|
Energy Conservation Sites |
|
| Home Energy Saver
Audit/Calculator
http://hes.lbl.gov/
|
A
Do-It-Yourself home energy audit Fill in details on your home
location, size, construction, etc. The calculator estimates
your current energy use, makes recommendations on changes and
estimates the cost saving and pollution benefits. |
| An Interactive Tool for
Saving Energy at Home
Interactive Home Energy Saving Tool
|
A
cute new tool from Energy Star that identifies energy saving
tips on a room by room basis.
You can give to your kids, and let them nag you into making some
energy saving changes to make the planet better for them. |
| Energy Savers from DOE
EERE site
http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/tips/
Energy Tips from EERE (2.7MB pdf) |
"Energy
Savers" for home owners (insulation, appliances, lighting, ...)
energy saving advice. The Energy Tips 36 page booklet is good. |
| Home Energy Briefs --
Rocky Mountain Institute
Home Energy Briefs:
http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid119.php
You will need to go thru a painless registration before
downloading these pdf documents. |
These
are good, practical guides on energy saving that (I believe)
exhibit a high level of technical accuracy (a rarity), and can
provide good guidance on which energy saving changes are most
cost effective. The guides are very straightforward and
readable. There are other places that offer more detailed
information on every subject, but this is a really good place to
start.
Titles:
Building Envelope
Lighting
Space Cooling
Space Heating
Water Heating
Cleaning Appliances (washers, dryers, ...)
Electronics
Kitchen Appliances
Whole System Design |
| Energy Star Home Energy
Yardstick
http://www.energystar.gov
|
A
helpful and easy to use Energy Star calculator you can use to
see how your homes energy efficiency compares to others in your
area. |
| Energy Star
Energy Star Ratings ... |
Energy
ratings and energy use for appliances. Energy advice and
online audit for homes. Energy star appliances and homes.
In my view, the Energy Star program could be more aggressive,
but its certainly a good place to start. For example, they have
no plans to require more efficient refrigerators until 2012 at
the earliest -- let them know you would like to see a more
aggressive approach. |
Energy Star Rebates
Finder
and Federal Tax Credits InformationFind rebates in your
area:
http://www.energystar.gov
Federal Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency:
http://www.energystar.gov
|
Two
helpful items from the Energy Star website:
The first finds rebates on a large variety of energy saving
projects. Enter your zip code, and Energy Star returns a list
of available rebates in your area. This is hard to find
on the EStar site, so keep the link.
The 2nd is a detailed list of the federal government tax
credits. |
| American Council for an
Energy-Efficient Economy
http://www.aceee.org/Consumer/consumer.htm
|
Most energy efficient
appliances of all types. Energy saving tips and information. |
Natural Gas Appliance
Calculator,
Wisconsin Public Service
www.wisconsinpublicservice.com/home/appcalc_gas.asp
|
Very
handy calculator for estimating gas use as cost for the common
gas appliances. |
Saving Electricity,
Michael Bluejay
http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/
|
This
is a good site on saving electricity. It provides in depth
information on what uses electricity, how much it uses, ideas
for saving, and good ways to estimate how much you will save for
each idea. |
| HEED
http://www2.aud.ucla.edu/heed/
Additional documentation:
http://www2.aud.ucla.edu/energy-design-tools/papers.html
|
This
is very easy to use, yet very capable simulation software for
estimating the energy/thermal performance of a passive solar or
conventional home. Weather files for over 500 worldwide
locations. It can be used to evaluate the benefits of adding
insulation or other energy conserving features. Its a free
download. |
| EFI -- Energy
Federation Incorporated
http://www.efi.org/about.html
|
EFI
supplies a wide variety of energy conservation products at what
appear to be reasonable prices -- including this "Comfy Critter
Draft Dodger".
Lights, sealers, thermostats, ...
Some nice kid products on the Educational page.
|
| Eco Renovator The
forum is here:
http://ecorenovator.org/forum/
The blog/website is here:
http://ecorenovator.org/ |
A
personal site with many interesting articles on a wide range of
conservation, efficiency, green house gas, and solar projects.
And, a discussion forum.
Quite a few DIY projects. |
|
Insulating and Weatherizing Guides and Projects |
|
Insulation Upgrade Cost Saving Calculator |
Calculate
how much money and greenhouse gas you would save with various
insulation, window, or window treatment upgrades. |
A Do-It-Yourself Guide
To Energy Star Home Sealing
Energy Star Home Sealing Guide... (2 MB pdf)
Leaky ducts may lose
lose 15% to 30% of your heated or cooled air ----
more on duct sealing
NEW!
Don't use duct tape for sealing -- example ... |
This
is a very well done guide to sealing up air leaks in your home.
Lots of good how-to pictures.
A couple small add-ons I would make:
- Replacing older can lights so that you can insulate right over
them is a fairly easy DIY job -- it has the advantages of both
reducing heat loss to the attic and getting some heat gain from
the can light to the room.
- The method they give for determining if you have enough
insulation is goofy. Instead, use the
Insulation Upgrade Calculator or one of the online
insulation guides to determine if your insulation is sufficient
for your climate.
- For insulating over existing insulation, I like blown in
cellulose. Its easy, insulates very well, is resistant to air
currents flowing through it (see study below), and is easy on
the planet. |
| Insulate and Weatherize
Bruce Harley |
Very,
very good book on techniques for improving home insulation,
reducing air infiltration, and sealing ductwork. The most
complete and technically correct reference I have found. |
Home Remedies for
Energy Nosebleeds,
Bruce Harley, Fine Homebuilding, Issue 190
How to get articles from Fine Homebuilding ...
|
Fine
Homebuilding Magazine, Nov 2007, Issue 190. A good article by
Bruce Harley (author of the book just above) about finding and
fixing particularly bad energy wasting defects in your house.
These are the kinds of things that can raise your heat bill by
50% or more. |
Insulation Guides --
Building a well insulated and Tight Shell for Your Home
The DOE-EERE Insulation Guide Series:
Insulation Overview (pdf 2MB)
Insulating Ceilings/Attics (pdf 0.1MB)
Wall Framing (pdf 0.8MB)
Insulating Walls (pdf 0.8MB)
Insulating Basements (pdf 0.2MB)
Insulating Crawl Spaces (pdf 0.2MB)
Insulating Slabs (pdf 0.2MB)
Window Selection (pdf 0.5 MB)
Air Sealing (pdf 0.2MB)
Weather Barriers (pdf 0.2MB)
|
This
is a good and up-to-date series of guides from DOE-EERE site for
building an outer shell on your home that minimizes heat
transfer.
I guess my one bit of advice would be to go a bit further than
they recommend for your climate, because experience shows that
in a while (as fuel prices climb) they will be recommending
higher levels.
