For a minute there I thought I had to get off my couch, when all the while the fact is we don't have to do anything much but keep things afloat for just a few decades more! In fact, we'd best shut up about PO, because if our offspring finds out we knew about it all along, they'll turn and wring our necks come 2036!
Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 12:14 pm Post subject: Practical Tips for Reducing Energy Consumption
This is my first post. I first learned about peak oil a year ago. I live in a large metropolitan city in the north-east, with a young family. Although the implications of peak oil are quite depressing (especially for the sake of my children), but I have taken it as a challenge and have already started making changes that would benefit us in the future. It may not be much considering the full eventual effects of peak oil, but it is a start that is giving us the momentum for the larger changes that will be needed later.
In particular, I have lowered our energy consumption considerably in the last year. Although I do not believe it will make a large difference in offsetting peak oil, but it is teaching my family to live using less energy, in preparation for the time when less will be available. This also has the beneficial side-effect of saving us money, which we can are using towards our debts and the eventual purchase of property outside the city when the time comes. If any of you have further tips, I would love to hear them!
Driving: Instead of having two cars, I now drive my wife on the way to my work, and pick her up after her work. Although not as time-efficient (with her having to spend more time at work waiting for me to get there, and my spending more time on the road), but we save some fuel, and considerable cost in not having two cars. As well, because of the kids we had considered buying a minivan, but upon learning about peak oil we have decided to keep our more compact car instead. Although it is tighter than a minivan would be, but we can still all squeeze in when we need to, and get to where we need to be. Shopping trips are now planned, to avoid making many unecessary trips during the week, and we have started making use of local stores to avoid driving.
Heating: In the winter months, when no one is at home, we lower the thermostat, and raise it only when we are at home. We also lower it by a small amount during the evening while we sleep. During the day, for the south-facing windows, we keep the blinds open to receive as much sunlight as possible, while all others are kept closed to avoid heat loss. At night, we close all the blinds to retain as much heat as possible.
Cooling: The the summer months, we only turn on the air conditioning on the days when there is a heat wave, instead of pre-setting it at a specific temperature and forgetting about it, like we used to do. As well, during those days we keep all the blinds closed, to retain the cool air inside the house and avoid the sun adding heat. We set the thermostat so we are comfortable enough, but avoid keeping it too cool.
Hot Water Tank: I have lowered the tempreature of our hot water tank, such that it is warm enough for our needs, but not scalding hot. Also, I have added insulation around all hot-water pipes that I could access.
Lighting: I have changed all the lightbulbs in the house to compact fluorescents, where possible. In other places, I have installed dimmer switches, so we only use the amount of light we need. For exterior lights, I installed motion-sensors, so they are not left accidentally on all night. Now their light is only available when needed. Lastly, we now have a policy to turn off all lights in the rooms when not in use. Only if we are currently in the room do we keep the lights on.
Washing Machine: We are now only washing our clothes in cold water (including the white clothes). For drying, we no longer use the dryer, but instead air dry them. As well, we only run the washing machine in the evening, to avoid peak-grid times.
Cooking: Instead of using our large oven for cooking, we now use a smaller-sized toaster oven instead. As well, we have lowered our red meat consumption considerably. Although I admit to liking a good steak now and then, but we have it as a treat, not as a regular part of our diet.
Computer Equipment: When not in use, we turn the power bar off that the computer is connected to. This avoids using the "stand-by" power from the connected devices. As well, all electronics that are not used for a long-period of time are simply kept unplugged.
I hope this helps some of you with ideas on how to conserve energy! Comments and more conversation ideas would be appreciated!
Welcome to the board! _________________ "When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours." - Stephen F Roberts.
Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 12:39 pm Post subject: Re: Practical Tips for Reducing Energy Consumption
Welcome, Blue dawn , I have taken many of the steps you mentioned in your post to save energy and also doubled my house insulation and heat with a wood stove part time. I also have 560watts of solar installed w/ battery bank for supplemental power. Conservation and insulation are the number one and two things you can do for yourself to save energy. Sounds like you are off to an excellent start!
Joined: Sep 04, 2005 Posts: 362 Location: central MA, USA
Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 12:55 pm Post subject: Re: Practical Tips for Reducing Energy Consumption
BlueDawn wrote:
In particular, I have lowered our energy consumption considerably in the last year. Although I do not believe it will make a large difference in offsetting peak oil, but it is teaching my family to live using less energy, in preparation for the time when less will be available. This also has the beneficial side-effect of saving us money, which we can are using towards our debts and the eventual purchase of property outside the city when the time comes. If any of you have further tips, I would love to hear them!
Hi. Sounds like you've made some great changes. No matter what happens, you're saving money now, right? I'd advise using the "found money" to increase your savings and reduce debt; those are both good things to do, regardless.
