#208 - In the Air Tonight

Turning Off the Furnace and the A/C... Again

Well it's that time of year again. The days are getting warmer, the nights are still a little chilly. It's in-between weather that fluctuates between hot and cold, shorts and long johns, or, in the case of my kids "naked" or "wrapped up".

In the past, I'm ashamed to admit, I would have spent my time at the thermostat switching from heat to cool to heat again in order to maintain a relatively constant temperature. But not EcoDorkess. Last fall I learned to live without my furnace and a/c by piling on or taking off clothes. This spring, I'm going to be tuning in to the weather a little more closely to see if I can't find a way to regulate the temps inside.

Previously oblivious to forecasts, I now keep a close eye on the weather. Because knowing whether it's going to hit 60 or 80 means the difference between airing out the house or sweating my ass off at night. It also means the difference between letting the sun shine in or keeping it blocked as much as possible. It helps me decide whether to run the dishwasher in the morning to take advantage of the heat, or wait until dark of night when it won't add to an already too warm house. Should I plan on grilling outside that day or cooking inside? Do I open the windows in the morning to let some cool air in or keep them closed tight until the sun warms us up a bit in the afternoon?

The only investment required here was an outside thermometer and a bit of my time and attention. You see, it's a lot easier to just set the thermostat to 70 and let the furnace and a/c do the work. But if I just slow down. If I just pay closer attention. If I just learn to live a little more deliberately. I can maintain a relatively comfortable, if not constant, temperature in my home. A little more work for me, a little less stress on the environment. Isn't that what living lightly is all about?

And so now I work a little more with the less-polluting resources like curtains, windows and fans; I plan a little of my day around the weather and, as a result, I'm able to rely a little less on the furnace and a/c - the two biggest energy hogs in our home.

And it makes a difference. I know because I see it in my energy bills. Which reminds me... I think I need to update my riot numbers. But not today. It's late, I'm tired and the house is the perfect temperature for sleeping. Good night.

#189 - Be A Trendsetter

Shut Off the Lights in Public Bathrooms

Picture this: You're at Starbucks. You've just purchased a non-fat, no whip Mocha Latte and a couple of, what appear to be, two week-old chocolate glazed donuts for the kiddos when the little one turns to you and says "I go boopey."

Great. Hands full of coffee and "fresh" food, protected only by a thin paper bag, you head for the germtopia that is the public bathroom. You open the door to the single-serve potty room and find the lights and fan have been left on, just waiting for the next person to "boopey". You do your thing, wash up and head back out.

But what happens when you open that door and the lights are off? Sure, you flick 'em on, but then you shut them back off when you leave, right? I know I do. It's the old "Leave it as you found it" mentality. Why does this happen? How the hell should I know? I'm not a psychiatrist. I just know it's true. We tend to do whatever the last guy did because, hey, he's done it so it must be right. Let's face it, we are a species of followers.

So from now on, I'm going to be the trendsetter who shuts the lights off. Hopefully, the next person after me will do the same and the lights will be left off in that bathroom for a least a couple more boopeys. Who knows.

I wouldn't recommend this in those multi-stall bathrooms though. That might piss someone off. Or result in someone being pissed on. Either way, it wouldn't be good.


Savings:

Incalculable. Unless I want to hang out in Starbucks all day watching people go in and out of the crapper. If I had more free time, maybe I would. They've got wi-fi you know.


Difficulty Level: 1 out of 5

So many of the changes I make are just about being more aware. More conscious of your actions. Living in 'The Now'. All that zen stuff. This is one of those changes.

#187 - Oh Say Can You See...

By The Dawnzerlee© Light?

Ok, there are several ways you can change your indoor lighting habits in order to save energy. The two you hear about most often are the suggestions to switch to CFLs or remember to turn out the lights when you leave the room. What very few folks talk about is not bothering to turn them on in the first place.

Spring is in the air here in America and the days are getting longer. So I'm trying to be more conscious about flickin' the lights on during the day. Do I need all three lights on in the living room? I mean, I'm only hanging laundry, how bright does it need to be? Do I need any lights on at all?

Generally speaking, when I walk into a room I turn on the lights without even thinking. It could be as bright as Doogie Howser and I still flip the switch. My personal favorite is when I catch myself turning on the lights in the kids' bath during the day. I certainly don't need that light on, since there is a huge skylight in there that floods the room with tons natural sunlight every day from 8 am - 5 pm.