Other DOE-EERE publications here:
www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/info/publications.html |
| Urban Options --
UrbanOptions.org
http://www.urbanoptions.org/ ...
|
A
very good guides for decreasing air infiltration and improving
insulation. Well written and detailed. Plus a nice energy
saving check list for the most important items. |
|
Insulation Fact Sheet (pdf) Fairbanks University
Cooperative Extension Service
|
A very good
table providing information on all the common (and not so
common) types of insulation. R values, application
suitability, pro/con, max service temperature, ...
Very Useful, and, as far as I can see, unbiased (which is
hard to find in insulation info on the Internet). |
Insulating Your Old
House, (A wall insulation how-to)
Laren Corie,
ESSN Newsletter, Aug 2005
http://www.rebelwolf.com/essn/ESSN-Aug2005.pdf
|
This
is a good article by Laren Corie in the Aug 2005 issue of the
ESSN Newsletter.
It describes in detail how to insulate existing walls with
cellulose insulation.
The ESSN news letter, while not published anymore has some very
good articles in its online archive -- all free downloads.
http://www.rebelwolf.com/essn.html |
|
Insulating Existing Walls with Blown In Insulation
Gary
|
Some
collected information on how-to blow insulation into your
existing walls. |
| Duct Losses Hurt Forced
Air Heating System Performance, Oikos Green Building Source
http://oikos.com/esb/28/duct_losses.html
|
Good
article describing findings on forced air duct systems showing
that a 30% loss in heating and cooling efficiency due to duct
leaks and poor duct insulation is typical.
Five bucks for a can of duct mastic and a half a days work could
save you a lot on heating fuel and green house gas emissions.
See the sealing guides in this section or the Harley book for
how to do the sealing. |
| More on Duct Sealing
AeroSEAL Duct Sealing System
http://www.aeroseal.com/index.html
|
This
is a process for sealing ducts that works for the inside. It
will reach areas of the duct system that are built into walls or
otherwise inaccessible.
Here is a comment from the Greenbuilding
Discussion Group (
http://www.buildinggreen.com/elists/gb_signup.cfm ):
"I have sealed many duct systems by removing the
grills/registers and using UL-181 duct mastic on all the joints
I can reach. I then seal everything accessible at the furnace
that is accessible. Most of the time I get to below 6%
(California code for new ducts) without touching anything else.
If I don't get below 6% then I go to the duct runs that are
accessible. Only very large duct systems, and those with ducts
buried I can't get below 6%, but I'm usually close.
I know the person who developed Aroseal, you have to do some
manual work anyway with larger holes (grills/registers ?) and
you will only get as tight as the operator has time to sit
around pumping more sealant into the ducts. It is a great
process for inaccessible duct systems that can't be sealed
otherwise." |
Advanced Air Sealing,
Oikos
http://www.oikos.com/library/airsealing/index.html
|
This
is quite a detailed and helpful guide on how to seal various
joints and penetrations. Some of these techniques can only be
used during construction, but some can be used on an existing
house.
|
| Home Energy Checklist
From the Energy and Environmental Building Association
http://www.eeba.org/resources/publications/hec/index.html
|
Good
checklist of steps to take to reduce energy consumption in your
house or apartment. The "Myths" are almost as useful as the
checklist items.
|
| Home Energy Projects
http://www.southface.org
|
Home
Energy Projects -- Good, detailed guide on DIY energy
conservation projects. Written for Alabama, but many projects
are good for anywhere. " An Energy Conservation Guide for
Do-It-Yourselfers - 1.3mb pdf file. This book was created for
the state of Alabama with information that applies throughout
the southeast U.S. Home Energy Projects contains 86-pages and
outlines 25 energy conservation projects, in order of priority,
that can be performed by do-it-yourselfers. Contains how-to
instructions" |
|
All About Insulation
DanChiras
Mother Earth News
http://www.motherearthnews.com |
Mother
Earth News Article, Issue 194 Good rundown on the various
types of insulation available and their insulating, health, and
environmental characteristics. |
Spray Foam -- What Do
You Really Know?,
Bob Yagid, Fine Homebuilding, June 2009
How to get articles from Fine Homebuilding ... |
A
Fine Homebuilding article explaining the two type of spray foam
insulation. |
|
Save Energy and Money Now
Mother Earth News
http://www.motherearthnews.com |
Mother Earth News
Article, Issue 188 Article outlines a number of practical
steps to reduce your homes energy consumption. |
|
Are You Insulated
Edward Harland
Mother Earth News
www.motherearthnews.com |
Mother
Earth News Article, Issue 153
Pretty good article on insulating existing
houses. Good for a starter, but get the Harley book before you
tackle the actual project. |
| Air Sealing From
Southface at: www.Southface.org
Air Sealing Guide (139K pdf) |
Good,
detailed guide on sealing houses to reduce air infiltration.
From the Southface website -- other good material on this site. |
| Operation Caulk -- Air
Sealing Procedure for DC Habitat For Humanity Duplex Houses
Operation Caulk (200K pdf)
|
A
good and detailed guide on sealing to reduce air infiltration.
While the guide is intended for new construction, some of the
steps can be taken on an existing house.
From:
http://www.greenhome.org/index.htm |
Attic Insulation
Upgrade,
Mike Guertin, Fine Homebuilding, January 2009
How to get articles from Fine Homebuilding ... |
A
good article from Fine Homebuilding on adding insulation to the
attic. Lots of emphasis and detail on sealing before
insulation, which is very important -- careful sealing of air
leaks may save more energy than the insulation. |
Airtight Attic Access,
Mike Guertin, Fine Homebuilding, July 2002 issue 148
How to get articles from Fine Homebuilding ... |
Fine
Homebuilding article shows a design for a double door access
into the attic. Attic access hatches can be a HUGE large heat
loss -- they ae often poorly insulated and very leaky. This is
a simple way to make sure yours is not. |
Attic Venting, Attic
Moisture and Ice Dams,
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca
|
Good
fact sheet on what to do about wet attics and ice dams. |
| Radiant Barriers From
Southface at southface.org
Radiant Barrier Guide (21K pdf) |
Good
guide on how radiant barriers work, what to expect in the way of
savings, and how to install. Other good materials on the
Southface website. |
How to Install Radiant
Barrier Foil Insulation,
AtticFoil.com
http://www.atticfoil.com/foilinstallpics.htm
|
This
is a detailed and well written set of instructions on how to
install a radiant barrier.
This same outfit sells a "heavyweight" aluminum foil material
for about 12 cents a sf. |
| Blower Door Testing
From the Southface.org website
Blower Door Test Guide (50K pdf) |
Good
guide on how blower door testing and duct blast testing can be
used to test for the level of air infiltration your house if
experiencing. |
| DOE Insulation Fact
Sheet
www.ornl.gov/sci/roofs+walls/insulation/ins_01.html
|
Advice on where to
insulate, what to insulate with, and installation advice.
