ENERGY BOOMER

Counting and Graphing to Save Energy Money

To really understand how you are doing you need to be able to count something and graph your progress. Do you track dollars spent on your electric bill each month and graph it? Most people and companies don’t.

The physical act of putting together a table of data and drawing up a graph forces you to think about what those numbers mean. Making a graph using either a computer or a pencil and graph paper makes you focus on the numbers.

The computer that you are using to read this is likely to have MS Excel already in it. Excel makes graphing easy as long as you let it have its way on some details.

If you don’t keep score, you don’t know if you are winning or losing

In business, folks are always counting stuff and tracking the results with graphs. I’ll bet one of the first things you learned to count was money.

Business folks count things like:

• Units sold per month
• Dollars earned per month
• Kilowatts used per month

Productivity numbers are also a favorite for calculating and graphing:

• Material cost per unit
• Labor cost per unit
• Kilowatts per unit

At home, most folks just glance at the little bar chart that is on the bill that they get in the mail. They are so focused on the dollars they owe; they don’t try to figure out why the bar on the graph is higher this time.

You need to ask some questions like:

• Was this month warmer or colder than the same month last year?
• Did we have house guests during the month?
• Were we away from home for a few days?
• What was different during the month?

You can feel good about your conservation work when you see the results on the bill after you changed to lighting that is more efficient.

Or, after adding insulation or completed other projects.

Home heating fuels can be tracked and graphed, but allowance needs to be made for weather changes. You can track your heating efficiency by figuring out how many cubic feet of gas you used per Heating Degree Day. Or, how many gallons of heating oil were used per HDD.

Similar tracking and graphing can be done with your water bill. Cubic feet of water per month, or gallons of water per person per month are possibilities. Or, just dollars per month. Everyone understands dollars.

After you decide which energy or water score’s you are going to keep track of, it is good to go back in history to reconstruct a year or more of data to establish a baseline. Then do things to improve your scores and track the results.

If you can show your boss energy money savings on a graph at work, you might even get to move your pay graph up a little.

Click here for a free money saving report written by the Energy Boomer titled HOW SAVE MONEY ON YOUR NEXT HEATING BILL

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30 Ways to Save Energy While You Are Away on Vacation

Summer is a great time for vacations. However, appliances and electronic devices in your home will waste money unless you shut them off.

By using a checklist, you can minimize energy wasted by your empty house. That will save you a few dollars for your vacation. 

 

1. Check to make sure the kitchen stove top is off
2. Check to make sure the oven is off
3. Look at each wall outlet and decide which items to unplug like the coffee maker, can opener and microwave
4. Turn all the water faucets off
5. If you have a chest freezer throw a couple of blankets or a quilt over it
6. If you are leaving for a short period, check the refrigerator thermostat setting, 38 degrees for the refrigerator, and 5 degrees for the freezer
7. For longer trips (such as four weeks or more), consider emptying your refrigerator and unplugging it.
8. In each bath room, shut all the water faucets off
9. Check to make sure the toilet is not running
10. Unplug the night-lights
11. Close the storm windows
12. Close the storm doors
13. Unplug your cell phone charger and pack it to go
14. Unplug the electric blanket from the wall outlet (We had a cat that would paw at the control until the blanket would come on)
15. I do not unplug electric clocks, but you can
16. In each room look at each wall outlet and decide which items to unplug
17. Leave the telephone adapter plugged in only if you have an answering machine that you want to work while you are gone
18. Turning off electronic devices is good to save energy, but remember digital displays, instant-on features, and remote controls use energy while not in use. Unplug most electronic devices while you are away. I do not unplug anything that requires extensive reprogramming like TV’s or cable boxes.
19. Do unplug other stuff like the stereo
20. In the laundry room make sure machines and lights are off
21. Shut off laundry tub faucets
22. If it will be above freezing, during the heating season shut the heat off.
23. If it will be below freezing, turn your thermostat down to the lowest setting plus two degrees. Some older thermostats would turn down to 55 so I’d set them at 57 to keep it off the low limit stop. Some digital thermostats will turn down to 45. Forty-five is the bare minimum for water pipe freeze protection. I suggest 47.
24. During hot weather turn your air conditioner off or set the thermostat to 85 degrees or higher.
25. If you have electric water heater with a tank, switch off the circuit breaker that sends power to your water heater.
26. If you have a natural gas water heater, I recommend that you dial down the temperature setting. First, use a permanent marker to mark where it is normally set. If you have an on demand tank-less water heater, you do not need to do anything.
27. If you have, “city” water shut the main supply valve off where it enters the house.
28. If you have your own water well, shut off the electric power to the pump. If you don’t, the pump will cycle on and off while you are gone just to keep the pressure up.
29. Turn off all lights in your home before you leave.
30. You may wish to maintain an outdoor or indoor light for nighttime security. Consider installing a lighting timer. That way the lights will only be on a few hours a day. Lights do help to make it appear as if someone is at home. The timer minimizes the energy used.

