Energy Savings Tip

[[JiF]KellysHero]

Last month I went around the house and unplugged any appliances or electronics that I don't commonly use. The big ones I unplugged were my stereo receiver, VCR, subwoofer, DVD player, and I've been a little more apt to turn off the computer if I'm not going to be on in a day or two. I think just turning those shaved about $5-7 off my monthly bill. It's been relatively comfortable so I haven't had to use either heat or ac up until recently and I don't have a good baseline, but the bill had been the lowest I had ever seen it. Granted I should be looking at actual energy use to be more accurate, but I doubt rates have gone down!

They say just to put the not so often used appliances and equipment on switchable powers strips for easy power on and offs and save a little.

[Graham Cracka]

Good tip. You might be interested in this little gadget. I don't have one, but I am thinking about getting one to see how much my extra freezer is costing me.
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/ ... _200343851

[[JiF]Mike]

I have a kill-a-watt meter...it very interesting but scary at times! Since April we have dropped our monthly power usage from just over 1200 kWhrs to 847 kWhrs. Our April bill was over $200 which shocked me...it had never been that high. I turn off my PC every night and I try to keep other things off when not in use, but in April we weren't as good about it. I've since become pretty crazy about keeping things off when no one is using, and I typically find something on everyday that shouldn't be...but overall we're doing well. We also switched to high efficiency laundry soap to go with our high efficiency washer/dryer. It made a big difference in energy use! I also went around and replaced our bulbs with dimmable fluorescents where needed, (this took a while cause they were expensive) and regular fluorescents in normal lights. All these changes were small by themselves but this months bill was the lowest it's been in a long time. Now if I can just find a way to consolidate the 7 pc's I typically have turned on during the day at home....problem is they all serve some function atm! lol

[[JiF]KellysHero]

You brought up some good points Mike. I've also switched out a lot of my bulbs to compact florescent's as well. I didn't know they had ones you can dim. Also may look into one of those meters too.

[Graham Cracka]

We also switched to high efficiency laundry soap to go with our high efficiency washer/dryer. It made a big difference in energy use!

What is high efficiency laundry soap? I have never heard of it. Or are you pulling my leg?

[[JiF]Djsmg]

We also switched to high efficiency laundry soap to go with our high efficiency washer/dryer. It made a big difference in energy use!

What is high efficiency laundry soap? I have never heard of it. Or are you pulling my leg?

Mike isn't joking, we use it too...

http://www.tide.com/en_US/he/forumHE.jsp

Quoted from their detergent area:


"All detergents are formulated to freshen, remove odors, and hold soils suspended in the water away from fabrics.

HE detergents create few suds and disperse quickly to help get the best cleaning performance with only 20% to 66% of the amount of water used in traditional machines.*

And HE detergents were actually developed by home appliance engineers and detergent scientists. The result: an effective cleaning system.

Traditional detergents are formulated to get the same cleaning power with high water washes; they aren't created to work well in low water.

* Source: SDA"

[[JiF]Djsmg]

Another thing that we did is purchase natural gas appliances (dryer, stove) and a front load washer. But I still have an old freezer that I am sure is not the most efficient but am waiting to replace it when it finally croaks with a more efficient model.

[[JiF]Mike]

Yep it exists as Djsmg says. Our washer was running about 30-40 minutes longer than it does now to get rid of the extra suds made by normal laundry detergent. I don't know why we got away from the HE detergent we used when we first got the new washer/dryer...it does say right in the manual to use HE laundry soap to reduce power usage. Anyway..this was the first full month of use, and I think the one we use now is a new better one from Tide. It's very concentrated and we only use a tiny bit. When I saw the amount to use per load I said no way is that enough lol. Works great though!

[Sir Die-a-lot]

You brought up some good points Mike. I've also switched out a lot of my bulbs to compact florescent's as well. I didn't know they had ones you can dim. Also may look into one of those meters too.

It's nice to save energy with those bulb but be sure to also save the environment when comes the time to dispose of them. Those power saving bulb contain mercury and cannot be thrown in the regular trash but have to be recycled. Most big chain hardware store now take then back for recycling.

Think about it before tossing 'em in the garbage, energy wise and envorinment friendly please.

[Graham Cracka]

I guess I have just learned something new. . I will have to look for the HE detergents. Thanks for the tips guys.

[[JiF]corn]

Heck, I don't need HE laundry soap.
I only take baths once a month, no need to wash clothes when you can just keep wearin'em!

[[JiF]Djsmg]

Heck, I don't need HE laundry soap.
I only take baths once a month, no need to wash clothes when you can just keep wearin'em!

can we change your name to [JiF]Uncle Stinky? Oh wait... that won't work

[seadogs]

there is one thing i fail to understand. When i was on holiday in Canada and the USA combined i saw adverts for energy effiecent (sp?) cars... of highs of 30MpG (US Gallons there obv...) but to me that isn't EF... i mean our diesels at home here in the UK do like 50+ and some petrols do 40odd if you drive them well...

maybe its just me.. but hey, i cant see how a 2L sports car is EF.. but never mind!

[Shalghar]

Seems as if europe is a bit more into energy and fuel efficiency but with prices for gasoline as high as about 1,5 euros and above for one liter (not gallon!) of gas that´s no wonder.

One thing: if you need only spotlight then LED might be your light of choice. Problems with LED is a very focused light and in comparision to normal bulbs not very bright but with a consumption of about 1 watt what do you expect?

We´ve got mixed lighting at home. Bulbs (halogen) were light is needed bright and fast, flourescents in the terrariums and where light may take its time to shine up in full intensity and LED were fast but not very broad light is acceptable. Still have to pay hefty sums every month to the energy-oligopol (4 big players, all the same prices, all "synchronized" pricing, etc.).

If you still have got electric heating, then better insulation is a key to save money. We´ve "upgraded" form normal carpet flooring to insualated laminate and though it´s getting cold outside already, the warmth of 3 computers and 2 terrariums is enough to keep the room comfortable. Didn´t work out with carpet floor before.

[[JiF]LtWaterboy]

The funny thing about our 2x laundry detergent, you can't use it on the HE wash machines....

Unless you have the HE washers with the option of "extra rinse cycle"... or just be smart enuff not to use a bunch!!

kinda defeats the purpose of the HE then, huh???

LT