Driving is our biggest carbon "footprint", and our biggest oil-related expense. My wife and I both dislike our current jobs, but we work at the same place so we can also commute together (in a '96 Corolla; not the best MPG, but not bad and it's long been paid for). We'll also be moved later this year to a site closer to our homes, and we can probably transition to some telecommuting.
In winter when we're both gone during the day, we switch off the thermostats, and turn them back on when we return. So far it's never gotten colder than 52 on the first floor and 49 on the second.
I would love to be able to get our thermostats set lower when we're there (68 on 1st floor, 65 on second), and even lower at night when we're sleeping (we switch off the 1st floor, 65 on 2nd where the bedrooms are), but my wife's at her tolerance levels as-is, so I compromise.
We're supplementing winter heating with firewood, in a small, efficient woodstove that keeps the entire 1st floor almost uncomfortably warm (for me, not my wife ). We can cut our own wood for nearly free (modulo chainsaw food and some diesel for the tractor to make to easier to haul the stuff home), so it's worth it to us. If you have a way to burn wood efficiently (i.e., not in a traditional fireplace), it may be worth it to you to do it, even if you must pay for the wood. The northeast has a lot of timber, and there's often "trash wood" (downed trees, trimmings, etc) to be had for little more than the sweat and gas to haul it away.
Wear slippers. Cold rooms often have cold floors; easier to stand them when your feet are warm.
Wear sweaters. Wear warm underwear / bed-clothes. Pile on the blankets. Add a wool mattress cover, or a heating pad.
Find and stop all drafts, no matter how small. Several walls' worth of drafty switch boxes on external walls can add up to the equivalent square footage of a small window. Use foam inserts under the box covers, or low-expansion foam around the edges of the boxes with covers off. Add flexible strip-seals (with adhesive backing) to the bottoms of double-hung windows to kill any leaks there. Replace or add weather-stripping around exterior doors. Check if there are leaks (there often are) where your basement foundation meets the sill plate; often the wooden sills shrink in cold weather, and gaps open. Seal these with low-expansion foam. Insulate any exposed ductwork in the basement.
We're installing honeycomb blinds that come with side-seals (screwed to sides of window jambs, with tabs on blinds riding in slotted tracks on the seals) to get a pretty decent fit when shut. I'd like to add heavy drapes over those, so we can really cut down on the heat-loss through windows.
Electric hot water heater? You might consider putting it on a timer, though if it's well-insulated it doesn't amount to much savings. (Our domestic HW is made by the boiler that supplies heat, and it came with controls that allow me to program it not to make domestic HW during hours we don't typically use it. Doesn't save much but what the hell.)
Good on you for washing in cold water. We wash almost nothing in warm or hot water, and even then our washer (Fisher-Paykel; great unit at a great price) only does an initial pre-soak at that temp and then switches to cold. Our next biggest savings is going to come from line-drying clothes, as we currently have an electric dryer. At least the washer spins out well, so stuff enters it wrung out nicely.
Clean all the lint / dust / cat hair off your refrigerator's coils once a year or so. A fridge is one of the biggest power hogs in the average house. Is your older than a decade? Might actually pay to replace it.
Cover your pots when cooking, whenever possible; they'll heat faster / use less heat to simmer.
Microwave ovens are pretty efficient, so due to that and the time-savings, I tend to make very large meals, and have several meals' worth in the fridge to reheat, rather than having to make-from-scratch on the stove.
Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 1:25 pm Post subject: Re: Practical Tips for Reducing Energy Consumption
Aside from natural gas depletion I do not see a connection between peak oil and some immediate breakdown of the electrical grid so I think unless you are particular concerned about CO2, that you should not fixate so much on electricity use.
Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 3:30 pm Post subject: Re: Practical Tips for Reducing Energy Consumption
At this stage I'm trying to reduce my overall energy consumption, although it is true that a lot of it has been related to electricity, largely because it is the most visible. I'm looking for ways to increase savings for fuel/gas as well, so your inputs are greatly appreciated Our furnace is powered by natural gas (forced air), as well as our water heater. Hopefully I can find some more improvements there.
Foolyap, thanks for the all the info -- many good tips there that are overlooked, such as cleaning the fridge coils and ensuring pots are covered when cooking. Regarding insulation, although I had added weatherstripping to my exterior doors and windows, I hadn't considered the box-covers or foundation edge as a source of leaks. I'll need check those out.
For the ductwork, in our home it's all exposed in the basement, and not insulated. Anyone have recommendations as to what kind of material should be used for insulating this, and what is the best way to attach it to the ductwork?
Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 7:31 pm Post subject: Re: Practical Tips for Reducing Energy Consumption
keep in mind that i live in australia
a good starting point, is to start using the pushbike. for me, all trips within about 8 km (about 5 miles) is automatically done on the bike, and that includes shopping. i have to admit, that may not be feasible, when doing the family shopping, but for a family of two, it is easy.
i have no idea of how much power a washing machine uses, but i gave some thought to how our front loading washing machine worked, and then used a 20 litre bucket, with a some hot water (from the solar hot water system), soap powder, and used a big lump of light wood (4 ft long, and 4" by 2"), and simply hit down onto the washing for a few minutes, left it alone for 5 minutes, and did the same again and then rinsed a few times - and was SHOCKED at how quick, easy and effective the process was. sure, it might not be good for a large family wash, and for the washing of large items - but for a lot of things, it works a treat. funny thing, is that later on, i saw some woman (on tv) in some third world country, using a similar concept
Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 9:10 am Post subject: Re: Practical Tips for Reducing Energy Consumption
Last year, we added 6" 0f fibreglas to our attic on top of the blown in cellulose which had settled to abou 6", totalling 12". This year, on top of that, we added a layer of perforated foil, which reflects infrared back into the house. (Innovative insuation, Arlington, TX) They also supplied rolls of bubble-pack sheet faced with foil, commonly used for wrapping furnace ducts. Cost for the foil was about $200 to do the attic,25' x50', including shipping by UPS.
In Dec. '07, we added 2 doors, that enable us to shut off the entire front half of the house in winter. We have electric heat, with a thermostat in each room, so we simply turn them down to the bottom in the unused areas. It will be another month befor we get a bill to compare results with previous years.
The next step is to make indoor shutters of thin plywood sandwiched over 3/4" styrofoam/foil faced, to cover windows in the unused areas, and one in a bedroom.
Our house faces west,not good for solar use, but on the south end we added a sunporch with 6 windows,3'x5'. Still unfinished, but the idea is to use the solar gain by hanging blackened metal sheets in front of the windows in cold weather to absorb heat. Convection will circulate the air and warm the room. There were 2 basement windows on this end, so we formed the concrete slab floor to leave openings for 6" x 22" air ducts to each window. One has floor registers, the other goes up to an air return plenum in the ceiling. By installing 2 very small fans, for a push-pull effect, we hope to heat the basement with the surplus heat. 6" of fiberglas in walls , 12" in the ceiling, and foil allover. no results yet.
A new white painted steel roof was installed last fall, to replace aging shingles, that should help with cooling next year, and make water collection cleaner. At the same time, we added a 12' x 14' porch over the cistern/patio in back to increase water collection and shade the east side from summer heat. Makes a great place to process garden stuff, too!
The house is converted to compact flourescents, and the shop is next. I put foil/bubble wrap on the water heater and insulated the pipes. That is still a wash, since I have to add electric heat to the basement shop, but will have it's effect as other heating comes online.The sunporch has a chimney, so it gets a woodstove.
Our electric usage has been atrocious. The business shop is on the same meter, so there are limits to bottom line savings without addressing it as well. Anyone got ideas how to cut power use on welders? (100 amp MIG and 400 amp arc) A detached welding shop is already insulated, has insulated doors, and storm windows, and a woodstove, where the junk mail goes, and trash paper (no plastic). This reduces our trips to the landfill, as does adding more covered barrels for trash, and composting anything we can. We rfuse bags at the stores, and try to reduce trash everywhere.
We try to buy everything for the shop delivered, to reduce driving, since delivery trucks are in the area. anyway. My gasoline bill is $30 to $32/mo., using an S-10 Chevy for errands, combined whenever possible. Currently fixing up an old VW Rabbit for my wife to drive to work, replacing an S-10 truck, which will raise her mpg from 26 to 35. My truck gets 28 mpg with a Slick 50 treatment, a washable air filter and 38 psi in the tires. Can't downsize there, as a truck is needed for business.
We hope to replace the fridge and freezer this year with Sundanzer models, and run most of the house on a new solar PV system. Wash is dried on a clothesline, either outdoors, or in the basement.
Our living costs have dropped by over $15,000/year by the above changes, and reduced consumption! That's important when facing retirement. All ideas are appreciated. The battle goes on....
Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 10:28 am Post subject: Re: Practical Tips for Reducing Energy Consumption
mos6507, Our electricity in Indiana is generated by coal, so yeah, we're trying to reduce our co2 footprint. Also, our place is all-electric, so that's about all we CAN reduce at home. And, the general idea is to get unhooked from the grid for security and independence.
Bluedawn, the foil/bubble wrap stuff is generally used on round ducts, duct-taped in place, and for rectangular ducts, there is a thin product of semi-rigid board, also foil faced, that will fold around them and can be taped on. Also, on the rectangular ones, you could use 3/4" styrofoam, foil faced, available in 4'x8' sheets, that cut easily with a box knife. Tape on, or use a compatible adhesive. Check that out, because most construction adhesives will dissolve the stuff! You're lookin' good on your efforts!
Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 10:36 am Post subject: Re: Practical Tips for Reducing Energy Consumption
GOTTA figure out the edit.... I forgot, the foil side goes OUT on the ducts, since it is a heat-mirror. If placed next to the duct, the foil will conduct more heat away, acting like a heat sink. Important to get that right. The bubble wrap is to isolate the foil and prevent that conducting. See my post above for a source, or Google foil insulation. The styrofoam foil sheets are sold at building supply stores like Home Depot. The same idea works on interior walls, if you plan to add panelling or such, you can glue up the foil-bubble stuff, add furring strips, then panel and get a big boost to your wall R-factor.
Joined: Mar 12, 2007 Posts: 882 Location: As close as I can get to the beginning of the pipe.
Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 11:08 am Post subject: Re: Practical Tips for Reducing Energy Consumption
FoolYap wrote:
We're installing honeycomb blinds that come with side-seals (screwed to sides of window jambs, with tabs on blinds riding in slotted tracks on the seals) to get a pretty decent fit when shut. I'd like to add heavy drapes over those, so we can really cut down on the heat-loss through windows.
Hey, Steve, where did you get those honeycomb blinds with the side-seals? I've been thinking about making my own frames for the windows covered with quilting for the winters, but this would be easier.
You've got some great ideas, Patience. You're a good role model, thanks.
Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 2:37 pm Post subject: Re: Practical Tips for Reducing Energy Consumption
Don't worry too much about saving electricity in the winter. Incandescent bulbs, dirty refrigerator coils, etc. don't really hurt you much because the energy that is "wasted" is technically just heat energy which will ultimately reduce the energy required to heat your home. The same goes for your hot water heater and hot water pipes.
In winter, the only thing that really matters is the insulation separating the living areas of your home from the unheated exterior. Everything else is just details.
Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 3:22 pm Post subject: Re: Practical Tips for Reducing Energy Consumption
nate33 wrote:
Don't worry too much about saving electricity in the winter. Incandescent bulbs, dirty refrigerator coils, etc. don't really hurt you much because the energy that is "wasted" is technically just heat energy which will ultimately reduce the energy required to heat your home. The same goes for your hot water heater and hot water pipes.
In winter, the only thing that really matters is the insulation separating the living areas of your home from the unheated exterior. Everything else is just details.
Obviously, the summer is a different story.
UNTRUE!
Energy saving appliances help at any time of year. A few years ago, I bought a tankless hot water heater and a front load washer. Since I heated both my water and my home with natural gas, I thought it might be a wash in the winter time, because the waste heat was heating the house. I found instead that both of these saved me on my natural gas bill, even in the winter.
I kept really close records of my energy use when I had my own house. I tracked my daily energy use versus outdoor temperature before and after on an excel spreadsheet. I then used the statistical features of Excel to plot the closest fit line on each set of data, and found that outdoor temperature explained about 90% of the variability in my energy use before I bought the tankless heater and after. However, the entire line shifted downward after the purchases. Regardless of the outdoor temperature, I saved energy by reducing my water heating costs. In fact, my savings were much higher in the winter than in the summer.
Remember that the water flowing into your house is COLDER in the winter than in the summer. It takes more energy to heat it to the desired temperature in the winter. The more efficiently you can do that, the more you will save.
With the tax writeoff that the State of Oregon gave me, the new appliances paid for themselves within a year.
Later, I replaced half my old aluminum frame windows with state-of-the-art vinyl frame, argon filled windows, and had my walls insulated (attic was already done). Surprisingly, this action saved me much less than the efficient hot water appliances. _________________ Just another tofu-munching bike-riding Rambo(/Rambette)
Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 6:31 pm Post subject: Re: Practical Tips for Reducing Energy Consumption
Pixie, or anyone, I've been considering a tankless water heater. I've heard some downside, that flow rate has to be up to a minimum, or it doesn't work. also, that going from gas to tankless saves money, but don't know if going from electric to electric tankless would save anything? And the electric tankless wants some MAJOR heavy wire and breaker. I know, big surge in use, then nothing till next time. But can I gain much from a well insulated tank heater, currently electric. Don't have, don't want gas. Input anybody?
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). We can cut our own wood for nearly free (modulo chainsaw food and some diesel for the tractor to make to easier to haul the stuff home), so it's worth it to us. If you have a way to burn wood efficiently (i.e., not in a traditional fireplace), it may be worth it to you to do it, even if you must pay for the wood. The northeast has a lot of timber, and there's often "trash wood" (downed trees, trimmings, etc) to be had for little more than the sweat and gas to haul it away.
At least the washer spins out well, so stuff enters it wrung out nicely.
off your refrigerator's coils once a year or so. A fridge is one of the biggest power hogs in the average house. Is your older than a decade? Might actually pay to replace it.
Our furnace is powered by natural gas (forced air), as well as our water heater. Hopefully I can find some more improvements there.
