How to be a Smart Watt

You're smart about a lot of things. Why not join your neighbors in Fort Lauderdale and be smart about using electricity. That's what we call being a SmartWatt. Use this list checklist yourself and share it with your family. It may be that not all of the suggestions apply to your house, but most of them probably will, and all of them are things that you can control no matter your age.

• Turn off ALL of the lights when you leave a room, even if you are coming back in soon. Wait, not so fast! Did you forget the desk lamp? closet light? nightlight?

• Turn off the ceiling fan if you will be leaving the room for more than 10 minutes. Ceiling fans don’t make the room colder- they just blow air onto the skin of the people in the room to make them feel cooler. 

• Power down completely. Don't just let things like computers go into sleep mode. Save your work, exit out and turn them off. This is better for computer security anyway.

• Keep your electronics clean and dust free. They will work more efficiently. When dust builds up it makes it harder for these things to run smoothly, takes more energy, and is just really gross. Don't wait for mom. She's got enough cleaning to do! Grab a soft rag, a feather duster or an air canister and do the dusting yourself.

• Close your windows and doors completely. If you can hear whistling noises see cracks of sunlight, you know you haven't done the job.  Air conditioning can slip out through these cracks and waste a lot of energy. Heat can slip in and make it harder to cool your house. If you think everything is closed but you still hear or feel air, talk to an adult about getting your window or door frame sealed.

• When it is sunny outside, open curtains and blinds to brighten a room instead of turning on the lights. Just be careful when the sun heats up the room. Your air conditioner may be working too hard. In that case, it's best to leave the blinds closed and find another naturally lit space to sit.

• When you are choosing your clothes, put away what you don't wear. Throwing unworn clothing in the laundry wastes electricity and water. It also creates a lot of unnecessary work.

• Decide what to eat or ask what is inside before going to the refrigerator. When you leave the door open, you waste energy.

• Use the hair dryer for just the last few minutes of drying. When you get out of the shower, do everything else that you need to do (homework, tooth brushing, room cleaning, bag packing, etc.) and come back to blow dry your hair just before you need to leave or go to sleep. Your hair will dry naturally most of the way, and you can use the dryer to touch it up and make it look the way you like using just a fraction of the energy.

• Spend more time away from electronic entertainment. Now we sound like the adults in your life. We know. But from our point of view, the more you choose non-electric things to do, the less energy we consume as a community. So, please. Play a board game, draw a picture, talk your brother or sister, and get outside. There are lots of free amazing things to do in our beautiful city.