Recommendations on insulation levels that are dependant on
climate and construction type. |
| Crawl Space Insulation
http://www.advancedenergy.org
|
Closed
(unvented) crawl spaces can reduce heat loss, but have to be
done correctly. This site has lots of detailed information on
how to decide on whether to close your crawl space, and how to
do it. |
| Filling A Floor With
Bat Insulation Energy Source Builder Newsletter, April 1995
http://www.oikos.com/esb/38/floorinsulation.html |
How
to add insulation under your floor. Uninsulated floor can be a
major source of heat loss. |
| Sources of Air
Infiltration Energy Source Builder #45, June 1996,
http://www.oikos.com/esb/45/airleakage.html
|
Tells
you where the cold air is coming from. |
| Retrofitting Insulation
to Existing Homes
Retrofit Insulation in Existing Wooden Walls (pdf)
Retrofit Insulation in Wood Roofs (pdf)
Retrofit Insulation in Concrete and Masonry Walls (pdf)
Alaska Building Research Series HCM-01552,3, and 4 |
This series of three papers shows some techniques for
retrofitting insulation to existing walls, roofs, and
concrete/masonry walls.
Good construction details.
These are not the only ways to retrofit insulation to walls,
and may not be appropriate for all climates -- but, may be
perfect for some situations. |
|
Mooney Wall
|
A
way to retrofit a high R value, low thermal bridging, and high
infiltration resistance wall.
Mooney wall details ...
Another example of using the Mooney wall ... |
| Comparison of
Fiberglass and Cellulose Insulation in Identical Test Homes
FG to Cellulose Compare (0.2MB pdf)
|
Heat Loss test for two
small test homes, one insulated with fiberglass and the other
with Cellulose insulation.
Cellulose showed more resistance to infiltration and better R
value than fiberglass. |
| Convection Losses in
Loose Fill Fiberglass Insulation
http://www.homeenergy.org
More on this:
http://www.foam-tech.com/theory/rvaluedrift.htm
|
ORNL
test on loose fill Fiberglass attic insulation shows a loss in
R value of as much as 50% for cold outside temperatures. This
loss is due to convection currents within the FG insulation.
Cellulose insulation was also tested, and does not show this
loss. |
| Cheating -- The Insulation
Industry's Dirty Secret
www.homeenergy.org/...
|
An
article from Home Energy magazine on cheating in the insulation
industry. Sad but important reading for everyone. This is a
good reason to 1) do it yourself, or 2) really understand what
insulating is about, and make sure the contractor knows that you
will check on his/her work. |
| Insulation Under Concrete Slabs
www.blueridgecompany.com/ ... (pdf)
|
Good
article on under slab insulation for radiant heated floors.
Compares three types of insulation to no insulation.
Rigid foam insulations do well, but the bubble pack style of
insulation is worthless. |
| Attic Tent
http://www.attictent.com/product.htm
|
Pull
down attic stairways are notorious for air leaks. This $200
commercial product seals up the attic stairway in what looks
like an effective way.
It seems like a DIY version would also be possible. If you do a
home made one, please let
me know. Or, maybe you have an alternative way of sealing? |
| DIY version of "Attic
Tent"
Details ...
|
Here
is an easy to build means to cut heat loss through the pull down
attic stairway opening.
Details ... |
| Preventing
Stratification With High Ceilings Heat Harvester:
www.sunpipe.co.uk
|
Homes
or buildings with high ceilings can result in lots of hot air
near the ceiling. The "Heat Harvester" (or a ceiling fan) can
keep the air mixed up and save some heat.
Note that high ceilings don't always result in stratification,
so check to make sure you really need one of these
here ... |
|
Insulating Window
Treatments |
|
Making Your Own
Interior Storm Windows,
From Paul
Full Details ...
|
Paul
provides a good detailed set of instructions on how to design,
build, and install inside Acrylic storm windows.
|
|
Multi-Wall Polycarbonate Inside Storm Window
Gary |
These
Multi-Wall polycarbonate inside storm window panels offer
high R values, easy build, easy install, and are reasonable
in price. Great for windows of irregular shape. Full
How-To instructions provided. |
Building Interior
Window Insulation Panels,
from Guy Marsden's sustainable living website
www.arttec.net/Thermal-Windows/index.html
You can use
this calculator to see the payback period for these windows
--
for me it turns out to be about 3/4s or one heating season! |
Very
nice set of plans for double pane interior storm window that can
be made for about $1 per sqft.
As usual, Guy offers a very detailed and clear set of
instructions. These are somewhat similar to the ones I made
from Mylar (just below), so you can compare the two and see
which will work best for you.
|
| Dual Pane Mylar Film
Inside Storm Windows
How-To Picture Plans ...
|
Picture
plans for making an dual pane inside storm window with an R
value of 2.
The Mylar is quite clear, and the thermal performance with
two panes is about twice as good as a typical single pane storm
window.
Here is an example of a commercial kit to build a similar
dual layer interior storm window -- there may be many others.
About 5X the cost, but it looks like a good design.
NEW
Life of Mylar inside storm windows ... |
|
Simple, Clear Acrylic Inside Storm Windows |
Very
simple inside Acrylic storm windows. Absolutely clear and
non-distorting.
They return 50%+ on your tax free, inflation protected
investment, and may qualify for rebates in your state. And,
save 100+lbs of greenhouse gas emissions per year for a typical
window!
NEW --
Large window example... |
| Plans Inside Storm
Window
www.hammerzone.com
Another inside storm window how-to:
http://historichomeworks.com
|
Plans
for a simple inside storm window made from poly film.
Clear vinyl film might give a little more clear a
view.
Another film option would be the shrink film that a number of
companies sell for
inside storm windows. I understand that shrink film can be
purchased in bulk at artist supply places, and that the price is
much lower. |
|
Bubble Wrap Window Insulation
New Installation Instruction Sheet (8/15/06)
AND, The Card Board Shutter
Based on the popularity of this Bubble Wrap
window treatment, here is a Cardboard Shutter |
A
really cheap and quick way to insulate windows that you don't
need a clear view out of. Added some small updates to
instructions 11/13/05.
Instruction sheet added 8/15/06
Reported life of bubble wrap added 2/27/07
Another
cheap (but very effective) window insulator
Card Board Shutter --> |
| The half insulating
shutter -- light + insulation
Details... |
The
idea is to put high Rvalue rigid insulation foam board over part
of the window while leaving the top part uncovered to allow
light in.
