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There are items in your home that are “sucking” the money out of your checking account.  These items are drawing vampire power, due to their led lights or glowing panels.  I know that I have them around my house, especially since we have 6 computers that have blinking lights that let us know that they are on but asleep.  But you say, I’ve read about this so called vampire power and many people say it’s no big deal…well I say they are wrong.

Several months ago I pulled the plug on these energy guzzlers and saved mucho denero on my electricity bill.  Want to know how much?  Well at the begining of the summer I did 2 main things to save on my electric bill.  I turned up the thermostat and started unplugging or turning completely off all the energy wasters and the difference between this month’s bill and last September’s bill…500 kwh or $42! wo0t!  While other people are paying $200 for their utility bill we are paying $90 for gas and electricity.

So think about unpluggin all those items that have blinking or steady lights that stay on all the time, you never know how much money you might save!

In a small town in Germany called Marburg there is a heated debate over a new mandate requiring solar panels.

“The ordinance, the first of its kind in Germany, will require solar panels not only on new buildings, which fewer people oppose, but also on existing homes that undergo renovations or get new heating systems or roof repairs” says the Marburg Journal. There is even a hefty fine of $1500 for violators.

This brings up the question…Can the government require us to become green? Most cities has Municipal Codes that require many things, could those include green issues?

For example in my city, as I found out recently, requires hot water heaters that are in closets to have louvers on the door so the hot water heater can “breathe”. The hot water heater has been just fine in my closet for the past 15 years why now can I not put the regular door back on the closet? I’m sure that they have a good reason for requiring louvers, I’m sure it’s for safety but if they require that could they have required me to install a solar powered hot water heater?

Now I would have loved to install solar power hot water heater, I would not have blinked an eye if I would have been required to install one, but would my neighbors feel the same if they were in the same situation. The issue with installing one at my house would not have been my feelings but the lack of sunlight because of the large trees in my yard. They are great to keep the house cool but interrupt the sunlight enough that solar power cells on my roof would be rendered almost useless, this goes for my neighbors also.

To require solar power would mean the loss of a lot of beautiful old growth trees and not to mention the expense of cutting them down.

Personally I think that the Government needs to step up and fund more alternative power sources but I don’t think that they can require someone to go green. I think that it is a personal choice to decide whether or not they want to join in the fight to save the planet. Now of course I think that it’s terrible if you recognize the signs of global warming and don’t do anything about it, but hey it’s your call and your bad karma.

What do you think?  Can the government require you to be green?  Sound off and let me know what you think.

Back at the beginning of the year we discussed how to keep energy costs down and now that we are in the thick of the summer season (and the fact that my bill had a significant increase last month) means that it’s time to talk about it again.

The fact that my bill went up by $45 unnerves me. My LGW has an awesome website that has a tracker that compares the previous year’s and June/July had an increase of 100 kwHrs, which brings my total KwHrs to 1507. This upsets me because I have been making sure that the thermostat stays higher then last year, so I am not sure what the increase is all about.

So here are 5 things you can do to decrease your energy usage during the summer months:

1. Clean your air filter…this you need to do about once a month for most filters but others are rated for up to 3 months. I know I have said this before but your air conditioner needs to breathe and with a dirty filter it can’t breathe properly. Most air filters are a couple bucks a piece, unless you use the more expensive allergen filters, so there should be nothing keeping you from doing changing the filter on a regular basis.

2. Turn on your fans…you can lower the temperature of a room several degrees just by turning on the fan and it costs far less to run a fan all day then it does to have your a/c running. Also make sure that your fan is running in the right direction. According to Bob Vila your fan should be rotating counter clock-wise in the summer to provide a breeze and correct movement of the air in the room. He agrees with the fact that using the fans is beneficial and even says that you can save up to 40% on your cooling bills just by turning on the fan.

3. Use the grill…who would have thought that the old grill would save on a/c costs, well it does cause it keeps you from heating up the inside of your house. The simple fact of leaving off the oven or stove not only saves your KwHrs but keeps the house cooler and keeps the a/c from compensating and over cooling the house. Now I am sure that some people will disagree with me on the use of a grill because of the charcoal or the cancer causing grill marks, but if that’s the case just use the microwave.