Build Your Own Checklist

This list is for our current home. It is not exactly right for your home. You need to start with this list and add to it or scratch out items to make your own list.

You save money when you use an energy shutdown checklist for your home. That way items are not forgotten during the last minute rush to get underway.

Use your checklist again when you return home. It will help you remember what needs to be turned back on.

 

Click this link for a SPECIAL REPORT: HOW TO SAVE MONEY ON AIR CONDITIONING

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6 WAYS TO SAVE ENERGY IN COLD WEATHER

The following is a short list of easy to do things that will help keep you comfortable while saving on your heating bill:

1. Replace or wash your furnace filter now. Even if you took care of your filter last month, now is the time to do it again.

2. Shut off the bathroom and kitchen exhaust fans off as soon as you can. When you push air out of your house cold outdoor air will get in to replace it.

3. Keep moisture in the house to make it feel warmer in the winter. Grow plants that you can water. Have a pet fish in an aquarium.

4. Boil water for a hot cup of coffee or hot cocoa. Hot cider tastes great this time of year. Cook soup, stew and casseroles in the winter for moisture and extra warmth without turning the thermostat up. A good pot of chili can warm you up in more than one way. I’ll help taste it.

5. Use ceiling fans to circulate warm air. They help to keep an even temperature in the house. Ceiling fans are very important where there are high ceilings. Hot air raises and cold air sinks down to where the people are unless you keep the air stirred up. Ceiling fans help a cold building warm up faster. Run them on their slowest speed because excessive air movement makes folks feel cooler.

6. Wear several thin layers of clothing to so you can adjust as the weather and your activity level changes. Does any one remember wearing sweaters, vests and smoking jacket?

The energy use of the average U.S. home creates almost twice the greenhouse gas emissions as the average car. This is mainly due to the emissions produced by power plants to generate the electricity used to run modern homes. It includes emissions from such things as oil and gas fired furnaces. Saving energy saves cash and reduces stress on the environment.

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SAVE ENERGY AND SAVE MONEY WITH AN ELECTRIC BLANKET

On cold winter nights, I really enjoy sliding between the sheets in a bed that has been preheated, using an electric blanket. Nice and toasty warm right from the start. How can you save money by spending money on the power for the blanket?

Saving money using an electric blanket is easy I just turn the thermostat down a couple more degrees and save by letting the furnace get some sleep too. Using a little energy right where we’ll be all night and avoiding using energy in the rest of the house will result in a net savings.

Yes, there is another factor that I need to mention. When we use an electric blanket, we make sure that it is well insulated. What you say, how do you insulate an electric blanket? That is easy, by hiding it under a quilt.

If the electric blanket has no insulation above it, at least half the heat you pay for goes upward into the room. What a waste. If you really want to stay warm and save money, turn the thermostat down extra low and add an extra blanket in the bed sandwich. But the extra blanket and quilt on top of the electric blanket to keep all the heat in the bed. Add a dog or two and you can turn the blanket off after the preheat job is done and stay warm all night.