It seems like this is a nice combination of light, view, and
insulation? Full length insulating shutters can still be used
over the panel at night. |
Insulating Shutter
Condensation Calculator,
Dave
Window Condensation Calculator ... |
Loose
fitting insulating window treatments can lead to condensation
buildup on the window. The problem depends on room humidity,
outside temperature, and the window and insulating window
treatment R values. Dave has worked out a very nice
Window Condensation Calculator to determine if you are
likely to have a problem.
Note that tight fitting insulating treatments that don't allow
much air circulation between window and treatment won't have
this problem. Thank you Dave! |
| 3M type shrink fit
window films
http://www.amazon.com/ ...
|
This
window film is widely available at hardware stores. You put
double back tape (included) on the window frame, then apply the
film onto the tape, then use a hair dryer to shrink it tight.
In addition to adding about R1, it can be helpful in stopping
drafts. But, it is normally applied in such a way that you
can't open the window. Removing it will destroy it.
There is a very slight distortion of the view out the film.
Cost is about 30 cents/sqft. Life claimed is one year, but I
think it will go at least 2 if you leave it in place. |
| Insulating Window Quilt
-- from the Econigics site
http://www.econogics.com/busys/wnquilt.htm
|
A
simple DIY scheme for making highly effective insulating window
quilts. |
|
Thermal Cover-Ups: Part II
Mother Earth News
www.motherearthnews.com
|
Mother
Earth News Article, Issue 85 Jan/Feb 1984 Good description of
internal shutters made from foam board.
Be sure to consider the flammability of the materials that
you use for this project. |
|
$15 Rollup Insulating Window Shade ...
Doug Kalmer |
This
is a homemade thermal shade design that Doug Kalmer uses in his
passive solar home.
The $15 rollup window shade made from Reflectix insulation.
How to make it...
See all of
Doug's solar projects ... |
| Ray's Insulating Roman
Shades
Full Details ... |
These
insulating shades use two outer layers of insulating fabric with
a layer of reflective aluminum spaced between.
They are reported to result in significant reduction in heating
fuel used, and they look good too.(Thanks
very much to Ray for providing the details) |
| High R Value Inside
Bi-Fold Shutters
Details ... |
Inside
shutters that look good and have a very high R value. |
| Warm Window Insulating
Shade System
http://www.warmcompany.com/wwpage.html
Very nice how-to guide to making their shades:
http://www.warmcompany.com/warmwindow/Warm.pdf
|
Warm
Window offers thermal shade material along with a number of
products that are helpful in making the shades.
The guide on making the shades appears to be very complete and
clear.
The guide claims an incremental R value of about +R6 for adding
a Warm Window shade -- even if this is exaggerated, it is very
good indeed. Magnetic strips make for good edge seals.
(Thanks to Angela for suggesting Warm Window.
She reports that the shades are easy to make, and work very
well) |
| Insulating Roman Shade
www.instructables.com/...
|
Nice
set of plans from Instructables for an insulating Roman Shade. |
|
Insulating a Sliding Glass Door
Gary |
This
describes an easy way to cut the heat loss through a sliding
glass door in half while still maintaining the sliding door
function. The payback period in cold climates is about one
half of a heating season. |
|
Guides to Selecting New or Replacement Windows |
If you are selecting windows for a
new house, or upgrading windows, take a look at this section.
|
| Thermal Shutters and
Shades William Shurcliff
See Table of Contents and Some Sections
|
Thermal
Shutters and Shades -- Over 100 Schemes for Reducing Heat Loss
Through Window. Published in 1980, but still the best book on
the subject. Out of print, but available on BookFinders.com or
Amazon.com used books (or the like). |
Seals: Some
Experimental Results,
Thermal Shutters and Shades,
William Shurcliff,
Details ... (pdf) |
This
is an excerpt from the very good book Thermal Shutters and
Shades, by Dr. William Shurcliff He did some tests to
determine how critical it is for insulating shutters to fit the
window precisely. He covers various combinations of edge gaps
and face gaps between the shutter and the window.
The somewhat surprising result is that you can be a little bit
sloppy without effecting the performance of the insulating
panel.
(thanks to Dr. Shurcliff for making this
available) |
| Keeping the pipes from freezing
when away
Full Details ...
|
Several
methods to keep the pipes from freezing in your home or vacation
home when you are away without burning fuel.
Includes plug in window solar collector/insulator panels, and a
plumbing drain system, and others...
Full details... |
| The Green Shutter --
for summer sun control
http://www.inhabitat.com/2006/03/08/green-shutter/
From Inhabitat
|
A
pretty neat design for a operable shutter with plants for sun
control. |
|
Window Shading |
|
| Window Shading Scheme
-- from the Econogics site
http://www.econogics.com/busys/shadecl.htm
|
This
is a pretty nice way to provide shading of windows on the
outside (where it is most effective). The shade cloth is held
in place with magnets and can easily be removed. |
|
Saving Energy While You Sleep |
|
|
Electric Mattress Pad
|
Electric
mattress pads consume little energy, and can allow substantial
bedroom temperature setbacks.
Much more efficient than traditional electric blankets.
This has a payback of well under one year for us!
Full Story |
| Sleep Genie -- A sleep
Compartment with AC
http://www.sunfrost.com/sleep_genie.html
From Sunfrost |
An
interesting concept to provide a comfortable, air-conditioned
environment in a limited space for sleeping comfort.
It saves the energy cost of needlessly air-conditioning a
large space when your are only occupying a small space. |
Heating Your Own Personal Space
Some times it just makes sense to heat your
own immediate personal space -- this can save a lot of energy
and result in increased comfort. |
| Kotatsu -- A Japanese
personal heater
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kotatsu
Making a Kotatsu... |
The
Kotatsu is a low table with a heat source mounted to the bottom
surface of the table and aimed down.
You sit with legs under the table, and with a blanket or futon
covering your lower body.
It is said to keep your entire body comfortable even when the
room temperature is low.
(Thanks to Nick Pine for suggesting this)
I guess that having a small space heater under your desk is a
less refined variation on this. |
| Heated Clothes
One maker of heated clothing...
|
These
are one version of battery powered, heated vests. The vest is
made with very rine, flexible heating wires through it. The
heat from the vest keeps your core temperature up, which
convinces your god that it can maintain good circulation to your
extremities, and this makes you feel warm all over even when the
room is to cool for comfort.
If you have had direct experience (good or bad)
with this or other heated clothing please
let me know... |
| The two ideas in the
section just above for sleeping also fall into this category. |
The Power Hogs
For most people, these will be things that
use the most power -- controlling them will cut most peoples
electricity use by half -- maybe more. |
|
The Power Hogs The list to the right
shows where most of your electricity goes.
Most people can cut their household electricity use in half at a
very low cost, and with a very fast payback ...
