38 replies to this topic

[kate]

godarna, on 21 October 2011 - 10:50 PM, said:

I washed and dried dishes manually my whole life. Nothing wrong with it, although it can be a tedious job after a big party.

When I was a kid we had an old fashioned washing machine with a wringer. A mechanical laundry aid with two rollers in a frame and  a hand crank. I wonder if one can still find them.

YES!  You have read my heart's desire!  I've told my daughter that I want one of those.  You can buy them for some outrageous price on Lehman's (sp?)  I'll track it down and post it.

We also had one of those wringers.  My mother used a big stick to lift the clothes out of the tub and feed them one by one into the wringer.  There was a basket on the other side where the wrung-out clothes dropped. Then she hung the wrung clothes on the line.  At the time, I was a kid and the job looked hot, hard and dangerous!  When I was hand-wringing towels and jeans, I was thinking fondly about how much EASIER my mother and grandmother had it LOL!

[Eiza]

Godarna, these are all great tips, but I have to especially reiterate number one. This is one of the easiest, and cheapest, things you can do to save energy and money. I read someplace that if everyone in the country switched just one bulb - just one - with a low-energy alternative, we could save enough electricity to turn off one nuclear power plant for a year. BTW, check with your local energy provider, they may offer free or low-cost bulbs. Mine does in California.

[kate]

Eiza, on 22 October 2011 - 04:18 PM, said:

Godarna, these are all great tips, but I have to especially reiterate number one. This is one of the easiest, and cheapest, things you can do to save energy and money. I read someplace that if everyone in the country switched just one bulb - just one - with a low-energy alternative, we could save enough electricity to turn off one nuclear power plant for a year. BTW, check with your local energy provider, they may offer free or low-cost bulbs. Mine does in California.

I surely wish that our energy provider offered free or low-cost energy-saving bulbs!  I can remember vividly going with my mother when I was a child to the Detroit Edison store and trading in a bag of used light bulbs for new ones. I read later that the reason they offered free bulbs was to get people to use more energy!  
Why are the new bulbs so expensive? I live in one of the very few counties in the USA that has not one but TWO nuclear power plants within a 50 mile radius, so I am highly motivated to shut one of those facilities down for a year!  We're trying to trade out the old bulbs as they burn out, but it really hurts my grocery budget!

[kaveg]

We recently replaced the windows in our home with Low-e type windows.  The heat that was coming through our previous built windows during the summer was just unbearable.  These have helped to keep the house cooler in the summer considerably thus eliminating the need for us to runt he A/C so much.  We keep our A/C on auto at 82 degrees in the summer and we live in Texas. Looking forward to seeing how much it can save us with the upcoming winter. We don't usually run the heater during the winter and have a wood burning fire place that we use if it gets truly unbearable.

[kate]

It's just starting to get nippy here at night, in the low 40s and high 30s. By December and January, we'll have several feet of snow on the ground, and overnight temps below zero.  I don't dread it at all anymore, now that we have our woodstove.  I used to heat with propane (still have propane back-up to click heat on when no one is here to feed the fire) and a full tank cost me about $1500, even keeping the heat at just about 60!  We've plugged up drafts, and I;ll be hanging window quilts over the window plastic to provide another level of insulation.  We use electricity to heat the chicken coop and the goat stall in the form of an infrared heat lamp.  And of course everyone dresses in layers, and we have a lifetime supply of soft, warm blankets and throws and insulated sleeping bags!
I can't imagine what it would be like to live somewhere where winter wasn't a life-or-death challenge!

[iamloved1]

Fresh air is easier to heat? I've never heard of that. We humidify our air with a whole house humidifier. I thought humid air held heat better than dry air. Which is it? Also, I like the tip about letting the air dry your dishes. The same can be done with clothes throughout most of the year. Let your dryer dry them for a few minutes, then hang them up - especially towels and jeans that take a longer time to dry.

[godarna]

iamloved1, on 24 October 2011 - 07:50 PM, said:

Fresh air is easier to heat? I've never heard of that. We humidify our air with a whole house humidifier. I thought humid air held heat better than dry air.

Please read post 12, there I already give the answer.

[kate]

Bababooey, on 09 October 2011 - 09:32 PM, said:

These are great tips. We have a separate structure, a revamped two-level garage, that my wife uses as her office/studio. I always go out every night and turn off the heat at night, and turn it back on in the morning before I go into work. That way, it's nice and warm by the time she gets there, and we haven't had the heat on all night when there's nobody there. Helps with the heat bill too.

You are a good guy LOL.!  I go out every night through the whole house and turn off lights and fans, but it's no act of kindness!  Now I know what my father meant when he used to say to no one in particular as he shut off lights, "We must have stock in Detroit Edison!"  Our woodstove has saved us a bunch in electricity and propane costs.  It really is worth it to get up a little early and get the fire going in the winter. It gets dark s.o early at night that we can't help but use more light

[iamloved1]

It gets nippy here in Colorado. It is snowing as I type. We turn the heat on in the morning, turn it off around 8 AM, then turn it back on at about 5:30 for two hours. Then we use room heaters while watching TV to heat the one room we are in, then we turn on the electric blanket for 15 minutes before climbing into bed.

We also put thick plastic over the windows in the laundry room (a double-hung) because cold air seeps in and we never open it in the winter. Our house still gets pretty cold (builder didn't insulate right) but we plan to move soon, so we don't want to go to all the trouble and cost to re-insulate.