So instead of automatically reaching for the "on" switch every time I enter a room, I'm going to first assess whether or not I actually need the lights on. Because sometimes, being really bright is really quite dim.


Savings:

Assuming each light I flick on is a CFL that runs at 18 watts, and assuming I'm avoiding a measly 5 hours of lighting per day, that equates to 2.8 kWh per month or 33.6 kWh per year. Not a ton, but if I convince just 10 of you to make this change and those ten each convince ten friends to do it and then those folks convince another ten, together we will save over 33,000 kWh each year and have the base for a very lucrative ponzi scheme.


Difficulty Level: 1 out of 5

This is yet another one of those wasteful habits that is so ingrained in our daily lives that it takes a bit of focus to change it. But, after concentrating on it for a couple of weeks, it will become second-nature and I will win the title of the "Dimmest Bright Idea".

#186 - Where There's A Will, There's A Clothesline

Getting Creative With Line Drying

Just last month I posted about how I finally got a drying rack and was using it to dry about 15-20% of my clothes sans electricity. Wendy and Green Bean both left me comments about how "once you go rack, you never go back" and said that I would become "racked with guilt" anytime I turned on the dryer. Pfffff.

Well, turns out them bitches was right. I load my rack up to the point where it nearly topples over, then I begin to toss items across the back of kitchen chairs, over the top of doors and shower curtain rods - I even utilize the various door knobs when possible. All this leaves my house looking like some shabbily-dressed strippers just left, and it tends to make my OCD personality twitch. Besides, I've caught the kids wiping their paint-y hands all over things recently and don't want to have the "but those were my best work slacks" conversation with hubby.

Of course, you loyal readers will know that I live in a subdivision whose HOA rules prohibit me from hanging a clothesline anywhere outside of the 4x4 fenced area that houses our garbage cans and compost bin. Not the best spot to hang clothes -- especially when you realize that area sits directly under several sappy pine trees. I initially had planned to go commando and install some sort of 007-esque retractable line this spring, but I have to wait for the foliage to grow in a bit more or it will be visible from the road. And in the meantime, Wendy and GreenBean's prediction is coming true. I am obsessing over what I dry in the machine.

So here's the stylin' new clothesline at Casa Del Burban:

Tres chic, no? Well, as my Dad always says, Form Follows Function and that puppy is definitely functional. I took a length of rope and two of those screw-into-the-wall-hooks. Some pounding and spinning, a couple of those "the rabbit comes out of the hole, around the tree and back down the hole" knots and voila! Instant clothesline. It's totally retractable too. Kind of. I just unhook one end, loop the line up (with clothespins still attached, of course) and hang it on the other hook. Although the clothes don't have that "sunshine smell", they also don't smell like a garage. Plus I'm not violating any HOA rules,and most importantly, I'm not using my dryer!

The only downside is, when I told hubby about my plan, he was quite concerned that whatever spiders may be in the garage would wind up in the clothes. I poo-pooed that idea and told him we were WAY more likely to get spiders from hanging the clothes outside. He insisted that he did not want his clothes hung up in the garage and, being the dutiful wife that I am, I relented and assured him I would definitely not put his clothes out there to dry.

Now how long do you suppose it will take him to realize that means he'll be doing his own laundry?

Savings:

I still use the dryer for socks, underwear and bras. After all, nobody likes crunchy toes, butts or boobs (but if you do that's ok, we don't judge here). As such, I have gone from an average of six full dryer loads per week to one really small load. Since I use the moisture sensor, that one load only takes about 35 minutes to dry.

So, get your calculators out folks. Our 3,000 watt dryer went from running 45 minutes, six days per week (13.5 kWh / week) down to 35 minutes, one day per week (1.75 kWh /week). That's a weekly savings of 11.75 kWh per week, 611 kWh per year. At a windblown electrical rate of approximately $0.10 kWh, that's a dollar savings of $61.10 a year.