Cutting electricity use of a typical US home in half saves:
- 6000 KWH a year
- $600 a year in electric bills
- 6 tons of CO2 emissions
|
Refrigerators -- Old ones
(and even not so old) can use over 1200 KWH a year.
A new energy star 20 cubic feet can use as little as 400 KWH per
year.
A saving of 800 KWH per year -- maybe more.
|
Computers -- A PC plus
peripherals can use over 1000 KWH a year.
It is very easy and cheap to cut this by 80%.
|
Lighting -- Changing to
compact fluorescents can save over 1000 KWH per year.
|
TIVO -- and TIVO like digital
TV recorders. These devices are always on and consume around 50
watts 24/7, or about 500 KWH per year.
There is a new energy star program coming out on these -- I'd
hold off and wait for Energy Star models.
|
TV's -- Some TV's can use as
much as 450 watts! At 8 hours of TV a day, this is 1300 KWH a
year!
Use one of the lower power technologies (LCD or DLP). Look for
OLED TV's -- coming soon -- much lower power.
Article on this with power usage for many models ...
|
Washing and Drying -- A load
of cloths washed and rinsed in hot water, and then dried in an
electric dryer uses about 10 KWH! -- this is 3600 KWH a year
at one load per day. Most of this energy goes for heating
water.
Use cold wash/cold rinse and a solar dryer (cloths line) to cut
this to near drastically. Front loading washing machines also
help. |
Dumb Habits -- Just turning
things (lights, TV's, ...) off when you are not using them can
save several hundred KWH per year.
|
Phantom Loads -- Many
electronic gadgets (TV's, entertainment centers, microwaves,
chargers, ...) use power even when switched off.
This can save you several hundred KWH per year.
|
| More
Power Hogs -- some less common power hogs |
Radon Fans -- Radon
mitigation fans run 24/7 and can use up to 130 watts -- this
could amount to 1100 KWH per year.
This article advocates trying a passive system first, and
only going to a fan system if Radon test levels come back high.
Passive systems can easily be converted to active systems. If
an active system is needed, I would always try a small fan first
-- some are as low as 40 watts. |
| Hot Water Recirculation Pumps
-- These systems circulate hot water so that you always get
instant hot water even at taps very distant from the hot water
heater. The problem is that if you choose the wrong kind of
installation they can be horrible energy hogs --Would you believe $3200 worth of
wasted propane over 8 years? |
| Battery Powered Tool Chargers
-- Battery powered tools come with a charger that most people
just leave plugged in all the time -- if you own several of the
tools,
these idle chargers can add up to a significant phantom loads
... |
|
Energy Efficient Appliances |
|
| Energy Star
Energy Star Ratings ...
|
Energy
ratings and energy use for appliances. Energy advice and
online audit for homes. Energy star appliances and homes. In
my view, the Energy Star program could be more aggressive, but
its certainly a good place to start. For example, they have no
plans to require more efficient refrigerators until 2012 at the
earliest -- let them know you would like to see a more
aggressive approach. |
The Energy Smart
Kitchen,
Alex Wilson,
Fine Homebuilding Magazine, Issue 191, Oct 2007
How to get articles from Fine Homebuilding ... |
A
good Fine Homebuilding Magazine article on how to choose energy
efficient kitchen appliances, and which cooking technologies are
most efficient. |
| GAMA -- An Association
of Equipment Manufactuers
www.gamanet.org
|
This site provides energy
efficiency ratings for hundreds of furnaces and water heaters. |
|
Some Thoughts On Pilot Lights |
Some
thoughts on the energy used by pilots lights (surprisingly
large), and how to reduce or eliminate this. And, a rather
unusual strategy for heating your hot water with just the energy
from a pilot light. |
Gas Pilot Light energy
use
http://www.homeenergy.org
|
Article
studying gas use by pilots on gas fireplaces. A gas fireplace
pilot (and probably other gas pilots) use 7.3 therms of gas if
left on all year, and almost 100 lbs of greenhouse gas.(1)
Note that some sources report much higher gas use by pilots--
more like 5 therms per month (1)
Turning off pilots on gas appliances that are not going to be in
use for a while would be a good way to save some energy and
reduce greenhouse has emissions.
(1) Home Energy Magazine has corrected the 7.3 to 73 therms
here...
(Thanks to Ned for finding this) |
| Very Efficient Chest
Refrigerator
Chest Fridge Full Article (68K pdf)
This article is from the Mt Best -- Australia solar house
site:
http://mtbest.net/ A very interesting solar house with
several unique features, and a bit more info on the chest
fridge.
Another approach here:
http://eveningrainfarm.com/?p=5
Uses added thermal mass and a simple timer switch -- the thermal
mass is intended to allow the frig and inverter on an off grid
site to be turned off overnight to save the idle inverter load
on the batteries.
The thermostat shown on this page is reported to allow you to
use a chest freezer as a refrigerator with large energy saving:
Beer Fridge Thermostat
And, a digital one:
http://www.micromatic.com |
This
refrigerator, which is a converted chest type freezer uses only
about 0.1 KWH per day. See the article for details. Latest
update includes a design for a low standby power thermostat.
Apparently not all chest freezers are created equal, as some do
not report quite as dramatic an energy saving as Tom reported in
his paper -- so if you are getting a new chest freezer for this,
pick an efficient one to start with.
One person reported 0.3 KWH per day (108KWH/year) on a newer
Kenmore freezer that was EPA rated at 279KWH per year. So,
something like a quarter of a typical, similar size conventional
(upright) refrigerator seems easily achievable. |
| SunFrost Refrigerators
http://www.sunfrost.com/refrigerators_main.html
|
I
don't normally plug commercial products, but the energy
consumption of SunFrost is about 40% less than comparable new
refrigerators from the GE's and others.
So, why can't GE do this?
EnergyStar Fridge Ratings |
| Make a Fridge?
Description of the fridge making kit and instructions for making
a fridge from it ...
More Details (pdf)
Another kit fridge -- DIY System Kits:
http://www.rparts.com/Catalog/DIY_Kits/
|
This
is just a thought. NovaKool (maybe others?) offers a kit for
people who want to make their own fridges. It consists of a
compressor, evaporator, condenser, controls, and pre-charged
tubing -- all the guts of a fridge. It is intended for boat or
RV owners who want a built in fridge. It uses the DanFoss
compressor, which is reputed to be efficient.
If you wanted to make a very efficient fridge, this kit would
allow you allow you to build the box with as much insulation as
you want, it could be top opening, and the compressor could be
located in an optimal spot. On just a rough guess from their
specs, you might get down to 0.1 KWH per day for a very well
insulated 8 cubic foot fridge. Unfortunately the kit is not
cheap, but this still might pay well for off-grid PV users.