4. Close the blinds…what a strange thing to do in the beautiful summer time but it helps to again not heat the house. If you are really gun-ho use some tin foil on the windows that face the east. If the blinds are closed and those windows are in the back of the house, no one will ever know and your a/c will thank you.  The less sun that comes in your windows the cooler the house will stay and the less the a/c will be on which in turn lowers your bill.

5. Raise the thermostat…no brainer right?  Well it’s easy to make it a no brainer especially if you install a programmable one.  Keep it warmer in the house when you are away at work or school and at night and have it a little cooler when you are home in the evening.  Of course the best thing to do is open the windows at night but in more humid climates that might not be an option.  I know around here the humid nights make it more miserable to sleep then sleeping with the windows closed and the thermostat a little higher.  If you are going to make it warmer in the house during the day, just make sure not to make it to warm or you will lose all your savings while the a/c runs for and hour to cool the house back down again.  Remember that a few degrees can make all the difference.

Take and use these tips and report back to what your savings are…I know I will.

It’s getting to be that time of the year again here in the south, time to turn on the A/C. I figure that we have about 3 more weeks of bearable temperatures and by the end of May the windows will be closed and the a/c will be on full time. Right now at the low impact house we have had the windows open and the fans circulating.

In fact we have used so little electricity (no heater or air conditioner) our bill has dropped another $50, for those of you keeping track that means that our current bill is now down below $80 or $100 with the additional green power cost.

And like the past 2 months, our water usage has been so little that we have continually gotten the “minimal usage” charge. In fact the bulk of our bill ($18.00) goes to have our trash picked up once a week. I guess I shouldn’t complain about the garbage and sewer cost, but it does irk me that I only need the trash service twice a month and still have to pay the same price.

Back to the a/c issue…I promise to keep the thermostat above 78 degrees when we are home and 83 when we are gone, which is a big change from the 74 that is was set at last summer. I am thinking that I will have to keep the whole house fan on when we are home, My husband is not exactly the nicest person to live with when he is hot and I have a terrible time sleeping when I am overly warm and here in the south just because the sun has gone down doesn’t mean that the temperature has done the same.

Where do you pledge to keep your a/c set at this summer…if you live in the south can you stand to go higher then me?

Now that we are 10 weeks into my experiment I thought that I would do a quick update on my progress.

Below is an excerpt from my very first post, read more here…

Most everyone is interested in reducing their carbon footprint and reducing their impact in the world, here are the 10 items that I would like to address in my home this year.

1. Recycling
2. Composting
3. Eliminate toxic cleaning products
4. Cut energy costs
5. Become plastic free or at least plastic less
6. Limit the use of my car
7. Buy Green Power
8. Buy more local products
9. Set up an urban garden
10. Stop eating out

So lets see where I am at…

#1. I recycle everything that I can, in fact most weeks the recycle bin is fuller then my trash can. 

 #2. I have started a composting bin.  However I have been waiting to buy worms, I was worried that they would die in the cold.  Next week I will send off for the worms and then get the worm bin moving.  I do have to say that the compost bin that I have in my laundry room has been doing a good job all by itself.  I have been using it since the begining of the year and I have yet to need to empty it.

#3. Elimiating toxic cleaning products…I have been working on this slowly.  As you know I have been using a Cleaning Service to do my major house work, this month I didn’t use them but I think from now on I will use them once a month, so if I am not doing much cleaning I am not using up the chemicals that I have on hand.  I might go ahead and Freecycle the toxic products and keep the safe ones, that way I can have a clean start.  The only problem that I have been having with this item is that all cleaning products come in plastic.  I have used baking soda and vinegar, but they just don’t get rid of most of the stains or soapy residue in the bath tub.  I do try to buy only recycable bottles of cleaner or ones that can be refilled, that is better then some of the #5 bottles that are under my sink.

#4.  I have cut my energy costs by almost $50 a month, just by changing 10 habits.  That was easier then going plastic free.

#5.  I have dramatically changed my plastic habits.  I can even go to the store and not buy any plastic packaging.  The best part is besides the milk issue, we haven’t had any issues with missing out on some of the plastic wrapped foods. 

#6.  Limiting the use of my car has been a tough one.  In fact we will be talking about this topic next month.  I rode several times in February but my knee hurt so bad after those few times I am almost afraid to get back on my bike.  I am on some good drugs now and the swelling has finally gone down, so I will start working back up to the full 6 miles next week.

