Can you easily reduce your energy use painlessly and at modest upfront cost?
The biggest bang for the buck is replacing incandescent lights with Compact fluorescent and/or LED
(The color is now much better on CFL’s and they have CFL dimmer bulbs. Use LED outside, they are incredibly low energy consumption but not the nicest color temperature to look at. If you have 20 light bulbs, on for many hours, just doing this could cut your bill in half.
Energy Efficient Appliances: Old Refrigerators, Old TV’s, Old Air Conditioners use a ton of power costing more over the long run than replacing them. The old refrigerator in the garage with a siz pack. Ouch. Costing a bundle. Better to get rid of it (sometimes your local power company will pick it up and pay you a rebate if you buy a new one. Get a used on on CL that’s newer. Keep your refrigerator full, The power comes from cycling on and off and when there’s cold food in there it stays cold longer and uses less power.
Home insulation. Attic insulation. Wall insulation. Floor insulation. Weatherizing doors and windows. Caulking drafts. Of course new windows are more efficient and there have been some rebates but the rebates are disappearing. Insulate!!! That’s not that expensive and pays back fast.
Plug TY’s and Stereos into power strips and turn them off when you’re not in the room. Turn lights off when you leave the room or get motion sensor switches to do that automatically.
Walk (better exercise than the gym)
Ride your bike (get some sunshine when you exercise)
Ride share (Spend more time with friends and co-workers in a relaxed environment and split cost of gas)
Use public transportation (that’s always and adventure in people watching and some buses hold bikes)
Make your next car Smaller, a Hybrid, a Chevy Volt
Solar Panels and Residential Wind turbines may cost less than you realize. Get a quote. Do some research on you tube and watch and hear others experiences to educate yourself. If you’re serious get 3 quotes.
Name some other ideas… this is a start…
I have a solar water heating system that will hopefully make it through another hurricane season. All bets are off.
I have all energy and water efficient appliances, but it’s a slippery slope. In order to get my clothing as clean as they should be, I need to run the washer for longer than my old one. So, do I save water or energy?
We also sprayed soy foam insulation in our rafters. That reduced our costs significantly.
I walk daily, but the grocery store is 4 miles away and it’s darned hot here!