Use Your Windows to Keep Out Heat and Gain Cool Air

• On cool nights open your windows and turn off your air conditioning while you sleep. When you wake in the morning close your windows and your window treatments to retain this cool air.
• Installing window treatments blocks the sun from heating up your rooms. In our house this is a huge help in the kitchen where we have a southern facing sliding glass door. closing the drapes lowers the kitchen temperature by 10 degrees.

Use your thermostat wisely

• Set your thermostat as high as comfortably possible in the summer. The smaller the difference between the indoor and outdoor temperatures, the lower your overall cooling bill will be.
• Turn your thermostat higher when you are not home. When you are home set your temperature to 78 degrees. Another great option is a programmable thermostat.
• Do not set your thermostat at a colder setting than normal when you turn on your air conditioner. It will not cool your home any faster and could result in excessive cooling and unnecessary expense.

Use ceiling fans to cool your home

• Using a ceiling fan in conjunction your are conditioning while allow you to set your thermostat 4 degrees higher than with out it.
• Ceiling fans don’t cool rooms the cool people so turn it off when you are not in the room.
• Consider an Energy Star rated ceiling fan

Maintain your Air Conditioners efficiency

• Schedule regular maintenance for your cooling equipment.
• Keep Lamps, Televisions and other appliances away from your thermostat. it will sense the heat form your appliances which can cause your air conditioner to run longer.
• Keep  furniture and other object from blocking you registers that can restrict air flow. Vacuum registers regularly to remove any dust buildup.

Appliances and Lighting are heating your home

• On hot days, avoid using the oven; cook on the stove, use a microwave oven, or grill outside.
• Install efficient lighting that runs cooler such as Compact Florescent Bulbs. Only about 10%–15% of the electricity that incandescent lights consume results in light—the rest is turned into heat.
• Take advantage of daylight instead of artificial lighting, but avoid direct sunlight.
• Wash only full loads of dishes and clothes. Consider air drying both dishes and clothing.
• Taking Short Showers instead of baths. This will reduce the humidity in your house and will feel cooler.
• On hotter days avoid activities during the day that generate heat, such as running a dishwasher or burning an open flame.

Keep the Hot Air Out of your House

• Seal cracks and openings to prevent warm air from leaking into your home.
• Add caulk or weather stripping to seal air leaks around leaky doors and windows.

With these simple tips you could save a significant amount of energy and add it to your bottom line.

Please submit your energy saving tips.

Technorati Tags: air conditioner, appliances, energy costs, Energy Saving Tips

Not so fast, this little cost effective energy saving device will set you back $80. That means to replace all four bulbs in my dining room chandelier will be a total of $320. I use my dining room as and example because of all the lights in the house this one is on more than any other. It connects the living room to the kitchen and is a high traffic area.

What is and LED?

LED stands for light-emitting diode. Low light emitting diodes have been around since the 1960s in one form or another. It is a semiconductor chip that emits light. Used in everything from flash lights to appliance they have many advantages. The most prominent is low power usage and long life. The problem until recently is they just have not been bright enough or economical to be used for light bulbs.

If you really would like to purchase these amazing light bulbs they can be found at Earthled.  Here  is a what they claim.

1. Light Output Comparable to a 100 Watt Incandescent
2. Crisp, Room-Filling Light with CRI > 75
3. Lasts for over 50,000 Hours
4. Costs under $6.00 to run per YEAR. Save Hundreds!
5. Active Thermal Management: Runs Cool, Stays Cool
6. Contains no Mercury or Hazardous Substances
7. Will Not Shatter
8. No Flickering, No Headaches
9. 2 Year Warranty & 30 Day Money Back Guarantee!
10. UL Listed, FCC Approved

If they truly is no flicker as they claim it may actually be a real alternative to CFL (compact fluorescent) bulbs. I tried to install these in the bathroom. My wife hated them and made me put back the old fashion bulbs. The reason was the strange light that  seemed to make you dizzy. The dizziness must be from the flickering. IT does not seems to bother the family in a more open space.

According to the website it will save you $25/yr per bulb over a 100 watt incandescent bulb, including the purchase of the bulb and electricity.That means I would have to spend $320 for the dinning room to save $100 over a year.

Electricity Cost Comparison

Your electricity costs may very. I used a Kilowatt hour cost of  0.07649 and the bulbs are on for 8 hours. The calculator I used can be found here.

100 watt incandescent bulb

• Cost Per Hour: $0.007649
• Cost Per Day: $0.061192
• Cost Per Week: $0.428
• Cost Per Month: $1.71
• Cost Per Year: $22.27

13 watt LED bulb

• Cost Per Hour:$0.000994
• Cost Per Day:$0.007955
• Cost Per Week:$0.056
• Cost Per Month:$0.22
• Cost Per Year:$2.90

As you can see the LED will actually save me nearly $20 a year. But at that rate it will 4 years to recoup the cost of the bulb.

Although these LED bulbs seem like a a good choice and probably offer beter light color and brightness. They just don’t make sense at this price. A better option would be the Compact Fluorecnet Light Bulbs. They may not have the same bright light and do have a little flicker. But used in the right places Hallways, over kitchen sinks or shower lights the make good economical sense.

Technorati Tags: energy saving device, leds, light bulbs

As I sit here writing this I look around our living room the following are in use. 6 – light bulbs (2 in the living room, and 4 over the kitchen table) 2 – computers and a television. In the background I hear the dishwasher, that is probably running for the second time today. I might as well empty what is left in my wallet right down the toilet.

Even though this might seem like a lot, there is a good chance that there is more lights and energy sucking devices littered through out the house. I am willing to bet that if I go downstairs there will be at least one light and the big screen T.V. and possibly the video game that my son was going to return and play in ‘Just a few Minutes’ turned on.

I am sure my family is like just like any other. Our kids are good kids and try to do the right things. They just seem to go brain dead a fewtimes a day. That is when began to try and find a way to break these nasty money wasting habits. I came across this great idea to help to save the planet and our money. But of course as they say in the ‘Green Life’ it takes money to save money. In the end I hope it will help us all become more conscious of the costs of leaving lights on when we are not in the room.

The energy saving plan.

I read this somewhere on the Internet I would love to give credit where it is due but I cannot remember where.

Start with a jar of quarters, about 40 dollars worth. Then explain to the family the money in the jar can be used for anything they want. Pizza, bowling or maybe a movie.

The catch is every time my wife or myself find a light or an electrical appliance turned on and unattended we can take one quarter out of the jar.

At the end of the month if there is at least twenty dollars left we can use it for whatever they agree upon.  To offer even more encouragement If they catch me they can put one dollar back in the jar.

That’s what I call negative reinforcement. I think this will be some fun for use and  truly expect that that there will been a fun night  in our future. I will be sure to report back the findings.

Technorati Tags: appliances, enegry saving, light bulbs