ENERGY BOOMER

Using Gadgets and Staying Green – Do Both!

This is a guest written article from my friends at Price Pirate. I’ll add my Energy Boomer comments to it at the bottom.

In a world where technology drives everything from entertainment to commerce, it is difficult to get people thinking about the environmental impact of such a world. Almost every person has a cell phone, not to mention a myriad of other gadgets, from iPods to gaming systems and larger gadgets: microwaves, home appliances and televisions, even cars.

Many of these electronic gadgets are produced using potentially damaging chemicals and often environmentally un-friendly manufacturing practices. Of course you can't withdraw from the world of technology altogether.

How do you make informed decisions when buying gadgets? All it takes is a little forethought and upkeep.

• Research. Many manufacturers are constantly improving their methods in order to contribute to environmental efforts and reduce their carbon footprints. The Internet is a valuable tool for this. Try to find a third-party site such as watchdogs Greenpeace who often publish lists on their website praising those who've made a proper effort. Making this a major priority when buying gadgets is relatively easy as you'll often find the most cutting-edge technology is made by the most green-aware companies.
• Recharge. From Gameboys to remote controls, everything needs batteries. If your gadget comes with its own rechargeable battery, that's great. If not, invest in some rechargeable batteries. They reduce landfill waste and will also save you money.
• Recycle. Many phone companies run campaigns to allow people to recycle their old cell phones. The materials are then collected and used again. Old computers can also be recycled. Find out when upcoming drives to recycle electronics will be held and gather your gadgets (and your friends').
• Be Responsible. Before heading out to buy that latest updated gadget, question your needs. Manufacturers stagger their products simply so people will feel the need to buy a new one every six months. If your phone still works, why do you need it replaced? Old appliances will often outlast their younger, flashier competitors. Many microwaves bought in the 1980s are still working today, as are gaming consoles.
• Turn it off. There is no greater waste than the steady leak of energy that occurs when appliances are all switched on and nobody's using them. It takes a fraction of a second before and after you use an appliance to flick the switch and unplug it. This will save you a surprising amount of energy, not to mention money.

Nothing will solve the problem completely, but by making informed decisions and thinking about your purchases and the use of your gadgets, you can do a lot more for the environment than you have been. The amount of money you'll save is an added bonus.

Comments from the Energy Boomer:

Keeping appliances many years can be a two edged sword. Yes you get your monies worth if you use some appliances for many years. Our 1987 vintage Amana microwave oven is just now starting to fail. It was a very good investment.

My cell phone is almost 7 years old. It still places and receives phone calls just find so I don’t have any reason to replace it.

On the other hand some appliances have greatly improved in energy efficiency over the years. Refrigerators are an example.

 Refrigerators used to be one of a home’s biggest energy users. But, improvements in refrigeration technology mean that they use less energy than a big screen TV.

Recycling an old refrigerator and getting a new one is a good investment.

Turning any appliance all the way off when it is not being used will always save money on your energy bill.

This is a guest written article from my friends at Price Pirate. I’ll add my Energy Boomer comments to it at the bottom.

Save Money by Using Energy Just Where You Need it

One of the key principles for saving money is to focus energy just where you need it. The best way to understand this principle is by looking at some examples.

Put Heat Just Where People Need it

You can save money on your home heating bill by heating just the rooms you use. The reason we heat our homes is to keep people comfortable so putting the heat just where people are will reduce waste.

We don’t heat the garage because people don’t spend much time there. If you are working on your car, it is a good idea to use a portable heater. But, heat it just while you are working there.

Inside the house you can save by keeping the rooms that you use the most warmer and letting the rest cool off. Using a space heater to keep the family room a warm 72 while the rest of the house is at a cool 65 is an example of this. (This will work only if the main thermostat is not in the warm room.)

At night when folks are in the in bed for eight hours or so, you should focus energy just on the bed. Using an electric blanket, electric mattress pad or a warm quilt to keep people warm will let you save money by turning your thermostat way down.

At work, office areas should be heated to the 69 to 73 temperature range, but factory work areas can be cooler. 66 degrees is a comfortable working temperature where there is physical activity. Overnight, unoccupied areas should be allowed to cool off. 

Air Condition people not things

Avoid air conditioning empty rooms to save money. If you have a spare bedroom, don’t cool it.

If no one is home don’t cool an empty house. The same idea works at work. If your office is unoccupied over the weekend don’t waste energy heating or cooling it. Your fax machine doesn’t care about the temperature.

Focus the Light on the Job to be Done

Reading lamps are the classic example of using light just where needed. Task lights allow us to put enough light where it is needed without over lighting the whole room.

Another at home example is in the kitchen. We need plenty of light over the stove and where food is being prepared. We don’t need as much light where the trash can is located.

We want good light in the dining area but less light is needed in hallways. A lamp right next to your favorite chair helps you read the newspaper, but it can be switched off when you watch TV.

At work we need really good light at quality inspection areas. We don’t need that high intensity light in the traffic aisles. Task lighting saves money by tailoring the amount of illumination based on the work to be done in that area.

If you understand and apply the idea of focusing energy just where you need it you can save money of your utility bills.

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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Energy Awareness Month Humorous Energy Saving Idea Contest

CONTEST IS OVER

October is Energy Awareness Month here in the USA. Were you aware of that?  To celebrate the Energy Boomer is having a humorous energy saving idea contest.

Energy Awareness Month is a program from the US Department of Energy to put out posters and do some public relations stuff to promote saving energy. Once again, your tax money is hard at work for you.

During energy awareness month, some work places run a contest to see how many energy saving ideas their employees can come up with. For prizes, they raffle off a gasoline card, CFL light bulbs or other energy related items.

Sometimes real money saving, carbon foot print cutting, ideas come to light that may help keep your job in business.

Energy Boomer Humorous Energy Saving Idea Contest

I have accumulated a couple of expensive LED light bulbs (GeoBulb and ZetaLux) and a Black & Decker Lights Out AutoSwitch that I am going to give away as prizes. The prizes are items that I tested before writing review articles about them.

To enter, just leave your idea in a comment on this blog post. You will find the comment button in pale print at the bottom of this blog post.

The winning suggestions will be selected based on two things. First, how funny they are. Second how much energy they might actually save. The contest will close October 23, 2009. The three winners will be notified by email by the end of the month. They will get one prize each.

Here are a few example ideas:

• Coin operated switch to power your computer.
• Timer hot water valve on shower, take too long and you get a cold rinse.
• Coin operated switch to power your TV.
• Use motion detector to turn off office computer when worker falls asleep on the job.

Humor and energy savings count. In our contest fantasy world, the cost to implement the idea does not count.

What Everyone Ought to Know About Energy Tax Credits

You can still get $1,500, from the government, for saving energy. Cash for clunkers is over, but there are tax credits available for saving on your energy bills.

Folks can get free money from Uncle Sam for investing in home energy savings projects. It isn’t cash in hand money, but tax credits are work just like money on April 15^th.

If you buy new energy saving doors, windows or insulation you can get a tax credit of 30% of the cost of the materials. You cannot get a tax credit for the cost of installing. The credit is for the purchase of the materials only.

