Wide Open Wallet
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Green Living: Energy Smart
Author: Ashley29 Jul
It’s Tuesday again, and that means we are going green. Just a reminder that this series has been inspired by David Bach’s latest book, Go Green, Live Rich. And you can enter to win this book by leaving a comment on Green Living days.
While we are waiting for Solar Power to become the norm, we have to be cautious of how much electricity we consume. Using less will help with not only your bill, but the environment too.
There are several things you can do to reduce the amount of electricity you use.
1. An Energy Audit: Call your electric company and see if they offer a free energy audit. Someone will come to your house and identify places in your home that are not as efficient as they could be. If your power company doesn’t perform this service there are several websites that can help you either find a professional to do it or give you tips on how to do it yourself. The U.S. Department of Energy has one you can check out. Making the changes suggested on your audit can save you between 5% and 30% on your energy bill.
2. Turn the heat down (or the air up): If your heating your home, make it a little bit cooler in there. If your using the air conditioner, make it a little bit hotter. Just one degree cooler in the winter will save you $40 a year.
3. Stop the phantom load: Stuff that’s plugged uses electricity even when it’s off. When I first heard about this I laughed. Yeah right! But apparently it’s true, and I suppose it makes sense. 5% to 15% of your electric bill goes to stuff that’s turned off. You can combat this by plugging into power strips so you can shut it off for real. Why pay for stuff your not even using?
4. Compact Fluorescent lights: I switched almost all the bulbs in my house to these. If you are concerned about the look of the light they give off, don’t be. I noticed a difference at first, but now I don’t think a thing about it.
5. Trees: This one is obvious to those of us who live in the desert, but trees give shade, and shade helps keep your house cool in the summer. A cooler house means less electricity for the air conditioner. But even besides that, trees help process the CO2 in the air, which helps with global warming. Plus, they look nice.
What have you done to reduce your energy consumption? Have a great tip? Do you think energy conservation is for crazy people? Leave a comment and get an entry to win David Bach’s latest book. ***Contest has ended***
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9 Responses for "Green Living: Energy Smart"
An Energy Audit – yuk. Seems to me they’d come up with a better word than Audit. Anyway I think I will be for sure looking into this. Our utilities are not anything like they were in Lake Havasu City, but they are becoming close.
As for adjusting temps, we are already at barely tolerable levels so we miss this or already have done it.
Not sure I believe the phantom load. I mean you break the circuit at the light switch or TV power button. The only power being used is – in some appliances – internal battery (PCs, new TV, etc.) as for micros and other such items with clocks (internal or otherwise) don’t we won’t those to run?
We changed all our lights to fluorescent. Makes a difference. A good one.
We have lots of trees but when the afternoon sun is at its warmest, well our trees aren’t as full as we’d like and planting another one is so slow.
Even a small changes that step towards fixing problems that are found during the energy audit, add up over time.
I’ve switched a number of our lights to compact fluorescent. This winter they are really struggling, as it has been horribly cold inside with a broken heater (around 5 degrees Celsius). I’m hesitant to switch all the lights to compact fluorescent because I can’t handle the extreme flickering in cold weather. Let’s hope LED ‘globes’ become affordable and accessible soon!
Since we have a drafty old house, we keep our heat at 58-60 in the winter and use space heaters as needed. I plan on caulking the windows and any cracks I can find in the near future. In the summer, we leave the AC running on low all day downstairs (for the pets) but try to limit use of our bedroom AC to the hottest nights of the year.
We’re replacing regular bulbs with CF as they go out, since we can’t afford to replace them all at once. Lately, I’ve started unplugging stuff when I’m not using it. It’s hard to remember, though!
Our block submitted a grant to get trees planted by the city, and though we can’t have one right in front of our house (fire hydrant), the addition of more trees down the block should keep things a bit cooler and shadier during the summer months.
Leaving a comment to win the book!
we’ve started only using our air conditioner during the day with the blinds closed to keep it dark/cool in the apartment. at night we open the windows and use a fan (if needed) to circulate air. this tends to be a problem sometimes because our cats like to push the screens out of our windows and get out, which isn’t good. but we’re trying it for the rest of the summer to see how it helps. we started last week when our AC broke and we had to go all weekend w/o it until maintenance could come fix it. we also switched to the CFL bulbs a few years ago throughout the entire apartment
Oh my goodness - that shade tree is right on! We have one in our front yard (in Arizona) and the living room window that it overlooks is the only window that doesn’t feel warm when you just walk by!!
[...] again has a weekly drawing for the book she’s giving [...]
We just returned from a tour of the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. As we were taking the tour, I asked my wife how they were going to deal with period lighting when incandescent bulbs are banned. Pigtail lighting just won’t have the same effect.
During hot summer months, lower window shades/close curtains during the day to keep sun/heat out … but raise/open them at night to release heat from the building.
In the winter, don’t hesitate to use plastic sheeting over large windows to reduce drafts. (Yes, the kind where you lay down strips of double-sided tape, press the plastic in place, and then blow-dry the plastic to tighten the whole thing.) It won’t look pretty, unless hidden by window treatments, but it will significantly cut drafts and save energy.
Also, hey, book giveaway. Count me in!
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