[kate]

iamloved1, on 26 October 2011 - 03:15 PM, said:

It gets nippy here in Colorado. It is snowing as I type. We turn the heat on in the morning, turn it off around 8 AM, then turn it back on at about 5:30 for two hours. Then we use room heaters while watching TV to heat the one room we are in, then we turn on the electric blanket for 15 minutes before climbing into bed.

We also put thick plastic over the windows in the laundry room (a double-hung) because cold air seeps in and we never open it in the winter. Our house still gets pretty cold (builder didn't insulate right) but we plan to move soon, so we don't want to go to all the trouble and cost to re-insulate.

It's snowing in Colorado?  Are you ready for it?  I like the idea of pre-heating the blanket and may try a heated blanket myself this year. Once most of our windows close in the fall, they are closed for good and only an act of God will get them open!  We seal all but a few with that heavy plastic, and also close off the sliding doors to the deck, which breaks our hearts because that means summer is really over!  We lit a fire in the woodstove yesterday for the first time this year, but I see 30 degree temps on board later this week.  Maybe you're sending us some of that Colorado snow??

[Green Thumb]

Our landlady would make it a point to check our boarding house twice a day. In the morning, she would check if the lights are all turned off (since there�s enough day light passing through numerous doors and windows) then she would inspect if the plugs from electrical apparatus are removed when not in use, if there�s no water dripping on faucets, if the gas valve that shut off the gas supply when not in use is fasten and if the waste are right into the garbage bin and covered. She would also collect the bottles and cans that we segregate and sell to junk collectors. She isn�t our own mother to nag us but believe me, she would nag and shame the boarder she would caught drying her garments in front of an electric fan, who had left the faucet water running, who won�t dispose her garbage properly or would left the restroom light on. Those who won�t comply in her rules would hear a word from her, would have to improve her ways or pack her belongings and find another place to live in. I believe if you are living with someone as responsible and disciplined like our landlady, you�ll hug the greener ways like your second nature. It's either you yourself is dedicated to green living or you�re with someone who does and would make sure she�ll turn you to her ways.

[kate]

Green Thumb, on 28 October 2011 - 11:15 PM, said:

Our landlady would make it a point to check our boarding house twice a day. In the morning, she would check if the lights are all turned off (since there�s enough day light passing through numerous doors and windows) then she would inspect if the plugs from electrical apparatus are removed when not in use, if there�s no water dripping on faucets, if the gas valve that shut off the gas supply when not in use is fasten and if the waste are right into the garbage bin and covered. She would also collect the bottles and cans that we segregate and sell to junk collectors. She isn�t our own mother to nag us but believe me, she would nag and shame the boarder she would caught drying her garments in front of an electric fan, who had left the faucet water running, who won�t dispose her garbage properly or would left the restroom light on. Those who won�t comply in her rules would hear a word from her, would have to improve her ways or pack her belongings and find another place to live in. I believe if you are living with someone as responsible and disciplined like our landlady, you�ll hug the greener ways like your second nature. It's either you yourself is dedicated to green living or you�re with someone who does and would make sure she�ll turn you to her ways.

I love your landlady!  And I totally agree that establishing and working to maintain habits that conserve and don't waste are key to leading a green life.  An abundance of something -- like cheap energy and fresh water and clean air -- can too often be taken for granted.  I'll admit that I began conserving in earnest because that's what I grew up with, because while food and clothing and niceties were adequate, they were not abundant.  My folks did all those things your landlady does and admonished us to do so.  When I moved away, I got lazy at first but got back on track!  Too many kids these days don't get that heads-up in childhood, perhaps, and so grow up to be wasteful adults without even realizing how wasteful they are.

[wneely]

I threatened to buy each of the kids a hand cranked flashlight and turn off the breakers.  I was asked why they couldn't have battery operated flashlights and I said because I wouldn't spend extra money when they forgot to turn those off, too.  Now they make sure to turn lights off when they leave a room.

We also open all the curtains during the day to avoid the need for the lights.

[saso777]

Nice tips,i have some too.
-The washing machine is also one of the largest consumers of electricity in the home. If partially charged for the same energy will wash less clothes. Also today it is possible with the help of some detergents to wash at lower temperatures which would mean lower energy consumption.
-Heating system. If the heating system is equipped with a thermostat should be set at about 20 degrees. At night, it is enough to be around 15 to 17 degrees Celsius, which would generate additional savings. So, that way in the morning for a short time heating system could be reach 20 degrees.

[fancyfingers]

Take shorter showers, only run the dishwasher when it is full, air dry the dishes, do routine maintenance on your appliances (clean the refrigerator coils, etc), use a push mower instead of a gas or electric mower. Maybe if we take a look at the way our parents, grandparents or great grandparents did things, and incorporate some of those every day way to do things into our lives it will help. Same with the Amish. They do not use electricity.

[BuddhaStarlight]

Be careful about those energy saving compact fluorescent lightbulbs. They can release dangerous (or at the very least, bothersome) amounts of electro magnetic pollution. I am very sensitive to electro frequencies and had to remove all of the CFL from my home a while back because it was messing with my head.

http://www.holistich...angers-of-cfls/

[Shortpoet-GTD]

http://earth911.com/...ers-homeowners/

[Matthew Malatag]

Here are some easy tips on saving energy at home:

1. Minimize phantom loads (The term “phantom load” refers to the energy that an appliance or electronic device consumes when it is not actually turned on)
2. Use More Energy-efficient Appliances
3. Change Your Light Bulbs

[Shortpoet-GTD]

See also-
http://www.altenergy...en-living-tips/

http://www.altenergy...n-in-your-home/

http://www.altenergy...o-living-green/