Here is a partial list of item that you can invest in to get the tax credit:

·        Storm Doors

·        Replacement exterior doors

·        Replacement windows

·        Storm Windows

·        Insulation

·        Skylights

·        Biomass stoves

·        Whole house fans

·        Solar water heaters

·        Solar cell systems

·        Home wind turbines

·        High efficiency furnaces

·        Heat pumps

·        High efficiency central air conditioning

About Tax Credits
A tax credit is generally more valuable than an equivalent tax deduction because a tax credit reduces tax dollar-for-dollar, while a deduction only removes a percentage of the tax that is owed. Consumers can itemize purchases on their federal income tax form, which will lower the total amount of tax they owe the government.

Check this government web site for more information.

Tax Credits for Windows, Doors, and Skylights

Federal Tax Credits

On February 17, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009. This bill extends and modifies the tax credits for windows, doors, and skylights established in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The following guidance is not intended as legal advice, and you should consult a tax professional with specific questions.

Qualifying products purchased between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010 are eligible for a tax credit equal to 30 percent of the product cost. Installation is not included; be sure to obtain an itemized invoice from your retailer or installer. The maximum amount of homeowner credit for all improvements combined (including roofing, insulation, HVAC, and water heaters) is $1,500 during 2009 and 2010.

Documentation hoops you need to jump through

You need a receipt that shows the cost of the materials. The material cost must be separate from the cost of installing the items purchased. The date you bought the items needs to be legible.

For major items, you also need to document the date of installation in order to meet all the requirements.

Homeowners must obtain a manufacturer certification statement to document window, door, or skylight eligibility for the tax credit. If the retailer or installer cannot provide this document, it may be available on the manufacturer's Web site.

Here is a link to a good article from Ohio Edison that helped me know more about these tax credits.

The program also includes big-ticket items like high efficiency furnaces, heat pumps, and biomass fuel heating equipment. The tax credit for some big-ticket items is not capped at $1,500.

I suggest you get quotes and manufacturer certification statements first. With that information in hand, then get advice from your tax professional, before you spend your money.

The tax credit boosts the return on your investment.  It is like getting paid to do things to cut your energy bills that you should do anyway.

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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Information Sources for Saving Energy

This is a quick review of internet information resources for saving money on energy bills that I recommend. There are a lot of blogs sites out there that are promoting energy savings for environmental reasons. But, there are not very many blogs that are focused on helping folks saving their money on utility bills.

My friend, Jan Pavis writes the Reduce Utility Bills blog. She writes about home energy saving topics from her own experience.

Another friend John Westenhaver writes the Energy Watcher blog. He provides an interesting mixture of energy saving tips, energy related news and tracks the cost of energy that impacts his life in the Southern USA

My biggest competition in on-line energy information use the Federal and State governments, major utility companies and a few large companies.

I recommend that your look up web sites for your local utility companies. Your electricity supplier may have valuable information about the way your electric bill is calculated.

The same thing goes for natural gas and water suppliers where you live.

Some state governments have web pages that provide useful information on how to save money on your energy bills.

Both the US Department of Energy and EPA have several sites that give good information for home use. I use their Energy Information Administration web site to research information for my day job.

The Energy Hog web site for children is a fun way to teach your children about saving energy.

Another one for children is the Energy Star for Kids page.

Here is the link to the best page of the EPA’s Energy Star sites for home energy savings.

There are some good corporate web site that are also good sources of information. One of the best is the Owens Coring Company’s site.

ENERGY COST OF CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS

Outdoor inflatable yard decorations are popular. They range from a simple blow-up cartoon character to an 8-foot tall globe with rotating internal figures. Some even have re-circulated "snow" and lights.

A large, static snow globe consumes about 150 watts, while a rotating carousel consumes around 200 watts. For a 3-month season, 16 hours per day, the total electricity cost would be $22 - $30 for one of these inflatable yard displays.

That is on the assumption that folks will want to keep the display inflated during daylight hours, but not all night.  If you keep it on 24 hours, a day the cost for three months would be in the $30 to $40 dollar range.

 

Strings of Lights Can Cost More

If you are using some of the old traditional colored lights, you will find that they use about 10 Watts per bulb. A 25-bulb string of these lights burning 150 hours a month (5 hours per day) would use 37.5 kWh a month (25 x 10 W x 150 hrs).

To calculate electricity cost, multiply your kWh usage per string by the number of strings. Then multiply by your rate. For example, a customer whose residential rate was $0.10 per kWh would pay $37.50 a month to operate 10 strings of these lights.

That is as much energy cost in one month as the big inflatable costs in three months!

Remember that is for 5 hours a day only. If you left them on 24 hours a day, the cost goes up and the bulbs burn out quicker.

 

Mini Lights Save Energy and Money

Miniature lights are now the standard for outside decorative lighting. The average miniature light uses 4 tenths of a Watt per bulb. One string of 100 miniature bulbs would only use 6 kWh per month (100 x 0.4 W x 150 hrs).

Ten sets of these lights operating five hours a day at $0.10 per kWh would cost $6.00 per month. If they were left on 24 hours a day, the energy cost would be $29 a month.

If you use the popular icicle lights, you know that a string of icicle lights with 100 bulbs will cover a much shorter distance than a straight string of miniature lights. They use the same amount of energy per bulb as the straight strings do.

 

LED Lights Save More Energy and Money in the Long Run

The new light emitting diode (LED) holiday lights use only 4 hunderedths of a  Watt per bulb. That is 1/10 the amount of miniature bulbs. These bulbs are more durable, due to their solid-state construction, and safer, because they are difficult to break and run "cooler." Cooler means they are less of a fire risk.

Ten sets of 100 of these LED bulbs would cost $0.60 per month to operate five hours a day. That is under $3 a month if they are on 24 hours a day. A big energy cost savings.

Initially, LEDs cost about three times as much for the same string of bulbs as miniature lights. However, the lifetime cost of the LED Christmas lights is less than the mini lights. For some folks the energy savings makes the switch to LED’s right now worth the high upfront cost.

 

The Energy Boomer’s Recommendations

-My recommendation is to use the miniature lights that you have. When they burn out replace them with LED’s. If you are adding more lights or just starting out, I suggest that you get the LED’s.

-Try not to step on them while you are putting them up.

-I recommend that the old, 2 inch high or bigger, traditional colored light bulbs NOT be used. If you still have strings of them, they are likely getting old.

-As they age, the insulation on the wires may crack, causing a safety hazard. These old hot running lights are also more of a fire hazard when next to dry pine needles.

-Use an outdoor appliance timer to control your decorations. That way you will not forget to switch them off to save energy. Make sure that the timer has a 15-amp capacity.

-If your lights and inflatable decorations are going to be used outdoors, make sure that all the light strings and power cords are labeled for outdoor use.

 

Please have your lights on so I can see them during my before dawn drive to work. I need a cheerful boost to start my day.

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

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Tax Credit for Home Energy Improvements is Back for 2009

On October 3, 2008, President Bush signed into law the “Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.” This bill extended tax credits for energy efficient home improvements (windows, doors, roofs, insulation, HVAC, and non-solar water heaters). Tax credits for these residential products, which had expired at the end of 2007, will now be available for improvements made during 2009.

Improvements made during 2008 are not eligible for a tax credit.

The bill also extended tax credits for solar energy systems and fuel cells to 2016. New tax credits were established for small wind energy systems and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Tax credits for builders of new energy efficient homes and tax deductions for owners and designers of energy efficient commercial buildings were also extended.

If you are thinking of adding attic insulation or replacing you old furnace 2009 looks like a good year to do it.

For more information go to the Energy Star web site.

HOW DOES RECYCLING SAVE ME MONEY?