You didn’t think you could keep the dogs off the bed after turning the thermostat down all the way did you?

If you do not like cold floors in the morning set your digital thermostat to bring the heat back up an hour before the alarm goes off. Using the digital thermostat to preheat the house is like using the electric blanket to preheat the bed. You get luxury comfort and save money too.

Click here for a selection of electric blankets

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HOW TO SAVE ENERGY; BY A 1970’s OIL EMBARGO SURVIVOR

Our friend Rebecca wrote this post. True to her Scottish heritage, she knows how to save money.

I grew up with the auto night-lights. After moving out on my own, I discovered the green or blue LED (I think they're LED) night lights. They are plenty powerful, even for folks with more limited sight. Think the package estimated you would spend 3 cents a year running them. I've got one for the laundry room and one each for the bathrooms. Only because there are no smoke detectors in those rooms. Our smoke detectors have a green light that is on all the time indicating battery status. Believe you me; those are bright enough to sew by when your eyes adjust to the darkness.

In previous apartments, I had to use the plastic sheeting to cover the windows. They work exceptionally well. Almost too well in one apartment. Toasty toes for everyone, no woolly lined slippers needed!!! There are kits for both inside and outside. I used only the inside ones. I also caulked around the front door and put carpet down to seal the space between the floor and bottom of the door. I caulked around the windows too. Just the sides and top. I have it on good authority not do the bottoms or at least one side because the house has to breathe.

Turning your computer completely off at night will help save electricity. Think I read somewhere that it still draws unnecessary energy even if it goes to sleep mode. Just like the new fangled stereo systems pull juice to 'be ready' when you turn it on. Oh yes, even the speakers on the computer will pull energy when the computer is turned off. When Andrew is gone for more than a day, I run around and turn everything off.

You may find this amusing; however, it's an energy saver nonetheless. I don't heat the bedroom in the winter. I absolutely LOVE seeing my breath in the air when I'm all hunkered down under the blankets. The registers are open during the air conditioning season only. In our new apartment, there are vents between rooms near the ceiling. I didn't realize last year that the air flows through as well as light. I'm going to put Saran Wrap or Reynolds Wrap over the one between in the frosty bedroom and living room. This will help prevent unnecessary furnace running.

Another way to help keep the heat in during the winter and the cold in during the summer is to purchase or have a crafty sewer make energy efficient curtains/shades. All the materials to make them can be purchased at the fabric store. My mom and I use old towels folded or rolled up to keep drafts coming in from the cold bedrooms and front and back doors. Fancy draft catchers can be purchased from a bunch of retail, on-line and mail-order stores.

Also, make sure the humans and various and sundry critters residing in the space are well hydrated. Keeping hydrated helps regulate your body temperature. Therefore, you can lower the thermostat and still be comfortable.

Last but not least, know what you're going to get from fridge before opening the door. Get everything you need at one time. Standing with the door open and trying to decide wastes energy. Because the fridge has to turn on again to bring the temperature down. Same with the freezer.

Make sure the doors close and seal before walking away (personal experience with a non-named party and his dad). When putting food back, open the door once and put everything away. In addition, I've heard the more you pack your freezer, even with jugs filled with water, will help it be more efficient. It doesn't have wasted space to try and cool. The opposite applies to the fridge.

Turning off lights when you leave a room is always wonderful. You can make it a habit if you want to.

Energy can be saved if you limit your trips in and out of the house. This may be trying when you have children, however, they can be trained. My sister and I were. When you're out, stay out unless you need to potty. Take water bottles and keep them outside for when you get thirsty.

These are things the nation did during the oil embargo. And they were very effective.

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REDUCE THE PAIN OF PEAK ENERGY BILLS

When my air conditioner stops running in the fall my electric bill drops very nicely. The problem is I know that when the chill of winter hits, my natural gas bill will feel the pain.