#7. Now that I have reduced my energy costs, I can start buying green power.  Here you have to buy power by the kilowatt hour and you can’t easily change it month to month, so this will be another topic for discussion next month.

#8.  As far as buying local products, I haven’t been able to do that at all.  For some reason the Farmers Market is only open in the Spring and Summer, so once that opens I will be able to buy all my fresh produce from local vendors and maybe I will get lucky and other products will be offered there too.

#9.  I have talked with my landlord and putting a garden in the backyard is off, but maybe I will be able to grow some veggies in some pots on the back patio.

#10.  Stop eating out…HAH!  This item seems to be impossible.  It’s not that we have overscheduled lives, but somedays we just don’t have the time to cook dinner.  Since both of us work it is very difficult on days that we have activities to find the 30 minutes that it takes me to cook a well balanced meal.  I know that 30 minutes isn’t very much time, but somedays it seems like an eternity.

Well that’s were things stand so far, somethings are getting easier while others are not.  We still have a lot to talk about, so stay tuned…

I have been very excited about my water bills from the last two months.  Each month our consumption has been so low that we have gotten the minimum charge.  In fact it costs more to have our trash collected then it does for the water that we use.

So because of that I have been waiting for my electricty bill, I really wanted to see what the differences were between January and February.  I knew that the small changes that we discussed were going to make a difference on my bill but I wasn’t sure how much of a difference.  All the websites listed cost savings for each tip that I gave, but I specifically didn’t list the savings because they were very vague. 

I wanted to see the results myself and boy did I!

Just to review…last months bill was $218.43.  $129.55 of it was gas for heating and $77.58 was for electricity.  This months bill was (drum roll please!)…$170.54…yeah!  A savings of almost $50.00, woohooo!

It was a little warmer in February but I don’t think that really had much to do with the savings.  It was the fact that the thermostat was set to warm and not to hot.  In January our gas usage was 110ccf, still way below the average but to me high.  In February it dropped to 82ccf and it was all because of 6 degrees lower on the thermostat and turning down the hot water heater.  I had to wear socks and a pullover and use 3 blankets at night, but boy was it worth it!

But that’s not even the most exciting part…in January our electricity usage was 1003kwh and in February it was only 755kwh!  What a huge difference that’s 248khw lower, and I never noticed a difference.  From turning off lights when your not in the room to unplugging unused appliances, we have made a big difference doing very small things!

If I can keep my energy consumption that low, for an additional $20 a month I can buy enough green energy to offset it completely.  I could handle that, before I was looking at $40 additional dollars spent.

How much money did you save last month?  Did you follow along with me and save as much money as I did?  How much money can you save next month, now that heating season is over?

Whew, I made it through February the first full month of my new green lifestyle. It hasn’t been easy but it hasn’t been really hard either. Simple steps make things easy to change, I’m glad I am taking it slowly and I am sure that my family is too. So on to my last tip about energy efficiency…

Turn it off at the source! Turn off the breaker or totally disconnect from the grid.

Now you knew this was coming right? If it’s not on, it can draw electricity and if you disconnect from the grid you will really be saving money. I’m not suggesting that you turn your power off for good but why not for an hour a month or even a week? There is a group in New York called Plug it Out, that unplugs from the grid once a month. They started their events after the very successful Earth Hour in Sidney, Australia last year. This year in fact Earth Hour is starting to spread across the globe and there will be a global event on March 29th. At 8pm people from across the earth will unplug themselves from the grid and live an electronic free hour under the moon light. I have signed up to take the challenge, will you?

I think that we have learned alot this month, from saving water byt not rinsing the dishes to turning down the water heater to save gas/electricity. I am all about easy changes and I think that all the topics that I spoke about this month are easy and relatively inexpensive. Ok, buying a solar power water heater isn’t cheap but if you qualify for the tax rebate it is certainly worth your time and money.

I hope that you continue to follow the tips in the coming months so that you can really see the savings mount up on your electricity bill.

Oh and by the way…we saved so much water last month that our utility had to change us the “minimum charge”, guess they have to make money no matter what!

The last two tips have a lot in common, but let’s tackel #2 today.  I think that the last two tips are pretty obvious ways in which to save money on your electricity bill, but I know that they are not as commonly used as the other 8 tips that I have talked about.  Well let me preface that with saying, tip number 2 is not commonly used in my neck of the woods.  So with that said…let’s get on with it.