Some folks are asking the question of, “what’s in it for me when I recycle?”

The truth is that recycling does not save an individual much up front money. Some folks get their cash deposit back when they turn in beverage bottles and cans on a government-mandated program. Michigan has such a program; other states like Ohio do not.

We do save money when we recycle some items within our household. At our house, we save shipping boxes that might be the right size for sending stuff to the grand kids. That way we do not have to buy boxes to ship the next batch of books and stuffed animals. That saves us money and box shopping time.

Who saves real money by recycling?

The real savings from recycling goes to manufactures and they pass it on to their customers as lower prices. Using recycled material also lowers the stress on the environment compared to making products from raw materials. Recycling lowers the raw material and energy costs of making products so they can be sold at lower prices in stores.

Here are some examples:

Recycling aluminum reduces the amount of energy needed by 95% compared to smelting it from the raw ore. We see the benefit as a lower price for a can of our favorite beverage. The savings per can is small so we don’t take notice that it comes from recycling.

That energy savings is very significant to the manufacturer. It also means less coal needs to be burned to make the electricity used in processing the raw ore into aluminum. Recycling aluminum keeps the price of aluminum products down at the store. Aluminum cookware, foil and cans would all cost more if we didn’t recycle.

Other metals such as copper, iron and steel all can be recycled to reduce pollution and save money. Scrap metal dealers will trade cash for metal that can be recycled. GM gets good money for all the scrap steel and other metals that are recycled. As part of the job, we need to sort each type of metal and collect every piece to get the maximum savings from recycling metal.

Recycling plastics reduces the amount of energy needed by 70% compared to making it from raw materials. Milk jugs, pop bottles and other plastic items can be remade and a lower cost and reduced environmental impact by recycling. Individuals don’t make money recycling plastic but you can help to keep prices at the stores down and reduce the stress on the environment by recycling.

Recycling plastic also reduces the amount of oil used to make it. When the price of oils goes up the price of plastic goes up, unless it is made from recycled material. When you recycle plastic, you are helping to hold the price of gasoline down. Think about that next time you fill up.

Recycling paper reduces the amount of energy needed by 60% compared to making it from raw materials. Making new paper from recycled paper is far less expensive than making it from trees. Sorting and collecting office paper helps us to get the most benefit from recycling paper. The pay off is a lower price for office supplies when more paper is needed.

Glass is a problem. Recycling glass can save 30% of the energy used in making new glass from sand, but an extra step is needed. The recycled glass can only be used if it is sorted for color. Green glass, brown glass and clear glass cannot be mixed if the color of the recycled glass product is to be right.

The sorting of glass bottles by color can only be done by people and paying folks to sort glass makes it too expensive. Glass bottle manufacturers recycle glass from sources where they can rely on getting the right color. Most of the glass that is recycled comes from bottles and it is used to make more bottles.

Recycling Some of the Energy

The energy that is tied up in the trash can be reclaimed. There is good fuel value in most trash. An example is oil soaked rags and other oily waste can be used as fuel by companies that make cement. When they burn trash, it means that they use less natural gas or coal. Using trash for part of their fuel needs saves fuel for other uses, like heating homes.

Some electric power generation plants have been built with the ability to burn a mixture of trash and coal.

A good deal for all of us.

Recycling may not put money in your pocket right away, but it does save your money when you go shopping. Recycling is a big help for the environment and for conservation of resources.

You benefit from recycling by: • Lower prices when you shop • By reducing pollution • By saving natural resources.

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

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Earth Hour Money Saving Event

I received an email asking me to save money on my electric bill Saturday evening. Maybe you got one that reads like this:

The Climate Savers Computing Initiative would like to invite you to "click on, then click off" during the World Wildlife Fund's Earth Hour event on Sat., March 29.

During Earth Hour, participants in cities around the world will turn off their lights for one hour between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. local time. Individuals can sign up to participate and make a commitment to reducing energy consumption in the year ahead at EarthHour.org.

During Earth Hour, the Climate Savers Computing Initiative is also encouraging individuals to "click on" computer power management features, then "click off" (power down) their computers for the remainder of the hour.

With a few mouse clicks, your computer can be set to automatically go to "sleep" when it's not in use, which can save nearly half a ton of CO2 and over $60 a year in energy costs.

To learn how to turn on computer power management, visit www.climatesaverscomputing.org/tools/pwr_mgmt.html.

I want you to know that I did not write those super long sentences above. I ran out of energy just reading them.

I don’t spend $60 a year in power for my little computer, but maybe some folks do. It would take me 20,000 hours of use on my laptop to spend $60 at my home electric rate. I can’t save what I don’t spend.

It would take over 3,330 hours on my big office computer to cost $60 at 12 cents a kilowatt-hour.

They must assume that everyone has a big old monitor and normally leave their computer on 24 hours a day. Maybe they should change their ways and shut theirs off with a kill switch on a power strip.

Saturday night, for Earth Hour at our house, we will pollute the air by burning candles and by having a fire in the fireplace. Maybe my wife will beat me playing gin rummy. She always wins since I taught her how to play.

We could drive out to the movie theater, but that would be a waste of gasoline and time. I’ll bet the movie projector uses more power than my lights and computer combined.

With our budget perhaps a free DVD from the local library for the TV set and some home made popcorn would be in keeping with the spirit of the event.

What are you going to do for the Earth Hour Event?

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Tag Team; Energy Conservation and Higher Energy Efficiency

Let’s look at the two by using a story to show the difference between conservation and efficiency improvement.

A young boy was given the job of watering the family vegetable garden every day. His job was to put two full buckets of water on the garden so the vegetables would grow. The deal was once he finished his watering chore he could play until lunchtime.

He would walk 100 yards down to the river, fill the bucket, and walk back up hill to the garden. By the time he got to the garden, half the water leaked out of his bucket. To get two full buckets of water up to the garden he had to make four trips.

Conservation is eliminating the waste. By fixing the leak in the bucket, the boy was able to finish his chore by making only two trips from the river to the garden. That made a big boost in the boy’s playtime.

The boy’s grandfather gave him a second bucket and showed him how to carry two at a time by hanging the two full buckets from a yoke that fit over his shoulders. With two good buckets, he could complete his chore in one trip from the river up to the garden. That improved his efficiency.

The improved efficiency increased the amount of playtime for the boy even more. But, notice that improved efficiency took knowledge (grandfathers are the smartest folks I know) and an investment in equipment. The new equipment included a second bucket and the yoke to easily carry the two full buckets.

Reducing energy waste and increasing energy efficiency are both needed to be competitive in world markets. The difference is; each of us can take action to stop energy waste right now through conservation.

Conservation does not take major resources to fix whatever is wasting energy. Be a part of the effort to stop waste now. Shut off equipment when the job is done. Switch off the lights when you can. When you see energy waste, take action to get it fixed.

Investing in higher energy efficiency can and should be done but, expect it to take time. Pulling together the needed knowledge takes time. Pulling together money and other resources, to get the job done, takes more time.

Quick action through conservation gets quick results.

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THE ENERGY BOOMER IS ONE YEAR OLD

The Energy Boomer is celebrating its first full year of blogging. I started a year ago not knowing anything about blogs or how they work and now I feel that I have accomplished something useful.

It has cost very little money to get started, but it has replaced several hobbies by swallowing up all my free time.

There are now over 180 energy saving articles available with out charge for your reading pleasure.

There are over 100 RSS subscribers and there are over 130 of you wonderful folks receiving a weekly newsletter.

