I've decided to make a list of the simple things that my husband and I have done around our house to use less energy. This isn't intended to be a self-congratulatory posting. I'm hoping that it will give other people some ideas and frankly I think the ecology movement really misses the boat by not celebrating their successes. All that "whoa is us" talk can be demoralizing. So hopefully this posting will be one step in that positive-thinking direction.
1. We installed an electronic thermostat, which regulates the furnace in the winter and AC in the summer to minimize energy usage. We have fairly predictable schedules, so this works really well for us. It cost about $100 or so at a big box hardware store. My husband installed it (he's handy and actually reads directions and manuals )
2. We wash our clothes in cold water only - using a cold water detergent. Frankly this may work for us because we don't have kids - but it does save energy.
3. We don't run the dishwasher unless it's full and when we run it, we turn the heated drying function off and let the dishes air dry.
There are other things we do, I'm sure, but that's the main things that I can think of. Our energy costs are remarkably low, considering the size of our house. My goals for the coming year are:
Short term: check insulation in the attic to be sure it's adequate. Install more, if needed.
Long term: investigate the cost of installing passive solar panels on our roof. We have southern exposure in the back of our house, so this could be a big help for 9 months of the year.
Happy Earth Day!
Lots of layers of emotions going on in this one
4 years ago
2 comments:
Some other suggestions:
- Make the switch to compact flourescents
- Put all non-essential electronic gadgets on a power strip and then turn off the power strip or unplug it when not in use. DVD players, TVs, microwaves, etc slowly leech energy upping your total energy costs and slowly pumping more carbon into the atmosphere.
- Be conscious of when you charge your gadgets that you unplug them and not let them go all night. iPods, Cell Phones, etc.
:)
THAT was the other thing I wanted to mention. We started switching over to compact flourescents about 2 years ago. We bought a bunch at a warehouse club and have been switching them out as the incandescents burn out. We're probably 75% compact flourescents by now.
Haven't done the power strip thing though. How does that work with DVRs? I'm assuming if you hook the DVR up to it, nothing is recorded when the power strip is turned off. Right? So, hook the TV and other things up to it, but not the DVR.
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