Simple Steps to Save Energy and Money

Alliance for a Post-Petroleum Local Economy--APPLE -Shasta

Siskiyou County, California

A Project of the Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center.

Most people can easily drop their energy use by 50 to 75%, harnessing wealth from waste! Sustainability is all about using less. Rather than thinking "How much do I need" consider "How little can I get by with?" We live on a finite sized planet with finite resources. The paradigm of unlimited growth is a dead end street.
Before you consider active renewables you should make your life as efficient as possible.

Here is a list that details some things you can do to reduce energy use / waste in your home and life

Beginning level (behavior changes - low / no cost)

Light only the areas you are using rather than full room lights, which use more energy.

Turn lights and appliances off when not needed.

Replace all your commonly used light bulbs with compact fluorescents. They use 1/3 of the energy of a traditional incandescent light bulb and last approximately 10,000 hours.

Standard fluorescent fixtures can have their ballasts changed to energy saving, electronic designs.

Unplug, or use switched plug strips on appliances or unplug device chargers that use power even when they are "off". While we are only talking 5 to I 0 watts per appliance, it does add up 2417. 10 watts of waste adds up to 7.2 kWh a month!

Set your computer to go into standby mode (monitor and hard drive off) after 15 minutes of no use.

Turn your water heater's thermostat down to the lowest usable level ("'110°), where when you shower, you use full hot rather than having to mix cold with the hot to prevent scalding.

Check for plumbing leaks. Dripping hot water taps or pressure relief valves can cause your water heater to run more frequently.

Turn the water off during a shower when you are soaping up. Showers use about half the water that baths do.

Do only full loads of laundry. Wash your laundry in cold water.
Line dries your clothes. Clothes dryers use TONS of energy. Your clothes will last longer and smell better. In the winter you can use wooden racks indoors.

Wash your dishes by hand, and if you must use an automatic dishwasher, use the air dry and other low energy use settings.

Set the refrigerator’s thermostat to the warmest temperature and energy saving setting that will still preserve your food. 40 degrees uses less power than 35.

Intermediate (technical I handyperson work - minimal costs)

Buy a case of caulk and seal all the exterior holes I gaps where air can infiltrate your exterior walls. Reducing air infiltration is more important than insulation R-Value. This is the most effective and least expensive thing you can do to make your home more efficient.

Closing your curtains at night helps hold in the heat. Close doors to unused rooms in your house. Condition the space (heat I cool) only when occupied.

Set your thermostat down to 45-50 at night in the winter and only 65 when you are using the spaces. This can be done manually or through the use of automatic set back thermostats. During each 24-hour period, you will save about 3% on your heating bill for every 10 that you lower the thermostat setting. This means a nightly setback from 65 to 45 degrees will save you 30%

Seal recessed can lights, electrical plugs and light switches against air infiltration.

Dress warmly. Wear a long sleeved insulated shirt and even consider a hat indoors to stay warm with cooler heating temps in the winter.

Buy a water heater blanket... or two of them, putting one on top of the other to reduce the tank's standby loss. Replacing the water heater's sacrificial anode will make the tank last indefinitely.

Insulate your exposed hot water pipes.

Invest in down comforters for beds in cold climates.

Use "Mountain A/C", opening your windows at night to cool off your house and close it up during the day to keep the heat out.

Keep your refrigerators warm, outside condenser coils clean with regular vacuuming. This improves the efficiency of the unit.

Replace air filters on forced air heating I cooling equipment as needed.

Consider eating lower on the food chain by incorporating more vegetarian food. It is healthier, contains fewer toxins (especially if organic) and is more efficient.

Add a storm door to reduce heat loss through your entryways. Check I repair door and window weather stripping to reduce air infiltration.

Use cloth shopping bags rather than throwaway paper or plastic ones.

Walk, ride a bike or carpool to work.

Adding cellulose insulation to the attic is easy and pretty inexpensive to do. Most lumberyards will loan you the blowing machine for free when you buy the cellulose from them. Install at least R-60. Wall insulation can also be done, but it is expensive when retrofitting. Floor insulation is pretty easy if you have a crawl space and don't mind confined, creepy places, otherwise hire it to be done for you.

Compost your vegetable scraps.

When you drive, change your habits to accelerate slowly, anticipate stops and reduce your freeway speed.

Keep your engine tuned up and tires properly inflated.

Consolidate trips to reduce unnecessary mileage.

Do you really need 4WD?

Cook meals with a store bought or home made solar oven.

Reduce consumption, reuse what you can and recycle. (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle)

Plant fruit I nut trees and grow a garden. Ever calorie of food you eat contains 20 to 200 calories of fossil fuel energy. The more food you produce at home the more you reduce the embedded energy in your diet.

When you buy food, support sustainable agriculture by purchasing only organically grown items.

Monitor your electric usage daily. Chart it, if it helps. Keep a daily eye on it; like one would you were living off-grid. This will keep your focus on conservation. Set a goal for daily kWh usage, achieve it, and then try to go lower. An average American home uses 40 kWh per day. Efficient homes use as little as 14 kWh a day, which includes winter heating (electric heat pump). Some off grid homes as little as 1 kWh a day!

Plant deciduous shade trees to reduce direct solar gain in the summer when you do not want it. Also wind breaks help reduce heat loss in the winter.

Advanced (contractor I substantial economic investment)

Change your computer monitor to a liquid crystal display (LCD). A standard monitor would use around 150 watts, a LCD about 60. LCD TV's save similar amounts of power. Laptops use much less power than desktop models.

Buy a front-loading washing machine. You will be amazed at how fast they spin and how dry the clothes are when they come out. This reduces line-drying time. These washing machines use about 1/3 of the water & soap of a traditional top loader.

If your refrigerator is over 5 years old replace it with the smallest one your can get by with. Use the government's energy star web page to select the most efficient model. Manual defrost ones use much less power, reduce freezer bum and here on the dry west coast, this means once a year defrosting.

Replace single pane windows with dual or triple pane glass with the lowest "U" value you can afford to get. Consider "low E" glass for North facing windows.

Install pleated R-4 cellular window blinds. They work great, but are expensive. Another option is to make coverings out of recycled bubble wrap. 3M makes a one time use window shrink wrap that can be put on frames for removable, seasonal use.

If you are doing new construction, be sure to use a passive solar design, and frame to reduce heat loss through the framing members (i.e. 2 X 8 studs set on 2 foot centers rather than 2 X 6 studs on 16" centers).

Buy the smallest, most efficient vehicle you can afford. If that is a hybrid, consider the Toyota technology over the Honda. The Toyota uses a parallel system rather than the Honda's series. This means the Toyota can run on gas OR electric rather than gas AND electric. Soon, an aftermarket modification will allow you to plug in the Prius and use it as a pure EV for short (20 to 40 mile) trips using NO gasoline at all.

Only after you have made your home /life as efficient as possible, is it time to consider active renewables like solar thermal (hot water) and solar electric (photo voltaic ). Throwing energy and money into gigantic and expensive renewable energy systems to offset inefficiency and waste, embodies more of the same unconsciousness that got us into the mess we are in now.

http://www.relocalize.net/groups/appleshasta

http://www.mountshastaecology.org