“Personally I'm always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.”

- Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965)

Tip of the Month
(from gardening.tips.net):

Appliances such as air conditioners and refrigerators consume considerable electricity. In fact, next to an air conditioner or pool pump, a refrigerator is often a home's heaviest electricity user. Manufacturers of new refrigerators have tackled this issue head-on in recent years. As a result, new refrigerators tend to be much more efficient than their predecessors. A new model will often pay for itself in a few years through energy savings.

Whether or not you have an energy-efficient refrigerator, you can take advantage of the following tips and tricks, courtesy of hometips.com, to boost efficiency.

- Lower the temperature of the freezer, and raise that of the refrigerator. You can keep the freezer as cold as 0 degrees F, but it may take a long time to thaw foods. Keep the refrigerator at 38 degrees F or colder (any warmer will allow foods to spoil).

- Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible. Of course, the "don't stand with the refrigerator door open" rule has been around as long as refrigerators, but now it is more important than ever. The cold air that escapes when the door is opened is replaced by warm air that must be cooled all over again.

- Be sure the refrigerator and freezer doors seal tightly. You can test the seal by closing the door on a piece of paper. If you're able to remove it easily with the door closed, it's probably time to replace the rubber gasket around the door's perimeter.

- Keep the freezer stocked. Frozen items in the freezer help keep neighboring items frozen. You can also add containers or bags of ice if you are unable to keep your freezer full of food.

- Don’t over-stuff your refrigerator. A full refrigerator has to work harder to stay cool than a moderately full one.

- Keep the refrigerator's cooling coils free of dust.