We have seen hybrids, watched the news of companies like the EVO vehicles pull their perfectly fine working hybrid cars off the market. I have gone to shows and seen some really neat vehicles that were very effective for what they were designed for. Yet with all our politicians sitting in to many back pockets of the Oil companies, energy efficiency simply will not be something we will see in the lives of our great grand children’s lives. I don’t see any change in who pays all those politicians to represent me. Lets face it, I won’t pay a politician! I expect them to represent the very people that voted them in because that is their job! They wanted it, they ran for it and they got it. Why should I donate millions of dollars to get them to represent me? Too bad that so many other companies do have and are willing to purchase them with millions of dollars. Lets get real here, there are few politicians that have not been purchased, fewer yet that you can not purchase if you have enough money to do so. This is the sate of affairs our greedy nation has created. Okay, off of the soap box and onto the post.
Because we can not rely upon our elected leaders to do anything in the energy arena (they make their money keeping us using them, not avoiding them). We need to look at ourselves, our life styles and our homes to create energy efficiency and save our own energy usage. here are some simple ways to do that.
- Have cable or satelite T.V. ? Did you know that your boxes pull 50-80% of the energy they use when they are turned on as when they are turned off? Yes, you read that right, they pull 50-80% as much energy sitting in stand-by. Simply turning it off isn’t going to help, you have to turn them off at the plug. Either unplug the box from the outlet or get a timer for that plug and have it turn it off in hours where you don’t use it. Like the hours you are at work and the hours you are sleeping. It is free to simply unplug it, so try plugging your box into an easily reached outlet and just unplug it when it is not in use. Tie a ribbon or colored tape to the plug going to the box so you know exactly which one it is.
- Car pool or join a car pool to commute to work. Take the bus, train or trax system if you can. I don’t even drive down town any more, the trax and bus system get me to where ever I need to go when down town these days.
- Purchase a bicycle to get around when running local errands. Yes, it is cold these days and snowy days aren’t the safest for a bike, but if the roads are clear, do your local errands on a bicycle. When I first started doing this, I was always running around on my bike. It doesn’t take but a few weeks of doing this that you become far more efficient with your errands and marketing to reduce the number of trips you have to make on a bike. Better yet, the kids also start getting better about telling you what they need. You only have to drag them out on their own bike to pick up their needed items a few times and they will get really good about keeping a list.
- Just like the box for your television, the energy pull is only reduced by computers, cell phone charges and the likes when they are on stand-by. Unplug the lap top, the desk top computers, cell phone charges and every other electronic gadget you have when they are not in use. They still pull on average between 10-25% of their energy usage while in standby position.
- Here is a strange idea, but it really worked and not only reduced my electric bill, but also my gas bill. I put the hot water heater on a timer as well. it kicks on and fires only 3 times per day now. In the morning for showers, at night for showers and mid day for the dishwasher. We have a 60 gallon water heater and have never run out of hot water since doing this. I program the dishwasher to wash mid day and showers are taken in the morning and in the evening. Have the hot water heater kick on 2 hours before these times. No need to heat and keep the water heated when no one is home.
- Programable thermostat for the air conditioner and the heater. Again, program them to work while you are home, Do you really need to heat your home when no one is there? Program the thermostat to kick on an hour before you get home, reduce the heat when you go to bed, warm it up an hour before you get up and turn off 1/2 hour after you leave. That 1/2 hour is to accommodate times when you might be running late.
- Seal your windows, doors, put insulation foam into all of your electrical outlets. We even got special curtains that help keep the heat out in the summer, and another set for winter that helps keep the drafts out and the heat in. I didn’t think they would really work, but they do. it is amazing.
- Keep all your junk mail if you have a fireplace. I have a high efficient fireplace with a blower. I save up all the junk mail each week and sunday night we burn it all. I roll them up with a paper log maker ($14 at a yard sale). Anyhow, I roll them all up into logs, tie them with a cotton or jute string and save them in a woodbox till sunday. It produces enough junk for me to keep a fire going for 5 hours on sunday. This really shocked me that we get that much junk mail, but we do. From November till the first of January due to holiday sale announcements, I can burn a fire from the junk mail for nearly 8 hours.
- You may not be able to afford it, but when I replaced the old refrigerator, oven and dishwasher, I was able to reduce my electricity. I paid a little bit more, but got a double oven/stove unit. I can use the smaller top one for most of my cooking. If I happen to have a large turkey or roast, I use the larger lower one, but the small top oven section is perfect for about 90% of my baking needs. No need to heat a whole oven for a batch of cookies.
- Only have the lights on that you really need. I know, it is a given, but often times when I come home, there is a trail of lights on in the house. I know which person is home based upon the trail of lights. Sad but true, no matter how many times I say, TURN OF THE LIGHTS, it just doesn’t happen. So here is how I encouraged everyone to turn lights off. Every time I found lights left on, I removed one bulb from the socket. If there is only one light in the area, they are in the dark. You have to be firm, don’t give the light bulb back for a whole week. You must remove the bulb when the lights are left on. It took me a whole week to take all the light bulbs in my daughters bathroom (she has 10 lights in there). She went an entire week with no lights, and well, it was an inconvenience to her. More of an inconvenience than turning off the light switch. Now this practice sometimes requires a revisit because people forget to turn off the lights, but don’t worry, don’t argue, simply take a bulb every time it isn’t turned off. Trust me, a week in the dark does a far better job of teaching the importance of a light than yelling and arguing about turning them off when not in use.
There are lots of ways you can save energy, this should give you a good start.
Leave some comments, let our readers know what you have done to reduce your energy usage and reduce your monthly bills.
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