Just turned on the upstairs, zone II, thermostat.  Not so much because we were cold, but to protect the pipes as it gets colder.  Also reprogrammed the thermostat to take out quite a few hours of heating, same as I did downstairs.  It will be interesting to see if I can notice any difference  in the heating bill.  Already noticed a reduction in water use with both our daughters now out of the house – one at college and one living alone – though the college one will be home shortly for the holidays.

As I have said before, always think in terms of where you can save energy.  Good for your finances and good for the planet.

Also, as I change my holiday lighting over to L.E.D. lights, that should reduce my electric bill along with my heating bill.

One of the best places I’ve found to buy holiday lighting is from my partners at 1000bulbs.com. They have an amazing selection – make sure your buy the L.E.D. type – and always have what I’m looking for. They also have a great selection of plug -in timers so you can easily and automatically control when your holiday lights turn on and off.

In addition, they have an outstanding article about disposing of CFL bulbs. Many people are concerned about the small amount of mercury that is in CFL bulbs, but this article shows that it is insignificant, and even breaking one would only expose you to much less mercury than you might get by eating a tuna salad sandwich – and that’s not much! You should, as I have mentioned, always dispose of them properly – use the drop off point at your local home improvement store or check with your local recycling center. But the savings are well worth the effort! Read this great article here.

Many printers, especially the heavier duty units found in larger offices, have Duplex Printing capabilities built in. Simpler printers used in the home or in small offices may not have Duplex Printing directly available. It is easy, however, to print a multi-page document to both sides of the sheet. Different computers and different programs will have different ways to accomplish manual two-sided, Duplex Printing for printers without this feature — but even simple, inexpensive ink jet printers can do it.

At the heart of Duplex Printing with printers that do not have the function built in is to print the even numbered pages first, then flip the printed sheets over, reinsert them into the paper supply, and print the odd numbered pages. Caution here: you MUST print the even numbered pages first, and then the odd numbered pages or it doesn’t work. Experiment with a simple two-page document to get the hang of how to turn the paper, and once you have it down, you’ll start seeing the savings right away.
The Print Dialog screen is the place to set Duplex Printing. First, the printer dialog screen that comes from the Printer may have a Manual Duplex click box. You may have to click the Properties selection to access this dialog. If it does, select it and follow the instructions. If your printer driver does not have this feature, then look for a place to check Manual Duplex — then follow the instructions. Or there may be a box or drop down menu to select Print Even Pages and Print Odd Pages. To print the document two sided, select File>Print, then first select Print Even Pages and click Print. After the even pages have printed, flip the paper and place it back into the paper supply. File>Print again, but this time, select Print Odd Pages — and Print and you have a document correctly printed on both sides of the page — and you have cut your paper use in half.

The important thing is be your own “Energy and Resource Patrol” and always look for ways to save resources, energy, and money. It is good for the earth and good for your wallet.

Just turned on the heat for the winter – at least downstairs.  Haven’t turned it on upstairs yet.

With our oldest daughter now living away from home, and our youngest now in college, it changed the schedule of when we need heating, so I took the opportunity to reprogram the thermostat.  Because of the new schedule, I was able to cut out about 15 hours of heating, and I reduced some of the temperatures.  Save money – save energy … this is good.

Always look for opportunities to save energy and money as your life changes:

• Doing less laundry? Always was full loads and do it less often rather than reducing the water level.  It’s more efficient that way.
• When you cook, cook for leftovers so you use the stove less.  For instance, grill up extra pieces of chicken, then use the extras on salads later in the week.
• Maybe you only need one car now, so consider getting rid of one – LOTS of savings there!
• You probably don’t need to use as many lights as your children move out of the house – less lighting saves money and energy.
• If you don’t watch several televisions every day, unplug the unused ones to save the “phantom power” drain.  You can plug them back in when needed.
• Clock radio in your childs empty room?  Unplug it until they come home for vacations and holidays.
• Possibly turn off the heat in your childs room, also until they come home for vacations and holidays.
• Possibly you now use fewer dishes.  Use your dishwasher every other day rather than every day.  Always wash full loads.

The important thing is always think about energy use. You will save a great deal of energy, lower your utility bills, and reduce the resources needed to create that energy.  Even if you create electricity with your own wind and solar systems, if you use less doing day to day tasks, you will have more for other things.

The important thing is always think about energy use. You will save a great deal of energy, lower your utility bills, and reduce the resources needed to create that energy.  Even if you create electricity with your own wind and solar systems, if you use less doing day to day tasks, you will have more for other things.

For instance, dishwashers use a great deal of energy during the drying cycle.  Avoid the dry cycle and you save energy — and money.  The easiest way is to take advantage of the “Air-Dry” feature on newer dishwashers.  This will automatically end the cycle after the last rinse and pop open the door to let the dishes dry naturally.  If you have an older dishwasher without the air-dry feature, just open the door after the last rinse to stop the cycle and let the dishes dry.  This works best when you only have one load to do (which you should do in the late evening), but careful planning may let you do one load during the day, air dry it, then another load in the evening, and then air dry that load also.

For more energy saving tips – over 110 of them – take a look at Easy-Energy-Saving-Home.com.

As you combine these savings with compact flurorescent or L.E.D. bulbs  your energy savings – and the savings on your energy bills - will continue to grow.  (I have been changing over to CFL bulbs for years, and we now have more than 30 CFLs in our house.  I’ll continue to change them over until almost all of them are converted.  Because of the slow “coming up to full brilliance” of CFL bulbs, especially as they get older, you may find it desireable to leave a few bulbs as regular incandescent, but get as many over to CFL as you can.  You’ll save energy for the planet, and save on your utility bills. 

And if you are thinkng about how to add solar and wind power to your home, here is a great book.  I especially like this one because Michael shows you great sources for solar panels, generators, batteries, etc. and many of them are at very low or even NO cost – cool!

In case you think I am a tree hugging nut who believes Al Gore when he says New York will be under water shortly, I’m not.  I just advocate the efficient use of the world’s natural resources.  Consult the preamble to the U.S. constitution where is says, “… for ourselves and our posterity,” (emphasis mine).  We owe it to our children and their children to leave the world, hopefully, better than we found it.  This means using the most efficient transportation that is practical, and using as little energy as possible.  If each of us does as much as possible, it all adds up.  Don’t let the government regulate us to this – they’ll ruin it and our lives in the process - let’s do it ourselves!

Dan

• It provides critically needed help in a desparate part of the world.
• It is strikingly simple and inexpensive
• It saves lives, both directly and indirectly
• It is a solution that is very earth friendly.

So by all means, after you have read this great story, go to http://www.jewishworldwatch.org/refugeerelief/solarcookerproject.html, read a bit more and definitely contribute – I have.

It will be interesting to see if this concept is adapted to de-salinization.  What a great way to get clean fresh water!

Of course, the newer L.E.D. bulbs that are becoming avialable will be even more efficient, but installing CFLs now will start you saving money.  Then, several years down the road when the CFL bulbs wear out, you can start replacing them with L.E.D. bulbs.

Take a look here for some interesting insights and prices on CFL and L.E.D. bulbs so you can start saving money, and putting less strain on the earth’s natural resources.

Check it out: http://tinyurl.com/cbwbkm