Difficulty Level: 1 out of 5

Getting the idea was easy, since Paula Hewitt left a comment on my drying rack post about how she hangs her wash in the garage. Constructing the indoor line was also a relatively simple task. Even the actual hanging process is nice because it allows me to escape to the quiet sanctuary of the garage for a few moments in the day, where I can no longer hear "DAH-EE KNOCK OVER MY LEGO TOWER MOMMY!!!!!" and the oft-repeated rebuttal of "BRUH-BRUH KICK ME!!!!!" I'm thinking about getting a washboard and a bucket to put out there, if only to buy me some solitude. Maybe then I could get in a full 30 minutes of meditation. ;-)

#171 - The Boob Tube

Shutting off the TV During the Day

I just finished reading "Consuming Kids, The Hostile Takeover of Childhood" by Susan Linn. It is an in-depth look at the advertising media, specifically, its questionable methodology of marketing to children.

Now, when I first started the book, Ms. Linn worked me up in to a nice indignant tizzy about the money-grubbing ad execs who would prostitute their own mothers for a few sheckles. However, the angry high wore off quickly and I soon found myself silently arguing with the deluded author.

Is it morally wrong for advertisers to tell kids to nag their parents? Sure.

Is it ethical to purposely target younger children with products that should be intended for a more mature audience? Prolly not.

Has advertising ever been the domain of the morally pure and ethically correct? Ummm, I don't think so.

It is, and always has been, my opinion that there are two people responsible for instilling basic moral concepts in my children. And neither one of them works in advertising. It is MY job to ensure that my children do not fall prey to the slick ad lines produces by marketers. It is MY job to ensure that my kids understand that family and friends are the most important assets in life - not gadgets and gizmos. It is MY job to teach them right from wrong, good from bad and even need from want.

Good God, these kids are screwed, aren't they?

I guess what I'm getting is that, while the book didn't exactly leave me feeling as outraged as its twitchy author, it DID open my eyes to the constant barrage of marketing I unwittingly foist upon my children each day through their television viewing habits.

Until I read that book, I'd considered myself a pretty decent mom. Not "great", but "good". Definitely a solid "OK" parent, at the least. Afterall, I never let my kids watch commercial television. It's either DVD's, PBS or a commercial-free children's station like Noggin or Boomerang. And I've already seen it payoff, because Ethan doesn't ask for any of the hyped-up, super-marketed crap the "real" tv channels advertise - even though I know kids his age that do.

But what I didn't even think about? What didn't even hit the radar? Was all the merchandising of the cartoons he does watch. Products like Tickle Me Elmo, Superman pajamas or Diego lunchboxes. All these Disney, Sesame Street, and Dora items that clog the shelves of the big box stores are the exact same shows I let my kids watch.

So what the hell am I supposed to do? Ban TV? NO WAY! Green and crazy are two different things. What I WILL do, though, is limit the amount they're watching. Often times, I turn the old boob-tube on just out of habit or to have background noise. Hell, sometimes the kids aren't even in the room!

So today's change will be to limit the tv. I'll allow a half hour in the morning (these kids are NOT morning people and I actually fear them when they first wake up. I mean, look at that:)

There will be the 2:00 pm "rest time" which I need (won't show you how I look by then). Although I'm going to try offering the option of playing quietly in their rooms for an hour and see how that goes.

Then there is the pre-bedtime half hour Tom and Jerry show. You know, cuz nothing calms a kid down for the night more than watching two cartoon animals pound the crap out of each other.

So that's it. Two hours of television per day. ugh. Even that sounds like too much, doesn't it? Hopefully they'll opt for playing in their rooms during rest. And if I juggle the day's schedule around a bit, I could move story time around and replace T&J with some good ol' book reading instead (I hear some parents read to their kids at bedtime - a novel idea, don'tcha think?).

Anyhow, I'm sure this post makes me sound like a HORRIBLE parent, but at least I'm a HORRIBLE parent taking a step in the right direction.

Savings:

The idea behind this change is to reduce the consumeristic attitudes of the kids. However, it will also reduce my electricity by about .2 kilowatts every hour the tv is shut off. Assuming I turn it off 2 hours each day, that's 2.8 kWh per week, 12 kWh per month, 145 kWh per year.

Difficulty Level: 2 out of 5

I really do like the background noise. I think to help compensate, I'll dig out an old radio from somewhere and turn that on instead. Honestly, I don't know if this will be an easy transition or a hard one. I think I'm more hooked on the tube than the kids are! I might miss my Dora.