Some utility companies offer a budget plan to level out the ups and downs of your monthly bills due to seasonal changes. The idea is to make an estimate of your annual total and divide it equally among the 12 months.

Some folks do not like this plan. They feel that they loose flexibility and control.

Think about this plan.

My gas bill is low in the spring, summer and fall so if I over pay a few dollars then I will have prepaid for some gas to use this winter. By building up a surplus in my gas bill account, I can use it in January when my credit card bills are due for those extravagant Christmas presents.

My gas bill drops off in the spring but, I know my electric bill will shoot up in the mid summer air conditioning blitz. In the fall, winter and spring, I should over pay my electric bill to build up a surplus of prepaid electrical power to use in mid summer when my air conditioning bill goes sky high.

This plan lets you be flexible and over pay, what you can, when the energy bills are low and coast a little when the bills are high. I have not encountered a utility company that objected to being over paid.

It is a good flexible budget plan that you control. When your bill payment gets lost in the mail, the power company will not be mad because you are their best paying customer.

Click here for a selection of calculators

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HEAT TRANSFER FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW TO SAVE ENERGY

Heat transfer obeys natural laws just like water obeys the law of gravity. You cannot change these natural laws but, you can “do some work” to reduce your energy bills.

We all know that water flows down hill. If you want water to move up hill you have to “do some work” to get it there. If you do not want water to flow down hill you have to “do some work” to stop it like building a dam. “Doing some work” is like paying your energy bill because it causes some discomfort.

The first thing you need to know is that heat naturally flows from a hot area to a cold area.

Heat moves in three ways

One way heat moves is radiation. We all know that if we are exposed to direct solar radiation we can feel the heat from the sun flowing directly to us. The sun is very hot so the heat flows from the sun to the earth. Sunburn is the result of solar radiation.

The second method of heat movement is called conduction. Conduction describes heat moving through a solid. The handle of an iron fry pan gets hot by conduction. We insulate our house walls and attic to slow down the conduction of heat through the structure of the building.

Convection is the last type of heat transfer. Convention refers to moving heat by moving either air or a fluid that has been heated.

An example of convection that we use to heat our houses is a forced air furnace. The furnace heats air that is pushed through the house, by a blower, to heat up the house. This movement of warm air is an example of convection. Heat is carried, by the air, from the furnace to the house.

Convection can also work against us. An example is warm air flowing up a chimney that conveys heat out of a house in the winter.

In the summer, we have more heat than we want in our living spaces. We force heat to move the wrong way by taking heat out of our houses and putting it out in the hotter outdoors. This takes a large input of energy to accomplish because we are “doing some work” against the normal flow. It is like pushing water up hill, it takes a lot of energy.

In the summer our furnace fan, moves warm air to the cold coil inside the ductwork. This is convection, using air, to move the heat from hot to cold.

Energy Saving Action Items

Heat flows into our homes when it is hotter outdoors, than indoors. We can slow it down by shielding and insulating our house. Shielding and insulation is like building a dam to delay water from flowing down hill.

By shielding, I mean shade trees and radiant barriers like aluminum foil or special paint. Shielding that either blocks the sun or reflects radiant energy back where it was coming from stops the sun’s rays from heating our houses. Solar window screens act as partial sun blocks. Reflective radiant barrier materials act like a mirror and reflect or deflect radiant heat away from your house. Reflective film on windows works this way.

We want the solar radiation to hit our houses when it is cold outside in the winter. Planting trees that give summer shade and let the sun shine in during the winter are a natural way to have seasonal shielding.

The other way heat travels is by conduction through materials. Insulation acts like a speed bump slowing down the movement of heat through materials like roofs, ceilings, floors and walls. The more insulation you have the slower the heat moves. The R number rating on insulation materials indicates how well they resist the conductive flow of heat. The higher the R number the more it slows down the flow of heat. For more information on this read my articles about insulation.