The record for one-day page views was 2,200 when my wife wrote the “Energy Lessons Learned from a Cat” article.

Yes, she beat my best record.

Energy Boomer has a Page Rank of 4 in a market where my competitors are huge.

When it comes to web sites that are publishing energy saving information that folks can use to save money I am competing with the U. S. Department of Energy, state government web sites and web sites for some large corporations like Owens Corning and major utility companies. Plus, there are some great blogs focused on the same topic.

Looking at the Year Ahead

I plan to write one or two articles a week on the blog, plus the newsletter.

I also intend to complete and sell a Special Report on Saving Money by Saving Energy During Air Conditioning Season.

Next will be a Special Report for Saving Money During the Heating Season.

Followed by a Do It Yourself Guide for Home energy Audits.

That is a lot considering I work full time on my Day Job.

Thank you all for your interest and support.

Your outstanding response keeps me going.

I love fan mail. I just wish that I had time to do a better job of interacting with all my readers.

I do appreciate all your emails and comments. I will respond to as many of them as I can.

Please share your ideas, energy saving success stories and ask questions. They make me think and that is why I am blogging.

Thank you

Birney Summers

Daylight Savings Time is not for saving energy

Daylight Saving Time was used during WWI, WWII and the 1970’s oil crisis to reduce the use of oil. It worked then, but times have changed. The energy load from air conditioners has grown to be a bigger part of the national energy pie.

A reduction in energy used for lighting is more that offset by an increase in air conditioning usage when we shift our clocks to DST.

When the recent extension of Daylight Saving Time was proposed, lawmakers noted; energy savings, less crime, fewer traffic fatalities, more recreation time and increased economic activity with the extra sunlight in the evening.

A study of electric bills in Southern Indiana showed electric usage went up when daylight savings time was used in parts of the state where it had not been used before.

It is the Economy Stupid

People really do buy more goods after work when they are given more daylight to shop in. Industries that rely on evening activity such as golf and the barbecue industry benefit from daylight savings time.

Daylight saving time promotes sales of charcoal briquettes, oil based “starter fluid” and gas grills. Cooking outdoors does reduce the home air conditioning load, but that is not why we do it.

Oil companies profit from daylight saving time because it leads to more leisure evening driving. This uses more imported oil not less.

A study by the RAND Corp. analyzing 28 years of crash data found that in the weeks after springing forward, there was an 8 percent to 11 percent drop in traffic accidents involving pedestrians and a 6 percent to 10 percent drop in vehicular crashes.

There are more traffic accidents in the morning with DST, but they are more than compensated for by a bigger decrease in accidents in the evenings because of the delay in darkness. The delay in darkness results in more, but safer, evening traffic headed to the shopping Mall.

A few small studies have found some reductions in crime. Criminals do not usually get up early in the morning, regardless of time of year. People feel safer and are safer when they are walking to their car in the daylight.

Does it save energy when folks leave their over heated houses to go shopping in the evening? It may save electricity but more gasoline is used.

Facts if life

1. Extended Daylight Savings Time results in more economic activity.
2. Government revenue goes up by taxing that economic activity.
3. Government controls the time of day, so we have extended DST.

The Global War on Terror is not why we are on extended Daylight Savings Time; the economy is why we have extended DST.

The U. S. Military is at war, but Americans are at the shopping Mall.

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Do Not Forget To Apply for Your Energy Tax Credit

Just as I was starting to work on my income taxes, this reminder arrived from my friend and fellow energy engineer, Jim Cartwright. The Tax Credit that he speaks of is a US home energy efficiency improvement tax credit program that ended at the end of calendar year 2007.

To get the tax credit you had to have spent the money and installed the energy saving hardware by December 31, 2007.

Here is his note:

Here is a way to save some money on your taxes along with the money you save on your home energy bills. Did you add insulation in your house last year? How about new storm doors, or new windows? Maybe a new furnace or geothermal heat pump? If so, you can reduce the amount of taxes you owe or get more money back from Uncle Sam.

At my house, we put in two new energy efficient patio doors (both Pella); two new storm doors, and a 97% efficient propane furnace. The new doors have really helped cut down the cold air that was coming in.

All of these improvements are a great value. First, they save energy. Second, they increase the value of the house. And, best of all, they all qualify for tax credits on my U S federal taxes.

So what if you don't itemize? It doesn't make any difference. These are credits off your taxes, not deductions from your income. You can get them even if you take the standard deduction. Just get a copy of form 5695 - Residential Energy Credits. It is simple to fill out and only takes a few minutes.

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Energy Lessons Learned from a Dog

By Lorraine Summers

Over our married life of 38 years, we have been privileged to own four wonderful dogs. Only one of them, our Brittany named Sandy, wanted to snuggle up in bed with us.

Oh, she was content to stretch out on the carpet in the same room with us, or lay on the floor in front of the fan in the summer. But, as the weather grew colder, she had two interesting traits.

She loved to romp in the snow with our children, but when her feet got cold, with ice sticking to her fur, in she would come in and find a steam radiator to lie next to.

Yes, in our big house up north we had a real steam heating system complete with hissing and banging radiators. It was wonderful.

Sandy would stick her feet under the hot radiator until her feet had warmed up. Please do not expect her to move out of the way this was HER SPOT!

On very cold nights, she would sneak over by the foot of our bed until she thought we were both asleep. Then she would put one paw tentatively on the bed.

If I did not move or sigh, she would soon have a second paw up on the bed. But, if I moved, back would go both feet to the rug. Then she would start all over, when she finally figured it was safe, up she would come and get on top of the covers between us.

Now the dog was no dummy, she would stretch out, length wise, her back to mine and her paws against Birney’s back. OK not so bad, but then she would push with all four of her powerful legs. Soon all our blankets would be around her in a cozy nest.

So, she ended up nice and warm and we ended up with only 2 inches on each edge of the mattress, and only a corner of the sheet or blanket. Not very efficient for the humans, but at least the Dog was warm. Like with most dogs, we had to keep an eye on Sandy when we had a fire in the fireplace. Fires have a magic force that pulls dogs ever closer to them.

Energy Lessons:

1. The closer you get to the hot spot the quicker you warm up.
2. The one who has the most insulation is the most comfortable.
3. If you think it is too cool inside, go play outdoors for a while.

You’ll enjoy the warmth all the more when you come back in.

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Energy Lessons Learned from a Cat

By Lorraine Summers

We were held captive for 18 years by our children’s cat Samson.

Watching Sam was a study in keeping warm. First off, like most cats, he loved the sunny spots on the floor; He was always annoyed when the sunny spot moved while he was sleeping in it!

Next, he moved on to the floor registers. Sometimes we would wonder why it was cold in a room only to go looking and find Sam flattened out on the register! Oh, he was warm all right, but there was no warm air for the rest of us humans.

His next trick was to cuddle up with our daughter who always had an electric blanket on her bed in cold weather. One time when I went looking for him after she had left for work, I found her electric blanket control laying flat on her pillow and it was ON. Then I noticed a large lump under the blanket in the middle of her bed.

Sure enough, there Sam under the covers with a rather smug look on his face. I turned the blanket off.

When our daughter got home, I questioned her about having turned it off. She was positive she had shut it off so we tried an experiment the next few days.

She would leave the control flat on her pillow in the off setting. Sure enough, a few hours later the control would be on and Sam would be under the blanket.

