People in many parts of the country are just starting to feel the first cool breezes of Fall, and have begun waking up to chilly mornings.  Before you turn on your home’s furnace for the first time this year, make sure you’re starting with a clean furnace filter.  Whether you have a gas furnace, or an electric furnace, a clean furnace filter will help you conserve energy, save money, and live greener. Consider the following:

Conserve Energy: A dirty filter makes your furnace work harder, and consume more energy.  If you want to save energy, replace your furnace filter once a month, or perhaps even more often if you have pets.

Furnace Life Span: Regularly changing your furnace filter will help prevent the need for early replacement of your furnace.  This will save you money, and reduce the amount of waste in landfills.

Clean Air: Clean furnace filters promote clean air in your home by capturing the dust, mold, pet hair, and other particulates circulating in the air. Circulating air through a dirty filter just adds more dust and contaminates to the air you breathe.

Permanent Filters: If you’re concerned about the waste generated by disposable furnace filters, you may want to consider a reusable furnace filter.   This permanent furnace filter, available at Never Buy Another Filter.Com, can be used for  years.  When it gets dirty, simply hose off, dry, and reuse.

Here’s some helpful information on how to change a furnace filter.

If you’re wanting to create a more energy-efficient home, but you’re not up for a complete green remodeling project, there are some fast and easy projects you can complete in a single weekend. Here are two examples for making your home more energy efficient…in a flash!

Insulate your Attic: For a few hundred dollars and just a few hours work you can dramatically increase your home’s energy efficiency by installing insulation in your attic. Attics are a major source of wasted energy in many homes, especially those that endure cold winter climates. A well-insulated attic will allow you to conserve power, and reduce heating and cooling costs.

Caulk Away: With a $3.00 caulking gun and a tube of caulk, you can be on your way to creating a more energy-efficient, green home. Walk around your home and eliminate any gaps around baseboards and windows with a quick bead of caulk. This will help prevent the escape of air conditioning, heat, and your hard earned dollars.

It’s important to remember that green living isn’t always about expensive alternative products. Sometimes the very best green alternatives are actually quite simple.