Energy Saving Tips for November 2011With holidays upon us, many people put up holiday lights. We suggest that if you do this, consider using LED lights which use much less energy than conventional lights.
“Phantom load” is the energy that’s used by appliances when they’re plugged in, but not on. Believe it or not, many of the electronic devices in your home are quietly drawing electricity all the time, whether you are using them or not. It happens with stereos, televisions, microwaves, and many other appliances.   A whopping 40% of all electricity is used to power home appliances WHILE THEY’RE TURNED OFF.  Some of the biggest culprits:
.
Sound systems
VCRs and DVD players
Computers
Computer printers
Cable modems/DSL
TVs

These items often use 10 to 50 watts each while off or in standby mode (6 to 30 kilowatt-hours a month).

There are also the smaller items.  Cell phone chargers, for one, use energy even when your phone isn’t attached.  Kitchen appliances like microwaves, rice cookers, bread makers, and coffee makers also continue to consume even when not in use.

Of course, unplugging items one at a time can not only be time consuming but inconvenient.  To resolve this issue, purchase several power strips and plug multiple items, such as the TV, cable box, DVD player and stereo into it.  This way, when you are not using those items, you can hit one switch to turn them all off at once.  Alternatively, you can purchase a “smart” power strip which will do the job for you.  Smart power strips monitor electricity use in each plug and shut off the ones that have been idle for a period of time.

How much could you actually save?  For the average house, around 30 to 60 kilowatt-hours a month (based on 20 standby hours a day).  At 12 cents/ kilowatt, that’s about 7.00 per month.   That not enough for you?  Then consider this, every kilowatt-hour is equivalent to 1.55 pounds of CO2 emissions.  That means if you use 30-60 less kWh a month, 550-1,100 pounds less of CO2 go into the air every year.  Not bad for just flicking a switch!

Tom Candela

 

Energy Saving Tips, October 2011

If your home is at all similar to mine, it sometimes serves as a country getaway for friends and family who dwell in the city and suburbs.   A place of comfort and quiet where guests eagerly spend a few days away from the hubbub of their lives to ski, river raft, celebrate holidays, or just do nothing at all.

 

During these times of playing at host, I find myself roaming from room to room, turning off lights and electronic equipment. When guests are about, I continuously find unoccupied bedrooms aglow, unwatched TV’s blaring, and unmanned computers running – screen savers dancing about on empty screens.  It’s quite frustrating.

 

Truth be told, these habits are not limited to city-folk.  A drive through Northeast Pennsylvania at night will evidence many homes with all but a few rooms totally lit up.  Some will reason that rooms are left illuminated because they intend to return to them later.  But think about it.  Would you leave the tap running because you need it again in 10 minutes?  Would you leave the refrigerator door open because you’re only going to return items to it after dinner?

 

In an effort to use less, my family and I have taken up the habit of turning things off.  If I’m not in a room, the lights are not on.  If I’m not watching TV, it’s not running.  If I have no energy-saving tips to type, my computer isn’t just asleep…I put it to bed (oftentimes completely unplugged).  Sounds petty or inconsequential?  Not really.  Simply put, using less is MORE.  More environmentally friendly, more energy efficient, more dollars saved.

 

Consider it this way. The moment a light is turned off, it stops using energy, so your savings add up by the minute. If every household turned off a 100-watt incandescent light for four hours each day, each bulb could save 3.3 cents a day.  Obviously, the more bulbs your turn off, the more you will save.  Here are some quick tips:

 

• Turn off lights whenever a room is unoccupied, even if it’s only for a few minutes.
• Try putting reminders next to light switches until you get into the habit.

• Ensure light switches are placed next to doorframes to make turning off an easy motion as you exit a room. Consider connecting an electrical outlet to your wall switch so that focused task lighting can be easily turned off at the door when you leave.
• Turn off lights wherever there is adequate natural light. Arrange your furniture to make the most of windows, skylights and other natural lighting.
• Arrange the lighting in your home so you can vary lighting levels and focus light where you need it most. Using task lighting, such as desk lamps and spot lighting in kitchens, is more efficient than lighting a whole room to the brightness you need for one area.

