Posts Tagged Save electricity
Turn on Zone II
Posted by dandavenport in CFL, Save electricity, compact fluorescent, save energy, save money on December 17th, 2009
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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.
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Save Money – Do Laundry in Cold Water
Posted by dandavenport in Outstanding Ideas!, Save electricity, save energy, save money on March 20th, 2009
Don’t know how many of you use cold water for your laundry… but you should. Most laundry detergents today work just fine in cold water, and you will save energy – therfore money - by not having to heat the water for your wash. For a family, this can really add up – and not heating the laundry water can really reduce your energy bills. By all means switch over. We did so long ago (maybe 20+ years), and I couldn’t even begin to tell you how much money we are saving this way – but I know it helps!
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