions, without sacrificing features, style or comfort," said Energy Doctor Tim Melloch. "Appliances and daily practices that are energy efficient are important to keep in mind when making purchases and modifications for a new dwelling."

ComEd reminds customers to make sure electricity is efficiently used by following a few easy tips:

• When shopping for electronics including computers, printers and television sets look for the ENERGY STAR® label and purchase the most affordable energy-efficient unit. Newer, more energy-efficient models can lower monthly operating costs.
• Buying a refrigerator for the apartment? Purchasing a newer model, especially one that is ENERGY STAR® rated, can save you more than $100 annually on electric bills.
• Harness the power of the sun. Use daylighting techniques to allow natural light to enter the dwelling during the day and save electricity and money. South and west-facing windows are most effective for daylighting.
• Install CFLs instead of traditional incandescent bulbs in lamps and light fixtures to save $25 or more per bulb over each bulb's lifetime.
• Activate power management settings on your computer such as the sleep or hibernate modes to turn the unit off when not in use. Taking a few seconds to update the computer's power management settings can save between $25 and $75 annually for each computer.

Need to start, stop or transfer service? Visit ComEd.com and go to the 'Start, Stop or Move' page under 'Customer Service' and 'Service Requests.'

Customers can also visit ComEd.com to learn more about energy-saving tips and ComEd's Smart Ideas portfolio featuring energy efficiency programs and incentives.

Saving money and energy after moving into a new apartment is the latest in ComEd's 12 Ways to Green campaign, which aims to educate customers about ways to save money and reduce their carbon footprints. This campaign is a component of Exelon 2020, a comprehensive environmental strategy to reduce, offset, or displace more than 15 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year by 2020 among ComEd's parent company, Exelon, its subsidiaries, and customers.

Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC), one of the nation's largest electric utilities with approximately 5.4 million customers. ComEd provides service to approximately 3.8 million customers across northern Illinois, or 70 percent of the state's population. 

SOURCE ComEd