If anyone has tried this (or similar), please let me know how it
turned out --
Gary
Note -- see next entry for Ray's very nice example of using one
of these kits. |
| Build DC Powered
Refrigerator or Freezer! Full Construction Details:
www.raycotechnologies.org/...
|
This
is a really nicely done homemade refrigerator that uses a
refrigerator kit intended for custom refrigerators on boats.
Ray started with a 13 cuft conventional fridge. The existing
compressor/evaporator were removed, about 4 inches of rigid foam
insulation were added to the outside, then, an efficient DC
refrigeration unit (similar to the ones listed just above) is
installed to provide the cooling. The condenser coil and
compressor are located away from the fridge in the cool basement
for more efficient operation.
The fridge uses about 100 KWH per year -- about one quarter what
an Energy Start fridge of the same size would use!
This would make a very efficient off-grid refrigerator that
could run directly from the battery bank.
Ray has a lot of other
interesting projects on his site ... |
Hot Water, Cold Beer
Doug |
Doug's
homemade heat pump that efficiently cools his beer kegs and
heats domestic hot water. Its a heat pump that pumps heat out
of the beer and into the domestic hot water tank.
All the details ... |
| Cold Weather Passive
Assist Refrigerator
http://www.sunfrost.com/passive_refrig.html
|
A
refrigerator design that takes advantage of cold outside air to
reduce energy consumption. |
| Passive
Refrigerator/Icebox
http://fourmileisland.com/IceBox.htm
Note: I am guessing there is a significant learning curve
attached to getting one of these operating well. |
This
frig uses a well insulated 300 gallon water/ice container that
is cooled by an outdoor finned tube baseboard unit to supply
year round refrigeration with no energy use. No moving parts.
Other interesting projects on the same site.
|
| Recovering Dryer Heat
|
A lot of heat is wasted by cloths
dryers that take house air, add energy to it, blow it through
the cloths, and then exhaust the heated air outside.
I have seen schemes that range from just venting the dryer to
the inside of the house with a nylon sock tied over the end for
lint control (dry climates only), up to the pretty exotic
dryer heat exchanger offered (in Europe) by Electrolux.
SAFETY NOTE: If you have a gas dryer, BE
CAREFUL with what you do with the exhaust, since it has
combustion products from the gas flame.
Also, be very careful to check for
moisture problems... |
| A More Efficient Shower
http://www.sunfrost.com/efficient_shower.html
|
A
shower idea that reduces heat losses and air currents so that
you can have a comfortable shower with less water that is less
hot.
Interesting story and prototype. |
|
A collection of cloths line ideas ... |
Drying
clothes with a gas or electric dryer is energy intensive. Here
are some ideas on clotheslines and other solutions.
Where, what kind, experiences, ... |
| Building A Cloths
Drying Rack
http://www.handymanwire.com/articles/rack.html
|
Plans
for a simple wood cloths drying rack. Save about about 2.3 KWH
per dryer load -- $90 and 1600 lbs of CO2 per year. |
| Solar Clothes Drying
(the clothesline)
http://www.burkesbackyard.com.au/ ...
|
Plans
for a clothes drying rack that can be raised or lowered. |
| Umbrella Rack Style
Cloths Dryer
Hills Clotheslines
http://www.acehardware.com/...
|
Several
people have asked about these, and they seem to be hard to
locate -- so here is one. Have no idea how good it is.
Seems like one could build one? |
Power Saving Ideas
Some simple ideas that can save lots of power |
|
| Timers and Motion
Switches
Details ..
|
Some
ways to use motion switches and timers to save electricity and
to foil your kids attempt to drive you nuts by leaving stuff on
all over.
Details ...
<-- Picture to left shows chargers on a timer
-- 170 KWH and 300 lbs of CO2 saving a year
|
| 24 Hour Timers to Turn
Stuff Off at Night (or whenever)
|
Use
an inexpensive 24 hour timer to turn off things that you don't
want to run at night. You can also plug a power strip into the
timer, and turn off multiple items with one timer, or some
timers have more than one outlet.
Turning off 15 watts for 12 hrs a day, 365 days a year is worth
70 KWH -- about $7, and 140 lbs of CO2. |
| Power Saving On
Personal Computers
Our PC electricity savings ...
Table of power consumption details, and procedure ...
|
This
details how we go about saving electricity for the two PC's we
have in the house. This very simple procedure saves a
staggering 1780 KWH per year -- worth $178 and 3600 lbs of CO2.
I don't know of any other way to save this much electricity
so easily.
I think that one thing that people tend to overlook in managing
PC power use is that all the peripherals (printers, scanners,
...) also use power -- in our case, more than the computer
itself -- you have address this as well as the PC. |
| Three Ways to Save
Power On Your PC
Mini Power Minder for PC's
http://www.amazon.com
Smart Strip
www.cyberguys.com
Note: this one can also be used to control power to your whole
entertainment center, or any related group of electrical
gadgets.
WattStopper
www.wattstopper.com/ ... |
PC peripherals continue to draw
power after you turn your PC off. Use one of these devices to
turn off the power to all the PC peripherals automatically when
your PC is turned off.
USB
mini Power Minder. This device allows you to automatically turn
off all of your PC peripherals (printer, scanner, ...) when you
turn off the PC.
$15
test of the Mini Power Minder ...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Smart Strip -- turns off everything plugged into the power strip
when the item that is plugged into the "control" outlet (usually
your PC) is turned off. Keeps peripherals from drawing power
when the PC is off.
See picture just below in the next item.
test of the Smart Strip...
The WattStopper has a people sensor, and turns off power to
everything plugged into it when no people are present. Its kind
of pricy at $90, but if you pay 15 cents a KWH, and can save an
average of 70 watts, it pays for itself in a year and saves lots
of CO2 emissions.
|
Power Cost Monitor:
http://www.save-electricity.ca/display.html
TED Power Monitor:
www.theenergydetective.com
And, another one:
www.inhabitat.com ,,,
|
Two Whole House Power Monitors:
Power Cost Monitor:
These easy to install power meters tell you how much electricity
your house is using (and has used).
The idea being that getting instant feedback when you turn on
lights, appliances, ... will help you cut down on electricity
use.
TED:
Note that while TED is more involved to install, it provides
faster response, optional software logging, and it can measure
individual circuits as well as the whole house.
(Thanks to Tom for finding the TED info) |
| ECO Electric Tea Kettle
http://www.ecokettle.com/
Available under the toastess Brand in the US:
http://www.amazon.com
|
An
electric tea kettle that boils exactly as much water as you need
-- not two or three times as much.
It would be nice if more manufacturers paid attention to the
details like this -- it takes a lot of energy to boil water.
