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Energy Saver Dave

Whether you are planning to live “off the grid” and free yourself from energy bills or just “kick back” and enjoy lower energy bills, the first step is always to understand your home’s energy usage and employ good old fashioned energy conservation techniques.

The reason for this is simple – you can not be charged for what you don’t use (in terms of energy…well this is strictly untrue if you are on a utility company’s budget payment system…but we’ll pretend for a moment that is not the case.) So, if you use less energy, your energy bill will go down.

Makes sense. So…how do you conserve energy?

It all starts with understanding your home, and more to the point, understand how you and your family use energy. Simple everyday activities, like turning off the lights when you leave a room really can add up to make a difference. Now that the holidays are here, not going overboard with the lighted decorations (and those inflatable, light up decorations) can help. Of course, if you do go overboard (like many of us tend to) just mind the usage. There is no need to run them every night. If you must, run them a couple of hours at the most. Every hour those machines are being run, energy is being used – sometimes in mass quantity. And since you pay per kw/hour, this could really add up.

Energy conservation doesn’t stop there, though. Only running the appliances such as the dishwasher and washing machine when full saves on both electricity and hot water. (Hot water is a double whammy – you incur a water cost, plus the cost to heat the water…and keep it heated.) And promptly removing clothes from the dryer avoids running the dryer again to remove the wrinkles from clothes that have sat too long. (Dryers can be another double whammy…the electricity to run the motor, plus the cost of energy to heat the unit.)

By intelligently regulating the heating and cooling of your house, you can also conserve energy and keep your bills low throughout the year. For example, lowering your thermostat to 68 degrees F when you’re home can save you as much as 5-10% during the cold season. And letting your thermostat go as high as in the mid 70’s during the warm summer months will save you on air conditioning costs.

You can realize even more savings by avoiding overuse of the heat as well. For example, at night, it isn’t necessary to keep the thermostat at 68. Try lowering it even more, and just doubling up on the blankets or cuddling up to your loved one to keep warm.

Keep in mind that all these tips might help you save money on energy…but when it comes to saving on your energy bills there aren’t any guarantees. Why? Because every single home is different. Every single situation is different, just as every family uses energy differently. A family of 5 will use energy much differently than a family of 2. This isn’t a bad thing at all – it is just a fact of life.

Author: Wendy Pan

Community energy conservation efforts can go a long way with short changes to make a big difference. Community leaders can truly lead the way, by hosting public events that encourage residents to follow energy conservation practices. Local ordinances can be formed or rewritten to encourage conservation of local public resources, and provide avenues for residents to participate in resource conservation, recycling, and reuse of materials.

Local communities are working together to provide recycling centers for public use. They can revise building codes to promote environmentally sustainable technology so that new buildings and remodels are made into healthy buildings. Efforts can be made to avoid excess duplication, by not allowing strip malls on every corner that cover land and add to urban sprawl, through zoning laws that are more environmentally friendly than builder friendly.

As population spreads, so does the impact of pollution and the potential for permanent damage. Local communities can work together to protect the environment and indigenous species from this overload and damage. Mass transit systems can be improved and brought out to their remote communities. Car pooling parking lots can be zoned into land management and car pooling encouraged. Zoning can be planned for maximum use in minimum areas to preserve the landscape, and parks are wonderful additions for local residents. Renewable and recyclable building materials can be encouraged. How land is developed, and built up, has major impact upon local resources and natural habitats. Careful planning can help offset the impact and promote conservation efforts.

By providing local resources, local farm markets, and local recreation sites, overall energy consumption is reduced, and local businesses profit. Even utilities can be managed locally, with some communities being built with a target of zero energy cost, using solar and wind power systems for the entire area. Lighting in buildings and on streets can be refitted to be efficient, solar powered, and otherwise conservative of energy resources. In high population areas, parks help relive the urban heat island problem, as well as be available for local recreation and open spaces.

Community energy conservation needs to increase awareness of the eco-system, and promote new advances in conservation techniques and materials, so they get used. Small changes by all can lead to big results for conservation of natural resources like water, electric and natural gas. Businesses can encourage employees to follow conservative practices at work as well as at home, like turning off unneeded lighting, and powering down machinery and computers when not working with them.