We finally caught him walking across the control on the push button switch - click – blanket on – happy cat.

Not liking to have appliances running while we were away, we ended up having to hang the control over her headboard while she was not there.

After our daughter left home, the “old folks” inherited the old cat. After a couple of years, he took to sharing our bed on cold winter nights. He would burrow under our blankets to the foot of the bed and curl up by my feet. Nice foot warmer, except I was not allowed to move my feet even one inch or he would gently tap me with a claw!

If he got too hot while he was under the covers he would come out panting and lay on top until he cooled off then back under he would go again.

Well the old boy is gone now and I miss that warm furry foot warmer on cold nights, but memories of Sam still bring warm thoughts.

Lessons learned:

1. Solar heating is wonderful everyone should use it.
2. Keep your registers clear to share the warm air.
3. Electric blankets are wonderful, especially in a cold house.
4. To keep warm use an electric blanket and share your bed.
5. Pets make good memories to keep your heart warm.

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SAVE ENERGY BY KNOWING THE FACTORS AFFECTING HUMAN COMFORT

This Chart is to help folks be comfortable and save energy. It was written for a work setting but it applies at home too.

The list might be better if “Humidity” was listed first, because it is the key to selecting the best temperature. High humidity makes high summer temperature uncomfortable. Likewise, dry air feels colder in the winter.

You should target a humidity level of about 40% in your home and at work. When the humidity is higher than 40%, molds and other unhealthy things grow faster. When the humidity is lower than 20% folks complain of dried out breathing passages.

What can You Do

In the summer, use your air conditioner to reduce the humidity in your home or office. Keep windows and doors closed when the outdoor humidity is high. You should block the entry of humidity, even if the outdoor temperature is cooler than the indoor temperature.

Let outdoor air in only when it is both dryer and cooler than indoor air.

80 degrees with 30% relative humidity feels better than 78 degrees with 60% relative humidity. Keep the humidity down and set the temperature about 76 to 78 degrees for comfort and energy savings.

At work, even in factories, it is best to keep the moisture outside as much as possible. On humid days, and when it is raining, keep windows and doors closed.

In the winter, our homes tend to dry out when the heat is on. The relative humidity is likely to go down to 15% if you let it.

A functioning humidifier on your furnace is an energy saving device because it allows you to be comfortable at a lower thermostat setting. Humidifiers are a high maintenance item. They must be kept clean in order for them to work and be healthy.

Other ways to keep moisture in the house are:

Have houseplants that are watered frequently. Have an aquarium for your pet fish. When you take a shower, do not use the vent fan. Let bathtub water cool for an hour before draining it. Boil foods while preparing meals. Make soup, chili, stew, oatmeal, goulash, casseroles, and spaghetti Use a vaporizer. Minimize the use of your kitchen vent fan. Let your electric clothes dryer vent into the house. DO NOT DO THIS WITH A GAS DRYER. Hang laundry inside the house to dry. Get some toy water pistols and have a squirt gun battle.

If you can get the relative humidity up to near 40%, you will feel very comfortable at 68 degrees. If the house is dry, you might need to heat it up to 70 to feel as comfortable. Save money by keeping the humidity up so you can set the thermostat lower.

Air Velocity

Wind speed helps cool us in hot conditions. Set ceiling fans and other fans to blow air at people to take advantage of the wind chill effect.

Turn the fans off when no one is there to feel the breeze.

Using fans helps to cool people by keeping the air moving.

In cold weather, avoid air movement to feel warmer.

The only exception is to run ceiling fans at their slowest speed.

If your ceiling fan is reversible, it should lift the air up and push it out and slowly down the walls of the room to keep a uniform temperature through out the room. If you ceiling fan is not reversible just run it at the lowest possible speed. Ideally, it should run slow enough that folks do not feel the air movement.

Rooms with high ceilings should have a ceiling fan to save on the heating bill.

For maximum savings, shut the ceiling fan off only when the thermostat is turned down. In the morning, or when you return home, turn the thermostat up and switch the ceiling fan on at its slowest speed.

At work, the building ventilation equipment should bring warm ceiling air down to floor level. Ceiling fans can save big money in high ceiling commercial and factory buildings.

Activity level

The more active you are the warmer you will feel. Get moving and you feel warmer.

Clothing

Clothing is the item that each of us has the most control over. In the winter, it is best to dress with layers of clothing. That way you can adjust to changes in the weather and your level of activity.

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Drive or Bike: Do the Math

My friend Sol Lederman wrote this article.

Being a health conscious person I enjoy walking and biking but I have to admit I get most of my exercise at the gym and end up driving to a lot to places I could easily bike to. With our high gas prices in the U.S. I've started wondering what this "driving habit" is costing me. Being a mathematically minded person and serious enough about Math to own a Math-related blog I decided to find out.

The cost I can easily measure is gasoline. Maintenance and wear-and-tear are going to be guesswork to some extent. Cost of driving to the environment is very real but one that I'm not going to try to factor into this calculation.

My little 1991 Toyota Corolla Sedan gets 30 miles per gallon on the highway. (Are you jealous?) Since I'm trying to compare biking to driving, I'll use a mileage of 22 miles to the gallon for city driving. Unleaded gas in snowy Santa Fe, New Mexico costs about $2.80 per gallon.

Now for some Math: For $2.80, I get 22 miles of driving. If I divide 280 cents by 22 miles, I get 12.7 cents per mile.

Let's guesstimate maintenance and wear-and-tear costs. If I get my oil changed every 3500 miles and that costs me $35.00 then I'm spending a penny per mile for oil and its servicing. Not a huge amount but it adds up. So, take the 12.7 cents per mile for gas and add a penny for oil and I'm up to 13.7 cents per mile to drive.

The Toyota is aging (gracefully I might add) and I spend maybe $500 per year to fix and replace things like my muffler that nearly fell off a while back. I drive maybe 10,000 miles per year. So, that's 5 cents per mile I spend on maintenance. So, driving is up to 18.7 cents per mile. Ouch!

I'm not going to factor in auto insurance because I'm not getting rid of the car and the insurance cost doesn't go down if I drive fewer miles than I do.

If I lived 5 miles from where I worked, I'd be driving 10 miles a day to and from work. Estimating 22 workdays in a month, I'd be driving 220 miles per month round trip to work. Those 220 miles would cost 220* 18.7cents = $41.14. That comes out to $493.68 per year. That's no pocket change. Granted, I wouldn't bike to work in the snow so my dollar savings would be less but consider the benefit to my health in biking 220 miles per month. And, consider that I'd be helping to emit a little less carbon into the air. Also, consider that your numbers may look much worse than mine, if you're driving a gas-guzzler.

It turns out that I work from home and don't have a commute but if I did and the roads were amenable to cyclists then I'd bike just for the health benefits. At a decent clip, it'd only take me 20 to 25 minutes each way and I'd get a nice workout doing it. Your mileage may vary.

Sol Lederman is a health enthusiast and owner of Wild About Math, a blog that aims to make Math fun and accessible to everyone.

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Star of the Season, a Christmas Card

My wife and I still have the Star from the top of our first Christmas tree. You know how it is with newlyweds no money to spend on fancy stuff. I was rushing to finish college on the GI Bill and my wife was putting food on our table by working at K-Mart.

Some how we got a miniature pine tree to set up on top of a table in our small apartment. We had a few homemade ornaments but nothing for the top of the tree. We cut a star shape out of cardboard from a box and taped it to a cardboard tube from the bathroom trashcan. This whole piece of art was covered with tin foil, shiny side out. All this before recycling was popular.

