| What if you only had $100 to invest in a cheaper, cleaner home? Or $10? Or even just $1? The conversation about cutting your emissions is often about big-ticket items: stoves, furnaces and cars. But millions of people are neither ready nor able to spend thousands of dollars. What if you didn't need to? I asked energy experts, efficiency engineers and readers about how to get the biggest climate bang for your buck, whether you own or rent your home. I wanted investments that turned a few dollars into a fistful of them, while easing your emissions, within a few months or sooner. I was not disappointed. Money is just lying around your house: You can find it squirreled away in floor joists, behind air ducts and even beneath the bedspread. You just need to know where to look. I've catalogued the best ideas to invest in the climate — and your comfort — by price, from $100 down to zero. And I'm sure there are many more. Send me your best. Install storm windows Cost: Starts around $80 per window. Millions of homes still have inefficient, single-pane windows. Replacing them with double-paned windows is cost-effective — but pricey, as much as $1,000 each to buy and install. Storm windows let you achieve similar results at one-third the cost. Push your lawn mower Cost: Starts around $75. Stuck cutting grass behind a belching engine? First, plant a tidy wildland, a mostly natural yard with just a small area of grass you have to mow. Next, try a push reel mower instead. Lauren, a Climate Coach reader, bought hers for $70 in 2017, and hasn't spent a dime since. "Every time I use it I think to myself, 'If only more people knew how great these things are!'" she wrote. "It is great exercise and takes care of the lawn without using any fuel. My kids and all of the neighborhood kids LOVE using it...It does the job!" Have an attic? Pitch a tent Cost: From $60 to $150. The simple devices are usually made of nylon, insulation and Velcro and fit over the attic opening. These cover the drafty space created by a poorly-sealed ceiling access to your attic, usually with stairs. Close your chimney Cost: From $30 to more than $200. Fireplaces and old furnaces vent outdoors. If your chimney or flue isn't sealed off when not in use, says Christian Kaltreider, a researcher at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, it's a clean shot for all your warm air to leave your home. A simple and inexpensive fix is rigging up your own by inserting a well-fitted piece of insulating material or buying one of the many options available online from $30 to a few hundred dollars. Manage phantom loads Cost: Starts around $30. Your house is filled with vampires, devices that suck power even when they're not turned on. The average home has about 40 of them, from plasma TVs to printers. Smart strips or plug load controllers can help fix that. These power strips — essentially regular power strips with timers or digital controls — ensure power is cut when the device isn't in use overnight or during other periods. The devices can save you as much as $2,000 over a decade. That's a much better return than investing in the S&P 500. Turn down your water heater Cost: Free. It took me three years to realize I was incinerating hundreds of dollars by not turning down my water heater to 120 degrees, as the Energy Department recommends. It not only lowers the risk of scalding — 140-degree water leads to serious burns within three seconds — it can save more than $400 annually. Water temperatures of 120 degrees are "considered safe for the majority of the population," according to the agency. Turn the knob on your water heater's thermostat setting to 120 degrees or the "hot" setting on some older models. "It's the best home improvement I made this year," says Geoff Fowler, The Washington Post's technology columnist. And more. Click on the button below to read the rest of the column. Write me with your questions at climatecoach@washpost.com. I read all your emails. | 
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