Use green power, like solar or wind generators.

Pretty obvious right?  If you want to be more energy efficient, make sure the energy that you are purchasing is energy efficient.  Installing solar cells and wind turbines are more prevalent in other parts of the country, especially on the West Coast but even here in the Grand Ole South you can still purchase solar cells.  One of the most cost effective and smallest ways to start using green power is to purchase a solar water heater.   

True, photovotaic cells are still pricey but there is a large income tax deduction of up to $4000 that you can take if you purchase solar cells.  So while you might spend around $5000 to install a solar power water heater, you could recoup the savings almost immediatly. 

For those of you that can’t afford to purchase things like that or if you are a renter like me you may still be able to purchase green power from your local utility.  I know here in the Mid-South we can purchase green power from the TVA.  It is $4 for 150 kwh, so for $40 extra a month I can purchase enough green energy to cover my electric usage and even part of my neighbors.  

Does your local utility offer green power?  Have you thought about purchasing solar cells or a wind turbine?  Do yourself and the planet a favor and think about it.

Energy efficient tip #3 may cause quite a bit of controversy, but I’m gonna talk about it anyway.

Gradually replace all your lightbulbs with Compact Fluorescent Bulbs.

So many people talk about the pros and cons of CFL’s, I just had to talk about it.  I want you to notice that I said gradually and not run out and replace all your bulbs right now.  That would be a total waste of money so as your bulbs go out replace them with CFLs, but only if you are willing to follow all the rules.

CFLs save about $30 over the lifetime of the bulb, and most bulbs last 10 to 15 years if used correctly.  So that’s not a huge savings if you break it down, but if you have 20 bulbs in your house and lets just say they last for 10 years, you would be saving up to $60 each month on your electricity bill. 

But there are 4 problems with CFLs.

1.  The bulbs are not cheep like regular bulbs.  The bulbs that I have seen around here are $3 to $4 a piece.  So it might take 2 months before you really start to recoup the cost. 

2.  Most come wrapped in plastic and of course the bottom of the light is normally plastic.  So if you are hard core plastic free, CFLs might not be the right choice.  There are other choices in other cities, in some cities there are groups that have the lights wrapped in cardboard and if you buy from them they give part of their profit to charity.  So do what you can to look for organizations like those and support them.

3. CFLs lifespans are shortened if you leave them on for less than 15 minutes.  So putting them in the bathroom, where the lights go on and off quickly would not be the best situation.  It’s best to put them in rooms where lights stay on for longer periods of time, like your family room. 

4. CLFs have a small bit of mercury in them so they must be recycled or put with your other hazardous materials.   Many cities accept these bulbs durring their hazardous materials collection days, unfortunitly my city doesn’t take them since there is no one local that will recycle them.  But I guess it will take several years for the lights to go out and hopefully by then recycling of CFLs will become more prevalent.

There are several pros and cons to using CFLs and I can’t go into all of them.  So do a Google search on Compact Fluorescent Lights and see for yourself.  You make the decision on whether or not CFLs make since in your own home.

With the end of February in site, it’s time to get a move on with the rest of my energy efficient tips.  So without further ado…tip #4 is:

Unplug it! Unplug appliances and power cords that are not being used.

Sounds easy enough…right?  Well it is and it will save you a bundle.  Those power cords that you have plugged in, eventhough they are not attached to anything, are still pulling power.  Other appliances that are plugged in are pulling power even when they are not being used.  For example, I have a toaster that has an LED light that shines when it is plugged in.  Now granted if you are going to run a light 24 hours a day an LED would be the way to go, but it’s still costing you something to run it.  How often do you use your toaster during the day?  Is it that important that it has to run all the time?  Probably not.

The worst culprit for drawing power while it’s not being used is the laptop charger.  Take the time to unplug all your chargers after you are done using them.  Cell phones and laptops alike all need to be unpluged when they are not in use.  Don’t pay for electricity that you are not using.  Before you go to bed, walk around your house and unplug or turn off all the appliances that don’t need to be on all night.  It’s easy and not only will it save you money on your electricity bill, it will cut down your risk of a fire. 

So make sure you unplug your charges and appliances, when they are not in use.  You will see your savings on your very next bill.