I like stars. They are the energy source of the universe. They push out light and heat. The pull the heavenly bodies into position by their gravity. They shine and light our way.

As a navigator, I’ve learned some of their names. I’ve learned how they are used to locate and guide us on our way.

Our star, the sun, lights our days and sends us energy. It pulls the tides. It powers the wind and waves. It makes green things grow and warms us in its light. I like calling solar power “Star Power”.

That first Christmas star of ours was replaced by an angel my wife made from a kit. That angel has flown atop our Christmas tree every year for 35 years.

But, we still have that first Star.

We wish you joy and happiness this Holiday Season and May the Star of Christmas shine in your life

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THIS THANKSGIVING I AM THANKFUL FOR TREES

Our best Thanksgivings have been the ones when we have had a crowd of family and friends gathered around the big wood table. Our wood table is a family heirloom that extends out by adding wood boards to make room for everyone.

It is our tradition to give guests an opportunity to share some of the things that they are thankful for. Counting our blessings is an important part of the Holiday. The warmth given off by the candles and fire in the fireplace is only a small portion of the warmth we feel at this time of year.

We have always enjoyed being able to have a fire going in the fireplace on winter Holidays. As they say up North, “burning wood heats you twice, once when you make it and once when you burn it.”

“Making wood” is northern speak for the exercise involved in cutting, hauling, splitting and stacking firewood.

Burning wood in an open-hearth fireplace is an inefficient way to heat a house. You loose more heat up the chimney than you get from burning the wood.

Safety and efficiency are improved if you use glass doors on your fireplace. Limiting the amount of air that can go up with the smoke keeps more heat in the house. Wood burning stove inserts are even more efficient but not as fun to watch.

Wood is a renewable resource that can replace fossil fuels for heating homes.

One of the safest and most efficient ways to use wood as a heating fuel is an outdoor hot water heater. These look like a small shed located 20 to 30 feet away from the house. They heat water that is pumped through a coil in the ductwork of a normal forced air furnace. Automatic dampers control how fast the wood burns based on the temperature inside the house. Insurance companies like this system because the fire is out away from the house.

I am thankful for trees. We use the wood from it’s trunk to build our homes. It can be used for heat and light. It gets its strength by using the power of sunshine to take carbon from the air as its building blocks. Trees clean the air and refresh it with the oxygen that they releases. Trees give us clean air to breathe and energy to share with our friends and grandchildren.

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SIMPLE WAYS FOR RENTERS TO STAY WARM

By H Hope

It’s important to stay warm in the winter. Yet, one major problem is staying warm is also keeping the heating cost from breaking your budget. There are a couple of simple ways to keep in the heat and even reduce the amount of heating you use.

Brrr! It’s starting to get cold out there this time of year. I really hope none of my readers are using a gas heating system this year. Prices are rising and it just seems like the weather is getting colder than ever.

I’ve felt the cold winds blowing in my apartment and an empty wallet before. Never fear there are effective and green ways for you to stay warm during the cold months and maybe ease the strain on your wallet some.

As an apartment dweller, I have recently found one of the easiest ways to keep warm by moving into an apartment complex with free heat. My complex has an old steam heat system that is run through all of the buildings. It works via a boiler that heats water under pressure causing it to turn into steam and move through the pipes in the buildings. I’m a little leery of the idea of boilers so have an apartment that’s well away from the boiler room. Plus, the boiler still needs to be heated with gas or electric so it still costs the complex some money. Still a boiler is very efficient and can use less energy once started because the water tends to retain the heat.

To help my apartment stay warm I’ve got a couple of extra things I do to keep in the heat. These are simple practices that you can implement in your own home to keep in the heat and cut down on the electric bill.

Cover all Windows and Open Areas

This may seem obvious but a lot of people don’t bother to keep their windows covered during cold weather. Most of the heat loss in a home is due to drafts and small cracks around areas like windows and doors.

Put up nice heavy curtains on all the windows and pick up a storm window kit too. The kits come with a heavy plastic sheeting that you can tape around all the windows to provide an extra layer of insulation. The sheeting is clear so it won’t interfere with the view or the sunlight coming into your home.

Wear Appropriate Clothing

It’s winter, go shopping and get yourself the appropriate clothing. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve seen walking around in flip-flops during November. Get out your socks and boots, sweaters and even the flannel lined jeans. Always, always wear socks and slippers around the house during winter. They’ll keep your toes warm and take edge off a cold floor.

Throw an extra blanket on the Bed

At night, your body systems slow down during sleep. So, what seemed like an okay temperature during the day suddenly seems way to cold. During the winter, I have a nice fleece blanket on my bed and it works wonders at keeping me toasty.

Use Hot Water Bottles

Heat up a hot water bottle in the microwave or some socks filled with dried rice or beans. You can slip them in between the sheets of your bed to warm up the covers before you go to bed for the night. You can also use them during the day to keep warm while watching television or keep your tootsies warm. Just remember to move the heat pads every ten to fifteen minutes to another body part. Also, remove the hot water bottles from your bed when you are getting into bed so you don’t fall asleep with them in the bed.

Get some Rugs

No, I’m not saying you should get a wig to stay warm during the winter. Anyone with wood, tile or linoleum flooring knows that it can be cold, even a carpet floor radiates some cold during the winter. You can’t go wrong with a few area rugs placed on the floors. They’ll keep your feet off the cold tiles and add an extra layer of insulation to the home.

Check Your Insulation

Homeowners, be sure to go through your house and check to make sure you’ve got insulation in all the right places. Keep your pipes insulated, check the attic to make sure it has enough insulation to keep the heat in and even close off rooms you aren’t using in the winter. You can close the registers in those areas you aren’t using during the winter and even hang up blankets in the hallways or across the doorways to block out the cold.

Following these simple methods for staying warm can keep even an apartment dweller safe and toasty in the colder months to come. Plus, the less fuel you use to heat the more you are helping the environment. It’s wintertime, so snuggle up!

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GOOD OLD FASHION WAYS TO DRESS WARM FOR WINTER

I grew up in the lake effect snows and cold winds of Michigan. As a youth, my Christmas gift selection for my parents usually ended up as another sweater for mother and a new tool for my dad to replace the one I had lost. My loot for Christmas always included some warm winter clothes. Not my first choice for presents but a necessity for I had out grown, worn out or lost last winter’s supply of gloves, scarves and wool caps.

I allowed do some of the snow shoveling, and when the lakes and rivers froze over it was hockey time. I spent a good part of every day outdoors in snow forts, ice caves and in snowball fights. It was homework, housework or outdoors, no wasted time watching TV. If I had time to watch TV, my parents found something useful for me to do. I escaped outdoors to avoid housework.

Getting back on topic there was no such thing as lazing about in blue jeans and a tee shirt, like men folk do now. We dressed in layers of under shirts and long sleeve flannel shirts in addition to jeans with no holes in them. If I was going outdoors, I had long johns on under the blue jeans. The long johns were white with a touch of blue jean dye for contrast.

My mother wore a lot of sweaters and her dressy outfits included a vest or jacket.

Boys and men wore pull over sweaters to dress up a little and keep warm. Sweater vests and cardigans were more for relaxing evenings. Sweatshirts were for athletes and only worn while exercising. They were not a fashion statement or for daily wear.