(thanks to Vanya for suggesting this)
If you avoid boiling 6 cups of water a day, this adds up to 1.2
KWH per day, or 430 KWH per year and 900 lbs of CO2 if your
electricity comes from a coal powered plant
|
| Selecting an Efficient
TV |
For
families that watch TV, the TV can end up using more energy than
the "big" energy users like refrigerators.
|
|
Phantom Loads |
|
| Phantom Loads radio
interview on "Good Dirt Radio"
Hear the interview ...
|
This
is an interview with yours truly that gives an overview of what
phantom loads are, and what you can do about them. See the
material in the item below for more details. The interview was
one of many good stories and interviews from the "Good
Dirt Radio". Thanks to Good Dirt producer Gary Lewin for
his good work on this. |
| Eliminating Phantom
Electrical Loads
Eliminate Phantom Load -- From the "Half" program...
Using a Kill-A-Watt meter to find phantoms...
Phantom Load suggestions from Marc ...
The worst of the Phantom Loads ...
(really gross offenders)
|
Many
electrical gadgets (TV's, microwaves, chargers, ...) continue to
use power even after you turn them off. This can be just a
little or a surprisingly large amount.
The sad truth is that over their lifetime, many electronic
devices will consume more power during the times they are off
than when on! This costs of billions of dollars a year and lots
of green house gas.The four items listed to the left provide
some ways to identify and eliminate these power sucking vampire
loads.
It is difficult to take phantom loads into account when you buy
new electrical devices because the manufacturers don't provide
this information. One thing that would help is for all
electrical devices to include typical and phantom power use on
the outside of their packaging -- write to your legislator and
suggest this! Until we get this, I would suggest testing new
gadgets with your Kill-A-Watt meter when you get them home, and
return anything that uses too much power when off (or on) --
make sure the store and the manufacturer know why you are
returning it. |
|
Lighting and Daylighting |
|
| Efficient Lighting
EERE on Types of Lighting
http://www.eere.energy.gov
This is our families estimated saving in energy and GHG's for
going to CFL's:
http://www.builditsolar.com
(A 224% return on investment, and 1 TON of CO2 per
year)
Efficiency of various types of lights ...
Instructables tutorial on using CFLs... |
It
is a just plain no-brainer to use fluorescents and compact
fluorescents. They are far more efficient, last much much
longer, and will save you a ton of money and greenhouse gas
emissions.
Most utility companies offer some form of rebate program for
buying CFL's -- making it even more of a
no-brainer!Some have expressed concerns about
the small amount of Mercury contained in CF's and fluorescents.
This does not appear to be much of a concern, but have a look at
the EPA fact sheet in case you break one someday.
EPA fact sheet:
http://www.nema.org/lamprecycle/epafactsheet-cfl.pdf
Treehugger article:
http://www.treehugger.com
Another on Mercury:
Net effect of Mercury in CFs |
The Best Compact
Fluorescent Light Bulbs: PM Lab Test,
Popular Mechanics Magazine
The PM Lab Test ... |
Popular
Mechanics magazine did a careful side by side comparison of a
standard incandescent light bulb to seven compact fluorescents.
They compared color temperature, color, brightness, face color,
and reading. The result was that ALL 7 CFL's SCORED HIGHER
THAN THE INCANDESCENT.
This should satisfy anyone's doubts about the light quality of
CFL's. |
| Daylighting
|
Using
daylighting not only provides better and more pleasant lighting,
it saves energy and greenhouse gas emissions.
|
| LED Holiday Lights
Almost all of the usual places that sell holiday lights now sell
the LED lights. Prices still vary a lot. We got ours a Costco
for about $10 per string.
|
LED
holiday lights are safer (no heat), last a very long time, and
look great. They also use much less energy and significantly
reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The energy saving can be 90%
or more. A typical 100 light LED string uses less than 4
watts! They have an expected lifetime of 20+ years. With the
LED holiday light prices dropping, the payback period can be as
small as a season or two (considering both lower operating cost
and longer life). |
|
Hot Water Recirculation Systems |
|
|
Hot Water Recirculation systems |
These
systems get around the problem of having a long wait for hot
water, but can be very very wasteful of energy.
Details here ... |
| Installing an On-Demand
hot water recirculation system
http://www.arttec.net/SolarDHW/Dmand-Pump/
|
Guy
Marsden describes the installation of his efficient hot water
recirculation system. Nice detailed how-to. These systems use
much less energy and water than systems that circulate 24/7, or
systems that uses a timer or aquastat to control recirculation. |
|
Gray Water Heat Exchanger |
|
| GFX Gray Water Heat
Exchanger
www.gfxtechnology.com/
DOE Inventions & Innovations report:
DOE report on GFX (pdf)
Another Brand:
http://www.renewability.com/powerpipe.htm
And another:
http://www.retherm.com/
And another:
http://www.ecodrain.ca/ |
A
well designed gray water heat exchanger can recover a large
fraction of the heat that would normally go down the drain in
your shower, and some other hot water uses. In a normal
shower, you spend a lot of energy heating water from 50F or so
up to 100F. It flows out the shower nozzle, over your bod, and
down the drain taking 95% or so of the energy you just spent
heating it. The gray water heat exchanger uses the heat in the
drain water to heat the incoming water. |
Drain Water Heat
Recovery - Energy Savings Calculator,
from CEATIDrain
Water Heat Recovery Calculator...
Report on the testing program the calculator is based on:
http://www.cmhc.ca/odpub/pdf/65680.pdf |
A
calculator to estimate the energy savings for installing a gray
water heat exchanger.
While the calculator only lists Ca cities, you can pick one with
about the same ground water temp as your area. |
|
Landscaping For Energy Efficiency |
|
| Planning Tree
Windbreaks in Missouri University of Missouri Extension:
http://muextension.missouri.edu
Purdue University Extension:
www.ces.purdue.edu/extmedia/FNR/FNR-38.pdf |
Planting
trees for a windbreak to protect house of livestock (or you)
from wind. |
| Landscaping for Energy
Efficiency
Energy-Saving Landscaping for Your Passive Solar Home, NC Solar
Center (pdf)
www.sustland.umn.edu/design/energysaving.html
http://www.eere.energy.gov |
Information
on landscaping for energy efficiency. "Carefully positioned
trees can save up to 25% of household's energy consumption". |
|
Less Stuff |
|
| Waste less food -- big
payoff!
www.treehugger.com/files/2008/02/sweden_says_eat.php
|
Growing
food and getting it to your table accounts for about 20% of
total GHG emissions.
So, anything you can do to use less food and avoid wasting food
has a direct and significant impact on GHG emissions all the way
down the grow it, harvest it, transport it, prepare it, ...
chain.
This is another one of those win-win areas where cutting down on
waste saves GHG's and dollars.