#169 - High and Dry

Drying My Clothes on a Rack

Remember my wish list for Christmas? How I wanted a drying rack? Yeah, never got it. "Santa" said he could only find ones made in China and didn't want to violate any of my rules. Of course, "Santa" does know how to drill holes and buy dowels, so I'm not sure why he felt he was out of options, but anyhow..... I didn't get one in December, so I finally broke down and bought one today. A drying rack, that is. Check her out:

Isn't she a beaut? It folds up to nearly nothin' and stores itself right beside the dryer when not in use. It doesn't hold a ton of stuff, but I'm still hoping to go all "Mission Impossible" and install a hidden clothesline this spring, despite the HOA regulations. In the meantime, I'll be able to dry sweaters, napkins and small items indoors on my rack. I figure I'll pile on as much as I can and then dry whatever's left in the machine. Judging from the amount of stuff it holds, I'd say that in the course of a week it will save me one full dryer load. Of course, it helps that I supplement with my "less-than-legit" outdoor drying system too.

Oh yeah, baby. I bet the HOA would LOVE it if I hung all my laundry off the deck! As my sister is fond of saying: I really put the "K" in "Klassy".

Savings:

One dryer load per week. Since our model dryer runs at 3,000 watts x 1 hour per load, that's 3 kWh per week, 12 kWh per month, 156 kWh per year.

Difficulty Level: 2 out of 5

It's not too difficult, but it does require more work than just throwing all the laundry in the dryer. Plus, I know hubby and the boy will complain about the "crunchy" clothes. Me? I like it. So until everything is being line-dried, I'll just rack-dry my own clothes, napkins, towels, etc.

#164 - All Warm and Toasty

Using My Toaster Oven Instead of My Big Oven

I am in love - In love, I tell you. And I'm not talking about my imaginary butcher boyfriend. I'm referring to my new favorite appliance.

Get your minds out of the gutter, kids -- it's not that kind of appliance.

It's my Oster Toaster Oven that I got for Christmas! This thing is da bomb, folks and it has been chefing up toasty, tasty meals for almost a month now! It heats up in a jiffy and the temperature control seems to be pretty accurate. I've been cooking hot nuggets and fries for the kids' lunches, mini-meatloafs for dinner and single-serving apple crisps for hubby. I've even been whipping up cookies for dessert -- four at a time, of course! There is nothing this little toaster oven can't cook.

With the exception of toast, oddly enough. It does kind of suck at making toast.

But other than that, it ROCKS! I have only used my big, energy sucking oven twice this month. Once, because the pizza delivery guy came early and I needed to store the pie someplace warm. And again, when I was making bacon and waffles for dinner (nice diet food, eh?) and I wanted to keep the first batch hot while I made more. Basically, my GE Profile Drop-In Range has been demoted to a warming drawer.

This change from daily use of my oven to the toaster oven is pretty similar to my "using the crockpot" post. It's really no extra work, but should pay off in a sizable reduction in my electric consumption.


Savings:

Let's assume that my average dinner takes about a half an hour to cook. That leaves me with a nightly difference of:

Oven - 8700 watts x .001 x .5 hours = 4.35 kWh
Toaster - 1250 watts x .001 x .5 hours = .625 kWh

I was already crockin' dinner once a week, and once a week we're eating salads, so I'm down to five nights per week that I'll need to use the oven. That makes my weekly oven usage roughly 21.75 kWh while my toaster oven would be drawing 3.125 kWh for the same time period. A weekly difference of 18.625.

In one year, that adds up to 968.5 kWh saved! At my current wind-generated electrical rate of $0.10 kWh, that's a dollar savings of $96.85 - greater than the cost of the oven. SCORE!


Difficulty Level: 1 out of 5

It's actually easier to cook in the toaster oven. Because it's such a tiny space, I don't have to wait for the darn thing to preheat. And like I said, I've been making cookies in it and even they bake up nice and evenly, delivering a really nice chocolate cookie fix each night. Of course, eating the dough right out of the tub would save even MORE electricity. Hmmmmm. Food for thought.