We like convective heat transfer when warm air moves from the furnace through the house. We also like it when warm air moves from the house to the cold coil of the air conditioner. We do not like convection when it helps heat escape up the chimney, around windows, or under doors.

Saving energy means having high efficiency equipment to move heat only to where we want it to go. It also means doing the best possible job of blocking or slowing down the movement of heat where we do not want it to go.

Improving your home’s weather sealing, radiation shielding and insulation are some of the very best things you can do to reduce your energy bills.

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SAVE ENERGY WITH DUCT TAPE

I love the Red Green show because of the way Red uses, “the handyman’s secret weapon”. He uses duct tape to fix or make some of the wildest inventions seen on TV.

My wife would tell you that I fix everything with duct tape, but I do not use it on ducts.

Sheet metal ductwork is the main delivery system in most homes for winter heat and summer air conditioning. You would not drive down the highway with your money leaking out a hole in your gas tank. But, I’d bet you are leaking your money out of your ductwork somewhere.

At home, most of us ignore the idea that our money may be leaking out of out ducts. It is estimated (that means you can not prove me wrong) that as much as 25 to 30% of the air from your furnace goes the wrong place due to duct leaks. I find that hard to believe myself. Somebody out there must be using cheesecloth for ducts.

You may say, “big deal if it leaks it is leaking into the house so the energy is not really wasted”. You are right as long as it leaks into a part of the house that you want to heat or cool. If it leaks in your attic it is wasted. Do you really want to air condition your basement?

The real problem is that if some of your heated or air condition air gets misdirected you are misleading your thermostat. The furnace or central air conditioner would not have to run as long as it does if all the air went where it should go. Letting the energy loaded air escape, before it gets to where it should go, does cost you money. The leaks make the furnace or AC run longer in order to do their job in the rooms you live in.

Get yourself a roll of good duct tape the kind with shinny metal foil on one side and good sticky stuff on the other. Not the old fashion gray cloth duct tape that Red Green uses.

With the furnace fan running, start checking every joint in the sheet metal ductwork. If you feel any air escaping from the ductwork, stop it with a piece of tape. If you are not a touchy feely person just tape every joint that you can reach. Keep at it until the next episode of The Red Green Show comes on TV.

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TRAINED BAT LOCATES ENERGY LEAKS

We chased him until he had us cornered in the living room. He landed next to the chimney above a tall bookcase that was covered with glass heirlooms. I dare not attack him with the broom I had grabbed, for self-defense. Shielded by the glassware, our intruder clung to the wall.

Then he was gone. Like magic, he just disappeared as we both watched him. Without my eyeglasses, it looked to me like he had gone down behind the bookcase.

We ended up removing the breakables and books from the bookcase, moved it away from the wall. We searched every inch of the bookcase and walls. No bat. Nothing. On close examination, we found a dime size hole in the mortar on the side of the chimney where he had landed.

The first two or three times that we looked at the hole, we just knew it was too small to be an escape route. We continued our search. No bat and no other possible exit.

OK, that little hole must be it. I plugged the hole with epoxy putty while my wife sealed the glass fireplace doors with duct tape.

We slept with the bedroom door closed that night.

I spent a portion of the next day, flashlight in hand, examining every inch of the brickwork on the chimney. I discovered another little hole to plug. These bat passageways were also escape routes for heat to get out this winter. The well-trained energy detective bat showed us where heat was eluding capture.

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SUMMER SAVINGS

This post is from the Reduce Utility Bills blog by Jan Pavis from Arizona.

Running a household can be very expensive and with all of the utility bills, I have enough trouble coming up with my house payment!

Electricity can be rather expensive, especially in the summer. Here’s some ways to help you keep down the cost of the electric bills.

* Put the air conditioner fan on “auto” so it only runs part of the time. Fans in rooms that are being used is more efficient since they can be turned off when leaving the room.The fans don’t have to be fancy, a simple box fan will work to keep you cool and allow the thermostat be set a few degrees higher, which will save money.