Heating oil was 24 cents and gasoline was 32 cents a gallon. The house was never warmer than 68. The heat was turned way down at night and I would open my bedroom window, just a crack, for fresh air even in January.

Wool slipper-socks or other warm slippers were needed as protection from cold wood or tile floors. If you went bare footed to the bathroom your feet froze.

Now that I am an old man I still layer up to keep warm. I wear two or three layers of shirts in the house on cold days. I think my wife wears 5 layers. She is shedding or adding a layer all the time so it is hard to count.

Her feet are kept warm with sheepskin slippers, with the fur side inside, plus very good socks. The socks are special ordered from Snyder's Shoe store in Manistee Michigan.

My doctors have very specifically ordered me to never never go bare foot. So, of course that is just what I do until my feet start to freeze, then it is slippers for me too. To keep warm in spite of my bare feet I wear a ratty old wool shirt jacket that is thermal lined and has too many pockets.

No, I do not wear a nightcap, but I can understand why they were popular now that I have lost most of my hair. What do you wear too keep warm in the winter when the thermostat is locked on a chilly temperature?

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WINTER HOLIDAY GIFT SUGGESTIONS

Some of my friends have been asking me for gift ideas that will save energy. So here is an energy friendly list of gift ideas:

• Electric blanket or heated mattress pad, heat up the bed and turn the thermostat down.

• Quilts to keep warm on cold nights with out pushing up the thermostat

• Warm socks; hang them by the fireplace to preheat them. If you have been good, you may find more than a lump of coal in them.

• Tire pressure gage, so you can check your tires to keep the miles per gallon up on your car

• A plug in air compressor to pump up those soft tires

• Sweaters, vests or sweatshirts to layer on the warmth

• Warm fuzzy bathrobe and slippers.

• Humidifier to make the house feel warmer

• Lamp timer for those decorative lights

• Low energy LED decorative lights.

• Compact fluorescent lamps to save power and last longer.

• Solar battery charger for cell phones, MP3, PDA, Digital cameras and “batteries not included” toys

• Muscle powered flashlight. There are hand crank and pistol grip squeeze models that need no batteries.

• Hand powered radio for news and weather without plug in power or batteries. Some can charge your cell phone.

• Desk Lamp or portable work light to get the job done without over lighting the whole room

Click here for more energy saving gift ideas

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SAVE ENERGY AND FLY FARTHER WITH TEAMWORK

Last Friday evening I was driving back to Ohio from two days of meetings in Michigan. There was a burning red glow of a sunset ahead as I drove south. Flocks of geese were silhouetted against the bright red sky as they circled in to land on the ponds along the way.

Based on the number of flocks of geese that I saw hurrying south, we must be in for some cold weather. When that many flocks are moving south at the same time it usually means that they are trying to keep ahead of the cold weather that is pushing them on their migration.

Watching the V formations of geese reminded me that they fly like that to save energy. The lead bird must be strong and break the path through the wind resistance. The trailing birds do not need to work as hard to keep pace because of the way the air flows off the leader’s wing tips.

The following birds keep the airflow moving outward off their wing tips, benefiting the bird behind them. You can hear the following geese cheering their leader on. The leader changes often enough to keep the flock moving ahead without slowing.

Their teamwork reduces the muscle energy that each bird in the flock uses to make the trip South. The more they work together the farther they can fly. All because of the energy saved by teamwork.

Teamwork will determine the distance we can fly ahead by saving energy.

Your flock may as small as your family or it might as big as your work group or community. What ever size flock you are with you can save energy by using teamwork.

Helping each other save energy reduces the amount of work each individual needs to do.

Some folks do not like to fly in formation; they like to go it alone. A lone goose cannot fly as fast or as far toward its objective as a V formation flock can.

Our goals of saving money and having a high quality of life is possible and is made easier for each of us, by everyone working together.

Point the V in the right direction and let’s get flying.

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SAVE ENERGY AND TIME SHOPPING ONLINE

I need to buy some items this Saturday morning. That means that I either give up time working my blogging business this morning or miss part of my TV time watching favorite my football team this afternoon. Shopping would burn some expensive gasoline, a waste of energy, and a risk of bodily harm on the highway.

Online shopping to the rescue

Since Amazon is a good customer of my online business, I do most of my online shopping at their store. In just a few minutes, I ordered a new desk lamp. The old one that we use to grow African violets died and we need a replacement.

I also ordered some shaving soap. I am one of the few who still use a shaving soap and brush every morning. I ordered razor blades while I was thinking of shaving supplies.

Yesterday when I refilled the printer, I noticed that I was running low on paper. So, I added printer paper to the order. Clicked the buy button and went back to work.

The most time was spent picking out the desk lamp, because my wife was looking over my shoulder advising me. In less than 7 minutes my shopping was done. Very little working time wasted and there still is some gasoline in my tank for tomorrow.

Amazon has an unexpectedly huge range of products available. Yes, we do by books for our grandkids from them, including ones that are now out of print, but they have other stuff too. The only items that I have found missing from their inventory are some liquids.

Yes, you can pay less shopping around but my time is much too valuable to waste and shopping around wastes energy.

Click on this link to explore Amazon

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GREEN OPTIONS PODCAST FEATURES ENERGY BOOMER

A week or so ago I had the pleasure of talking with Max Lindberg on the telephone. Max, with 70 plus years of experience, is producing a series of podcasts called Greening the Golden Years. His podcasts feature the efforts of older folks that are making a positive impact on the world we live in. He publishes his podcasts on the Green Option blog. (Podcasts are like old time radio, just sound with no pictures.)

Green Options is a popular web site that is put together by a group of folks that provide information on environmental issues. They promote “greening for the good life” with ways we can take action to make life on planet earth sustainable.

Max used the phone interview with me to make one of his podcasts featuring my Energy Boomer blog. I still don’t think of myself as a senior citizen, some of my classmates may be, but I am not.

Click on this link to listen to the 10-minute podcast about the Energy Boomer blog.

Click here to visit the Green Options web site

Thanks for your encouragement and support.

MEET ENERGY SAVER JAN PAVIS

Jan Pavis describes herself as, “a single mom juggling jobs and bills.”

Juggling jobs and bills sounds like the way most of us operate.

Earth Day 2007 prompted her to think in terms of reducing utility bills to help her succeed with the juggling act. Her affirmation of, “I realize that saving the planet will save me money!” got her motivated.

Her Reduce Utility Bills blog is a very readable and useful journal of her efforts to reduce her own utility bills. Her projects are low cost and easy to do.

Her movable clothesline (solar clothes dryer) project was great because it shows folks what works and what did not work. Too often we hide our miss steps when they are the best shared learning experience for all. This project resulted in significant reductions on her gas and electric bills.

Some of her projects, like building a home made evaporative cooler, are very effective at her Arizona home. It is too humid where I live for it to work for me, but it may work where you live.

I look forward to reading more of her efforts so I can apply them to improve my bill juggling.

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7 TIPS FOR ENERGY SAVING VACATIONS

A little planning can result in energy savings while you are on vacation.

The worst example of a stress filled, fuel-wasting vacations that I have heard about are my aunt’s collection of airports. She went on flying tours each year that resulted in her visiting something like 15 airports in 7 days. She visited many far away exotic places around the globe, but never saw much beyond the airport. She always brought me souvenirs from the airport gift shop and post cards showing pictures of the airports.