"Swedish life-cycle studies that show tossing
one serving of beef wastes enough energy to drive a low-energy
light bulb 163 hours" |
|
Human Power |
|
| Pedal Power Campus
Center for Appropriate Technology
www.humboldt.edu/~ccat/pedalpower/frames.html
|
Plans
and concepts for a variety of human powered appliances, tools,
TV's, ... Lots of good ways to get some exercise!
Here is a sample:
Pedal Washer |
| Bicycle Powered
Generator
http://www.mattshaver.com/bikegen/index.htm
|
Instructions
on how to make a bicycle powered generator from a training
stand.
Also includes information on what kinds of electrical loads can
be powered. |
| PPPM (Pedal Powered
Prime Mover)
http://www.los-gatos.ca.us
|
This
is an interesting website that provides information on pedal
powered generators. Includes information on building, what can
be powered, and the use of ultra-capacitors to smooth power
output from the generator without using batteries. |
| The James Hand Washer
http://www.lehmans.com
Another supplier of human powered washers:
http://www.berryhilllimited.com/...
|
Person
powered washers, clothes drying hardware, and other interesting
stuff. |
| Wonder Washer
www.laundry-alternative.com/wonderwash.htm
(this link may be broken Jan 20, 08)
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/07/qa_electricity.php
|
A
simple, hand powered washer that people seem to like. |
| "Yukon Plunger" washing
"machine"
http://www.wisementrading.com/washing.htm
|
A
even simpler arm powered washing "machine". It would be pretty
easy to just make one yourself. |
| Fran's very simple DIY
washer from a bucket
How to build it... |
Fran
made a very effective washer using a 5 gallon bucket, a length
of dowel, and an old plastic plate. Takes about 15 minutes and
works well!
All the details ...
|
|
http://homelessdave.com/hdwashingman.htm
|
Quite
an interesting article and plans for a bicycle powered spin
water extractor for cloths washing. |
| Cyclean -- Pedal
Powered Washer/Dryer
http://cyclean.biz/mainmenu.html
|
Get
exercise and do the wash at the same time. Plans to make one
are promised -- its says. |
Other Conservation Related Areas on Build-It-Solar
There are lots of other areas on BIS that
deal with conservation and energy efficiency -- here are a
few... |
The Water Section
|
Water conservation, grey water reuse, efficient toilets ... |
|
Energy Conservation in Pool Heating |
Energy
conservation in pool heating. Pool covers, efficient pumps and
circulation schemes, ... |
|
Efficient lawn mowers and garden tractors |
Electric
lawn mowers and tractors. Gas mowers pollute way out of
proportion to their size -- here is a way to get rid of yours. |
Earth Notes: Saving
Electricity
How we got from 33kwh per day to 7kwh per day
http://www.earth.org.uk/saving-electricity.html
|
Good
conservation story on drastically reducing electricity use
without pain.
Points out the big saving that can occur from controlling
computer power consumption.(Thanks to Damon
for suggesting this) |
|
Efficient Vehicles |
For
many of us, choosing a fuel efficient vehicle will save more
energy than any other step we can take. |
|
|
"I
Did It" stories
A few energy saving success stories -- if you
have one, please send it in. |
|
Our own "1/2" Program
|
This
is my families program to see if we can reduce our total energy
consumption and green house gas emissions by one half. |
| Guy Marsden --
Sustainable Living
www.arttec.net/SustainableLiving/index.html
|
A
very nice personal site with Guy's program for saving energy and
a more sustainable lifestyle -- all very well explained.
Several good DIY solar energy projects with very good detial. |
| Good News: Average
Family Cuts Home
Electric Usage in Half
Full Story ... |
This
letter describes how Ed cut his families use of electricity in
half over just 2 months. He used a number of techniques,
including an energy audit, eliminating phantom loads, and just
paying more attention to turning things off.
Way to go Ed! Full
Story ..."I actually stopped moaning
about the rates for 5 minutes and did something to reduce my
electric usage."
|
The Carbon Buster's
Home Energy Handbook,
Godo Stoyke, 2007
Available from
New Society
Publishers... |
This
is a brand new and good book on how to start your own energy
saving program that will cut your energy use and green house gas
emissions by as much as 70% -- and save you $17,000 over 5
years.
The author lists many potential projects in all areas of energy
use, and provides cost, rate of return, energy saving and carbon
saving for each. It is done very much like my Half program
listed above -- highly recommended.
Available at the usual book places $13. |
Solar Electricity at
Home...,
Kevin Johnson
How to get articles from Home Power ...
www.HomePower.com
|
Home
Power magazine article, issue 117.
This is quite an amazing story. Kevin details how his family
has 1) cut their transportation energy use to about 5 KWH per
day by using an electric vehicle conversion, and 2) their home
electricity use to about 5 KWH per day through conservation.
All of this energy is supplied by all of this energy is supplied
by a 2.9 KW grid tied PV system. |
| Iver's Energy Saving
Projects
http://www.msad54.org
|
This is a good rundown on a set of energy saving projects that
Iver did. They are all fairly simple, but they really add up.
Iver recently estimated that his energy saving per year come
up to $3018 per year at today's energy prices! |
| "Lazy" approach to
conservation still works
http://cameronmiller.net/energy-savings/
|
Cameron
describes his "lazy" approach to energy conservation.
The approach may be lazy, but his gas bill is still down
about 40%! |
| 20 ways to go green at
home
http://money.independent.co.uk ...
|
A systematic and practical list of ways to reduce your home
related carbon emissions.
I think that step 2 (the annual audit) is a good one, and does
not get enough attention -- more tools to help you do this
here ... |
| Audited by Power
Company for Low Power Use
www.csmonitor.com/2006/1130/p13s01-sten.html
|
When Ray Janke took some simple
steps to reduce his electricity consumption, the power company
audited him because they thought he might be bypassing the
meter. Wouldn't that be a nice audit to go through :) |
Full Energy Efficiency
Farmhouse Renovation
Mike Rogers
Home Energy Magazine
http://homeenergy.org |
Article
describes a well thought out renovation of a 1920's farmhouse
for energy efficiency.
The house posed several difficult to overcome problems in
retrofitting insulation.
Includes a fairly detailed description of a technique for
installing exterior wall insulation. |
| 800 to 80 kwh in four
months
http://www.rmfdevelopment.com/energysa.html#littlemoney
|
A great story on how one couple
reduced their electric bill dramatically, along with quite a bit
of detail on the methods used.
Ryan has since moved to WA state, and is writing an account of
overhauling his home into an energy efficient home. |
The Land of Rising
Conservation,
NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com
|
Good NY Times article explaining why per household energy
consumption in Japan is less than half the US. |
| Saving Electricity Site
-- Succes Stories
http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/fanmail.html |
There are some good stories on this
page, with some good and specific suggestions. Its a good all
around site on understanding how to save electricity. |
