Nine no-cost ways to reduce your home energy use

comments from our community

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  Posted by boxerdog Tue Nov 11, 2008 8:48am PST

  I so agree with many of these comments. The little things don't make much difference, and in terms of comfort, I am not going to be cold/hot just to save $20/year. The things I did that greatly decreased my energy bills: a set-back thermostat for each floor, manually setting my dryer to a shorter cycle, buying a new/more energy efficient fridg, closing the door to the upstairs during the day when heat or AC is used.

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  Posted by Twigs Tue Nov 11, 2008 9:43am PST

  I can save you a lot more money.... Here's how. find the thickest blanket you have, wrap your entire family in it and go live in a card-board box from your neighbor's new tv set... Pleeease... Who the heck writes these commentaries. I bet that he or she isn't even concerned about saving a few bucks.

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  Posted by eyeswideopen Tue Nov 11, 2008 9:51am PST

  Moline Transplant says, "Cars can now run on water..." Is anyone really that gullible? Putting aside the scams you find on the internet, all proven methods for separating hydrogen from water all require more energy than they produce. Windfarms?? You think the problem with windfarms are the aesthetics? Do you ever do any research/thinking before you form an opinion?? The main problem with windfarms are the tremendous cost to build the infrastructure to transmit the power from where the wind blows to where the power is consumed. Secondly, no matter where the windfarms are located, the wind only blows intermittently. You can't power a reliable electric grid based on intermittent, variable power sources. I'm in the power industry - I know first hand. Only 1.6% of the electricity generated in the US comes from oil and that figure is dropping every year. 50% of the electrical generation in the US comes from coal. Coal is cheap - but dirty. Clean coal technologies (syngas and others) are extremely technically challenging and expensive. The best solution is to replace the coal fired generation with natural gas fired combined cycle generation. Although we'll need to increase our gas production and transmission infrastructure, gas is the cheapest solution. Gas is clean. Is it carbon neutral? No - but if you buy into the whole anthropogenic (man made) global warming/green house gas scam, you are so under-informed (once again). Anthropogenic GHG emissions only account for 0.28% of all GHG emissions. Gas fired combined cycle power plants can be located closer to the major load centers to reduce transmission costs, and they can be base loaded to provide consistent and efficient generation. People - get real. Do the research before you open your mouth and demonstrate your ignorance.

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  Posted by BridgeL Tue Nov 11, 2008 10:52am PST

  LED lighting can save lots more money, I just purchased some at www.ledbulbs.tk they run on 2 watts and put out the same amount of light.

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  Posted by bowgirl Tue Nov 11, 2008 10:59am PST

  I found that unplugging TV, DVD, computer and anything with an LED that is not in use and turning off extra lights easily cut out electric $15.00 a month. The kids were truly impressed. We have always line dried our clothes. We wash in the coolest ater possible and use ALL the energy saving bottons on the dishwasher. The payoff for my kids is that we have saved enough to pay for their state university tuition costs. With them out of the house the water bill went down $20 a month!!!!

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  Posted by lc_mae Tue Nov 11, 2008 11:06am PST

  My house faces the south, so in the winter I let the sun shine in the front windows and the kitchen window which faces the east. In the summer I open the back door, to the north which lets in cool air. On sunny days in the winter I also open the garage door into the utility room to let in warmer air, because the garage isn't insulated so the sun heats it up. Last summer I didn't have to turn on my A.C. at all. My electric bill was never over twenty dollars. I do live at 4000 feet altitude though.

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  Posted by Fred M Tue Nov 11, 2008 11:21am PST

  This is stupid!

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  Posted by sharqkbait Tue Nov 11, 2008 12:38pm PST

  I am all for efficiency and reducing my energy usage - and I have. Personally I am more interested in saving MONEY! But my electric bill goes up every month and kwh's goes down compared with last year. I work for an electric utility and there is a major flaw with the current business model used by electric utilities: They make money by building power plants / generating electricty. When we conserve, the utilities want to be compensated for loss of revenue, which they get approval for from your state utility regulator. So in the end, the consumer who conserves will still have to pay more. It's time to change the system.

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  Posted by Tricia C Tue Nov 11, 2008 1:12pm PST

  Were the candidates thinking green as they criss-crossed the country how many times (??)to get our votes? Was Gore thinking green when he flew to the summit - are they all downsizing to save energy? I doubt it, but they expect it of us little folk.

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  Posted by LaurenC Tue Nov 11, 2008 1:15pm PST

  I discovered that I mainly use hot water on the weekends- doing laundry, dishes, taking looong baths. During the week I only hop in the shower for 5 minutes, get ready for work, rinse a few dishes and I'm out the door till night. Why have that water heating, on stand by, all day when nobody uses it? So what I started doing is lowering my hot water tank to "warm" all week and then I turn it up to hot on the weekend. The "warm" water is enough for my shower and I usually use less water because I am not diluting "hot" with additionan cold water to make "warm".

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  Posted by mike s Tue Nov 11, 2008 1:17pm PST

  Just remember,there is just as much money in tearing down an economy as there is in building up one.Follow the money,who's making the money on all this green scare? Al Gore and company.Yes,it is always good to economize,but we have gone crazy in this country and the world.To think we have the capability to change the universe is lunacy.

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  Posted by eyeswideopen Tue Nov 11, 2008 1:20pm PST

  Sharqbait - amen to that! I pay some of the highest utility rates in the country (average $0.28/kWh). The utilities are one of the largest barriers to reducing electrical costs. They have absolutely no incentive to do so. They have to grow the rate base in order to increase returns.

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  Posted by eyeswideopen Tue Nov 11, 2008 1:26pm PST

  mike s - you've nailed it! Take a look at this link: http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/greenhouse_data.html

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  Posted by sharqkbait Tue Nov 11, 2008 2:27pm PST

  I read everyone of these articles that tell me how to save money now on my electric bill, expecting something GREAT! But it's always the same old thing. I had a home energy audit performed on my house. If I spent $20K plus replacing my windows, doors, HVAC, and adding more insulation in my attic, I would save an estimated $150.00 per year. Not a very good ROI. All the breaks go to the business community. The only improve,ment I did was add insulation to my attic. On another subject, wind turbines only operate 16% on average of all units installed across the country. It won't support base load generation when we need power most. There are (2) plants in the world that operate on compressed air and there is talk about using the power generated by wind turbines to compress air that could be stored in abandoned salt and coal mines, gas pipe lines, etc, and then generate power when we need it most from the stored compressed air. But in my opinion, we need a balnced approach using multiple technolgies to generate (and store electricity), in addition to SERIOUS CONSERVATION efforts, and not be penalized for conserving.

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  Posted by mizzdmw Tue Nov 11, 2008 2:40pm PST

  Duane, Jim and BPugh..... you guys made me laugh. I agree with you. By the time I spend a katrillion dollars on energy saving appliances, a hybrid, solar screens and windows, etc....$200 savings is going to piss me off. If you see me driving in my jallopy giving off a ton of exhaust and fumes don't be mad at me... that jaloppy gives me 150 miles to a gallon!!!! Nah that is savings I can live with!

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