I have fallen into the same sort of trap. Our last “vacation” had us driving all day to visit my son for dinner. The next day we drove all day to visit friends where we used to live, just for an evening. Then we would drive all day to visit our grandson for a day. Then we drive all day to get home. Just another example of a stress filled, fuel-wasting vacation.

Ideas for the next vacation:

1. Share the driving to reduce my stress. Pick up our son and let him drive us to visit his sister and family. That is family carpooling.

2. Slowly drive shorter distances between stops. I cannot change the map distance but I can allow more time to drive slower. We could stop to visit more friends along the way if I planned the route better. This would make for shorter hops between stops.

3. Stay more than one day at each stop. We don’t use much fuel while we are visiting with friends and family.

4. Lay on the beach to recharge my internal solar battery.

5. Take the train or bus, I love traveling by train.

6. For me the most energy efficient and enjoyable mode of travel is a sailboat.

7. Floating down stream on a raft or in a canoe uses no expensive hydrocarbons.

What are your suggestions for energy efficient vacations?

Click here for a selection of travel accessories

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INDEPENDENCE DAY

Our celebration of Independence Day is the anniversary of the signing of the U. S. Constitution.

A long time ago, I raised my right hand and took an oath that “I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Although I am on inactive duty status as a United States Marine, I still consider supporting and defending the constitution part of my current duties.

In my opinion, the excessive influence on our independence by foreign oil is a threat to our constitution.

Our enemies in the War on Terror are funded by oil money. I am convinced that the initial battles in Iraq and Afghanistan, that we are now fighting, are just the first of many battles in what will be a very long Global War on Terror.

We need to either take over control of the crude oil supplies or develop alternatives that are cost effective and produced at home. Or both.

Reducing our dependence on foreign oil means reducing our use of petroleum based gasoline, aircraft fuel and diesel fuel. That means we need replacement transportation fuels.

Conservation and increased efficiency will help, but non-petroleum liquid fuels are needed. The recent developments in Ethanol, Butanol, DMF, and bio-diesel are all very positive steps. Development in this direction needs to continue.

We can use more plug in electric powered cars by building more coal fired power plants.

Many Americans are making the choice to vote independent with their ballots and dollars. Every time you spend money to buy fuel or other energy related products, you can be casting a vote for independence.

You can vote for independence by the choices you make in the free market place that still is America.

Vote at the ballot box for representatives that will support freedom and independence. Elect folks who will support and protect the constitution.

Remember those who have taken the oath of enlistment in the ongoing fight to provide and protect our freedom.

Honor them by celebrating our freedom and enjoying our Independence Holiday.

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EARTH DAY

Earth Day is a time to celebrate gains we have made and create new visions to accelerate environmental progress. Earth Day is a time to unite around new actions. Earth Day and every day is a time to act to protect our planet. • The nation's air is much cleaner today than it was in on the first Earth Day in 1970. • The trend of annual loss of wetlands has been reversed. • Restoration and redevelopment of abandoned industrial sites is accelerating. Earth Day and every day is a time to act.

Things you can do at home

Save energy • Use the Energy Star program by logging on to http://www.energystar.gov to find energy efficient products for your home. The right choices can save families about 30% ($400 a year) while reducing our emissions of greenhouse gases. • Turn off appliances and lights when you leave the room. Use motion detectors if you forget • Use the microwave to cook small meals. (It uses less power than an oven.) • Have leaky air conditioning and refrigeration systems repaired. • Cut back on air conditioning and heating use if you can. • Add an insulation blanket to your water heater. • Keep in mind that every trip adds to air pollution. • Replace incandescent light bulbs with Energy Star qualified Compact Fluorscent Light bulbs (CFL). Use less water • Look for the WaterSense label to identify water-efficient products. The WaterSense label indicates that these products meet water-efficiency and performance criteria. WaterSense labeled products will perform well, help save money, and encourage innovation. • Do not let the water run while shaving or brushing teeth. • Take short showers instead of tub baths. • Keep drinking water in the refrigerator instead of letting the faucet run until the water is cool. • Scrape, rather than rinse, dishes before loading into the dishwasher; wash only full loads. • Wash only full loads of laundry or use the appropriate water level or load size selection on the washing machine. • Buy high-efficient plumbing fixtures & appliances. • Repair all leaks (a leaky toilet can waste 200 gallons a day). • Water the lawn or garden during the coolest part of the day (early morning is best). • Water plants differently according to what they need. Check with your local extension service or nurseries for advice. • Set sprinklers to water the lawn or garden only – not the street or sidewalk. • Use soaker hoses or trickle irrigation systems for trees and shrubs. • Keep your yard healthy – de-thatch, use mulch, etc. • Sweep outside instead of using a hose. • Plant a tree, build a pond and compost.

Reduce/Reuse/Recycle Practice the three R's: first Reduce how much you use, then Reuse what you can, and then Recycle the rest.

• Reduce: o Buy permanent items instead of disposables. o Buy and use only what you need. o Buy products with less packaging. o Buy products that use less toxic chemicals. • Reuse: o Repair items as much as possible. o Use durable coffee mugs. o Use cloth napkins or towels. o Clean out juice bottles and use them for water. o Use empty jars to hold leftover food. o Reuse boxes. o Purchase refillable pens and pencils. o Participate in a paint collection and reuse program. o Donate extras to people you know or to charity instead of throwing them away. o Reuse grocery bags as trash bags. • Recycle: o Recycle paper, plastic, glass bottles, cardboard, and aluminum cans. If your community does not collect at the curb, take them to a collection center. o Recycle electronics. o Recycle used motor oil o Compost food scraps, grass and other yard clippings, and dead plants. o Close the loop - buy recycled products and products that use recycled packaging. That is what makes recycling economically possible.

Things you can do at work

Reduce energy use • Use Energy Star’s energy-efficient office products. • Make sure that you turn on the energy saving features. • Turn off your computer monitor, non-network printers and the lights when they are not being used. • If possible, take the stairs instead of using the escalator. • Use high-efficiency lighting or natural light. Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle office products • Buy recycled content, remanufactured, and recyclable office products, and recycle them when appropriate (including e-cycling electronics). Buy recycled paper and recycle it again. • Clean out Your Files and recycle papers you no longer need. • Use spell check and proof read before you print or copy. Print double sided whenever possible. Minimize the amount of paper you use. • Buy reusable office supplies instead of disposable supplies. • Set up an area to store and exchange reusable office supplies, such as binders. • Recycle fluorescent bulbs properly to prevent hazardous mercury from entering the environment.

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SPRING ENERGY SAVING GIFT SUGGESTIONS

With Easter just ahead some of my friends have been asking me for springtime gift ideas that will save energy. Ok brain time to think about the energy impact of warm weather gift giving.

Try these ideas:

• Tire pressure gauge, so you can check your tires to keep the miles per gallon up on your ride

• Plug in air compressor to pump up those soft tires, good to pump beach balls and inner tubes.

• Compact Fluorescent Lamps to save power and reduce home air conditioning load

• Energy Star rated electronics and appliances

• Solar battery charger for cell phones, MP3, PDA, Digital cameras and “batteries not included” toys

• Hand crank flashlight. There are hand crank and pistol grip squeeze models that need no batteries.

• Hand crank radio for use at the beach. Some can charge your cell phone.

• Desk lamp or portable work light to get the job done without over lighting the whole room

• Clothes lineClothes line and clothes pins for at solar clothes dryer

• A beach umbrella for cool shade with out air conditioning

• Ceiling fans

• Portable fans use less power than air conditioning

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