* Turn off all the lights when not in use. If you have a porch light or a driveway light and you usually leave it on all night, turn it off. If all of your family members are in the house at night there is no need to have these on all night. If it’s needed for security, change to a motion sensitive light, it will be worth the cost and often can be installed yourself.

* With the days longer, the lights don’t need to be on as long. Timers on outside lights set to turn off lights at dawn are helpful in reducing utility bills.

* Don’t leave the air conditioner running all day. Some people leave the air on all day so when they get home from work the house will be nice and cold. Instead use a timer and set the timer for a half an hour before you get home and your home will be cool by the time you get there. Don’t have the air conditioner all the way off because it will have to work too hard to reach the desired temperature. It can be set considerably lower than when people are in the house though to save money.

To reduce your utility bills, you may need to revise your comfort levels.

Click here for a free money saving report titled HOW SAVE MONEY ON YOUR NEXT HEATING BILL

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HOW MUCH PAY BACK WILL I GET WHEN I BUY AN ENERGY SAVING PRODUCT?

Most folks expect to have a fantastic return on their investment when they spend their money in things that save energy. They don’t complain when the checking account only earns 1/10%. They don’t complain when their savings account only pays 1.5%. They sure squawk if their new air conditioner only earns a 20% return on their investment. Business managers that make decisions to invest money usually look at Return On Investment (ROI), the pay back time, or some other more complex measure. They are asking the question, “If we borrow the money to pay for this, will it pay back the loan and make a reasonable profit?”

3 Ways homeowners can look at spending for saving energy.

1. If I buy this item with my credit card, will it pay for itself? Will the monthly savings pay the credit card interest payment plus some? If the monthly savings will be 5% of the purchase price, it will pay for itself in about two years. If not, do not buy it by borrowing with a credit card.

2. If you have the cash to buy it already in your pocket, check the return on investment. Divide the expected annual saving by the purchase cost. This will give you the gross percentage that your investment will earn. My 401K earns about 8%. More risky investments earn more. What percentage return is reasonable to you?

Investing in energy saving equipment is a very low risk investment. Energy prices are not expected to go down. As energy prices go up over the next few years, your pay off from investing in energy savings now will be even better.

With a 20% ROI, your investment will pay for itself in about 5 years. The question becomes, will it pay you back before it wears out or becomes obsolete?

1. Budget minded folks focus on their monthly payments. Many people will buy a car based solely on the question, “can I afford to make the monthly payment?” It may take five years to own it, but that is what they do.

They should look at the buying a new central air conditioner, heat pump, or furnace the same way. Will the savings pay off the monthly installment payment so I will own it, free and clear, in five years?

Five years is a reasonable pay back time for major items that will last for 20 years or more. Too bad your car will not last that long.

Click here for a free money saving report titled HOW SAVE MONEY ON YOUR NEXT HEATING BILL

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SAVING ENERGY IS SO EASY EVEN A TODDLER CAN DO IT

My 18-month-old grandson has learned a new trick. If the TV show is not one of his favorites, he toddles over to the set and pushes the power off button. He then picks up one of his favorite books and hits one of his parents with it. That is good non-verbal communication for a little guy.

If an eighteen month old can figure out the off switch, we adults should be able to find it too. For adults it is usually a matter of, if we think about it, we switch the power off.

If I put a quarter in the bank each time that I have forgotten to switch something off, I could buy a new car with the energy savings and all those quarters. At least I could make a down payment on one.

Maybe I should put a parking meter by my home computer. If I had to feed the meter every time I used the computer for half hour, I would be rich.

I like the idea of those twist the timer switches like you see on the heat lamps in motel bathrooms. If we had those on the cooling fans at work, they would time out after a half hour until someone gave them another twist.

Installing excess equipment to act when we forget costs money, at work and at home. It is better to rely on good folks doing the right thing.

Switching off the power off when it is not needed saves cash and helps the environment by saving a lump of coal at the power plant.

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