Day 138 - Takin' It to the Streets

Exercising Outdoors Instead of On A Machine

Let me start by saying I am not an athletic person. Never have been. My high school athletic career consisted of color guard, winterguard and cheerleading. And I could generally be found in the girls' bathroom smoking cigarettes before and after all of those practices. Oh, I was also on the girls' softball team for a season, but only so I could ride on the same bus with the boys' baseball team.

College didn't involve a lot of sports time either, unless Sambuca shot-drinking was a sport. Which I'm pretty sure it wasn't. During my workin' twenties I was actually at my most athletic -- I joined a bowling league for a few years. Beer, cigarettes and a 140 average. Not exactly Olympic material. Not even Special Olympic material.

But now, at the ripe old age of 35, I've decided it's finally time to get in shape. The metabolism has slowed down, the weight has gone up, and although I quit smoking, I still get winded chasing the kids around. And they're only going to get faster.

I do belong to a local gym, so I could just go hop on some electronic machine in a climate-controlled facility. But I'm not going to waste the energy required for a treadmill when I can get the same results without the electro-sucking devices. Instead, my friend (yes, I have one) and I have started running. Outside. On trails. Like nature intended. If, in fact, nature intended exercise at all. Which I'm not so sure it did.


Savings:

Assuming I run for half an hour, that's .75 kWh. My goal is to run every day, so that would be 22.5 kWh per month, 270 kWh per year. That is, if I don't fall off the trail and break my leg - a distinct possibility.


Difficulty Level: 3 out of 5

Let's start with the fact that I don't really like exercising in the first place. Add to that the cold, the wind and the uneven trails and you've got a recipe for one cranky, out-of-breath, muscle-achin' runner. But misery loves company and I've got a partner, so I guess I'll keep on keepin' on.

Day 136 - Rakin' It In

Trading In the Leafblower for a Rake

I've talked about our itty-bitty yard before, but have I ever mentioned the WORLD'S LARGEST OAK tree that sits in the middle of it? This sucker's so old, it's gotta be pushin' 100 and it drops more nuts than a high-rise asylum caught in a 7.8 richter. In addition to the copious amounts of acorns, it also drops tons and tons and tons of leaves. I mean a WHOLE LOT of 'em.

Last year, being the good wife but bad environmentalist that I was, I bought hubby a nice, heavy-duty leaf blower. Because nothing motivates a man to do yardwork like a machine that requires ear protection.

Guess what is now taboo at our house. Yep. Guess who tabbood it. Yep. So now guess who's in charge of cleaning up the leaves. Yep. Sucks to be me.

Yesterday, I took the kids out front and attempted to rake the easy part of the yard. This is how it went down:

2:00 - Raking Commences

2:05 - Daphne has to go "boopie"

2:10 - Raking Re-commences

2:15 - Ethan wants his cup of water

2:20 - Raking Re-re-commences

2:25 - Yell at the kids to stay away from the road

2:30 - Tell Ethan to stop rubbing leaves on his face to see if they are poison ivy

2:35 - Tell Ethan to stop rubbing leaves on his sister to see if they are poison ivy

2:36 - Resist urge to tie children to tree while I rake

And so it continued ad nauseum until I smartened up and got them each their very own broom and told them to sweep the driveway. Which they kind of did. The three of us had the front yard raked in just under 90 minutes. Alone, it would have taken about 30.

But it got done. And you know what? Despite the mild case of toddler-induced frustration, I actually enjoyed it. The smell of the crisp, fall air, the crunchy noise of the leaves, the light workout and, of course, the fun of jumping with the kids into the leaf pile. The best part? No long-lasting effects of ear damage - unless you count the piercing squeals of delight from the kids.

Savings:

Let's say it takes me roughly four hours to do the whole yard with the electric leaf blower. That equates to roughly 5 kWh, not a huge amount, but keep in mind that I would probably have to do this three times per season, for a total of 15 kWh. I could walk down the road right now and point out at least ten leaf-blowin' neighbors. If we all just put down our noisy machines and picked up a rake, we could save 150 kWh. And an assload of noise pollution.

Difficulty Level: 2 out of 5

No doubt, it requires more physical energy to rake leaves than it does to blow them away. However, I could always just pay the kid down the street a few sheckles to rake the yard if I was unable to do the work myself. But let's face it, I could definitely use the extra workout. Besides, I can't wait to rake a huge pile out back, right at the bottom of the slide. WHEEEEEEEE!