 

You can take the habit of switching things off one step further by literally pulling the plug.

–Tom Candela

September Tips

Welcome to the 2011/12 energy-saving season.  For those of you who were involved in the “350 Saved Project” last year, welcome back.  For those of you who are new this season…welcome aboard!

Last season’s “350 Saved Project” saw 36 families save 113,492 kilowatt hours and almost $16,000.00 on their electric bills.  That is a lot of money and energy saved.   This year, it is our hope that even more will join through word-of-mouth, advertising, and the SEEDS web site: www.seedsgroup.net.   There will be monthly prizes based upon the percentage of savings comparing a month this year to the same month the previous year, with a year-end grand prize for the biggest saver.   Our goal is to help you save energy, money, and have cleaner air. While some of these tips may involve changes to the physical environment of your home, others may involve simple changes to your daily habits.  Some might involve a financial investment while others will cost you nothing at all.  Key to your success will be you.  Involve yourself and your family members.  Monitor your successes and setbacks.

So let’s begin.  The key to achieving savings in your home is to first understand WHERE you need to save.  Are your electric bills high due to loss, consumption, or both?   Like high blood pressure, slowly weakening the vessels of our heart, energy loss in the home is the silent killer of our household budget.  While most of us probably have a good idea of how we can use less, it is harder to determine where we are unintentionally losing.  Is there a problem with our windows or doors?  Is there enough insulation in the attic or walls?  The list of potential “symptoms” of energy loss is long.

The best way to “diagnose” the problem, or problems, is to conduct a home energy audit.  View your home as an energy system that consists of interdependent parts.  For example, your heating system is not just a furnace but delivers heat throughout the home using a network of ducts, pipes, etc.  Even a top of the line system will waste a lot of fuel (and therefore money) if the ducts, walls, attic, windows and doors are not properly sealed and insulated.  Taking this whole-house approach will help you find out which parts of your house uses the most energy and pinpoint those areas which could use improvement.

This summer, Sustainable Energy Education and Development Support {SEEDS} of Northeastern Pennsylvania offered free home energy assessments to residents of Wayne and Pike Counties.   Appointments, although now restricted to select weekends, are still available and could be arranged by signing up at (www.seedsgroup.net) under the TEAAM tab.

Alternatively, you can conduct a home energy assessment yourself.

Tips on Conducting a Home Energy Assessment

1.     Check Insulation levels in the attic, exterior and basement walls, ceilings, floors and crawl spaces. Visit www.energy.savers.gov for instructions on how to do this yourself.
2.    Check for holes or cracks around your walls, ceilings, windows, doors, light and plumbing fixtures.
3.    Check for open fireplace dampers.
4.    Make sure your appliances and heating and cooling systems are properly maintained. Change/clean air filters and vents as recommended by the manufacturer.
5.    Look for ways to use lighting controls like dimmers and timers, replace incandescent light bulbs with CFLs or LEDs, particularly in high-use areas.
6.    Determine the efficiency of appliances such as refrigerators, washers, dryers, air conditioners and consider swapping out old appliances for energy efficient ones.
7.    Meters that measure wattage use are available to borrow with your library card at the Wayne County Library in Honesdale, Hawley, and Hamlin

Go to ppl e-power on the web to find tools that will assist you conducting an audit.  Of course, you can also hire an independent energy auditor.

Once you have completed the assessment, you should be able to determine where your greatest energy losses in your home occur.  This information will help you formulate a strategy to making smart improvements that maximize energy efficiency and save the most money!

in 2010 in the 350 kWh Saved! Project, 36 local families collectively saved 113,560 kWh and $16,000 on their annual electric bills. This kept 84.8 metric tons of CO₂ out of the atmosphere. These families helped in the global effort to lower atmospheric CO₂ to 350 ppm.