Debbie Roney Smith, REALTOR®

It is not to late to take the Census. It’s quick and easy. The 2020 Census questionnaire will take about 10 minutes to complete. It’s safe, secure, and confidential. Your information and privacy are protected. Your response helps to direct billions of dollars in federal funds to local communities for schools, roads, and other public services. Results from the 2020 Census will be used to determine the number of seats each state has in Congress and your political representation at all levels of government. You are required by law to respond to the 2020 Census. The goal of the census is to count every person living in the United States, once, only once and in the right place. Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution mandates that this population and housing count occur every 10 years. Census data guide how more than $675 billion of federal funding is distributed to states and communities each year. The 2020 Census questionnaire should be completed by the person who owns or rents the living quarters or any other person who is at least 15 years of age with knowledge of the household.

You should have received a census form(or several) in the mail. On that is your personal id number for the address which you lived in on April 1, 2020. You can fill out the paper form or click on this link to do it online.

https://my2020census.gov/

Laundry is a fact of life, and in addition to your effort, it requires resources to get all those clothes clean and dry. In electricity alone—to say nothing of water—Americans used 10 billion kilowatt-hours washing laundry at home last year, and 60 billion kilowatt-hours drying it. Did you know around 10% of a home’s total electricity use goes to washing and drying clothes? Over the past two decades, increasingly tough federal regulations have required manufacturers to make washers that use significantly less energy and water. Improvements in efficiency include increasing the tub’s spin speed to extract more water from laundry, which in turn cuts the time required by the dryer. Heat-pump dryers are the most energy-efficient option. A heat-pump dryer extracts heat from a room’s air and uses it to heat the air in the dryer. A conventional electric dryer relies on a heating element. Some dryers use both technologies and are known as hybrids. Energy Star says heat-pump dryers use 20 to 60 percent less energy than conventional dryers. But heat-pump dryers are expensive—and slow!

Here are some ways to help reduce your electricity when washing and drying laundry.

Washing Machines: ~ Opt for cold water when you can ~ Increase the spin speed ~ Use high efficiency (HE) detergent ~ Avoid the sanitary cycle Dryers: ~ Clean the lint screen ~ Clean the dryer duct regularly ~ Try line-drying ~ Use the automatic cycle instead of timed drying ~ Dry similar items together.