Day 130 - Feelin' Hot! Hot! Hot!

Consolidating My Oven Use to Once Per Day

Ever since I learned about how much electricity my oven sucks up, I've been looking for ways to cut down on its use. You might say it's been a "burning" desire.

But that would be really lame.

Oh well, just one more month of using the insanely energy-draining oven and then, if Santa got my note, I'll be able to save lots of electricity with my new (or used) Toaster Oven. While I'm waiting, though, I have devised a plan that should help save some of the juice associated with the 5,000 watt range.

I will consolidate any and all oven use to once per day (assuming I use it at all). So, if I need to make a batch of granola, the kids want cookies and I'm making pork chops for supper, it's all gonna get cooked up at the same time - varying temperatures, lengthened cooking times and cross smellination be damned. This will be lots of fun -- like learning to juggle butcher knives and prairie dogs simultaneously.

If they cannot be cooked together (like if they won't all fit in at once), I will at least cook all the items back-to-back, thereby saving the energy that would have been required to preheat the darn thing twice.

Savings:

I only use the oven twice a day about twice a week. Good grief, I wrote that sentence and even I don't understand it. What I mean is that, roughly two days per week, I find myself in the situation of needing to cook multiple items. Better?

Savings is estimated to be about 30 minutes, twice per week at 350 degrees, which is somewhere in the neighborhood of a little more than 5 kWh. In one year, that's 261 kWh (for you finance types, that equates to a dollar savings of $28.78). Not bad - that right there'll get me a large pepperoni pizza and a dozen wings - all cooked by someone else!

Difficulty Level: 3 out of 5

This is going to require both planning acumen and spacial relation skills, neither of which I possess. Fear not, though, I have a meat thermometer and a set of pot holders. And one hot idea.

Day Ninety-Nine - Chillin' Out

Turning the A/C AND the Furnace Off

It's that wonderful time of year when the brutal heat of summer gently gives way to the cool, crisp air of autumn. Warm, sunny days yield to the chill of the night and the temperatures undulate between daytime highs in the upper 70's to nighttime lows in the 40's. This fluctuation that causes multiple wardrobe changes during a 24 hour period also leads to the cycling of air conditioning and heating in most of our self-contained, climate-controlled eco-systems we call "home".

This home, however, will be opting out of the on again/off again HVAC relationship game this fall. We will, instead, embrace the cyclical changes by opening our windows during the day and throwing on an extra blanket at night. I'm hoping that this breath of fresh air will also sweep out the funky smell in the garbage disposal, since I can't just dump bleach down it like I used to. ;-)


Savings:

Our A/C has definitely worked overtime these past few months, with a long, hot and humid Virginia summer and giving it a break will definitely have a huge impact on our electric bill. Also, turning the furnace off will allow me to keep our water heater set at a lower temperature (the water tank somehow acts as our heat source) for just a little longer. During this wonderful period of flux -- 3 -4 weeks, maybe? -- I'm hoping to save roughly 200 kWh over what we used during the same time frame last year.


Difficulty Level: 1 out of 5

I'm from Upstate New York, and these crisp Autumn days are far and away my favorite time of year. To me, the cool weather makes me feel at home. I relish the newfound chill and love the fact that I can finally pull out my comfortable jeans and long sleeve t-shirts. So turning off the HVAC is literally 'no sweat'.

Day Eighty-Three - That's a Crock

Using the Crockpot Instead of the Oven

I'm making ribs today (pork ones, of course -- no beef!). Now, I'm not the world's greatest chef or anything, but I do ok in the kitchen. Nearly every night there's a nutritous, home-cooked meal on the table, all prepared by yours truly. I used to really enjoy cooking but now that I'm working three afternoons a week, Daphne has given up her afternoon nap, and 5 pm is either fightin', whinin' or racin' time at my house, I look for whatever shortcuts I can take.

One of my favorite shortcuts is the crockpot. In fact, I love it so much that I own two of them. Super-consumeristic, I know, but one is for really big dinners and the other for smaller dishes -plus I bought them before the Compact.

But back to the ribs. Normally, I would wrap them in aluminum foil, toss them in the oven at 300 for two hours, then throw them on the grill for a nice, crispy finish. Today I am trying something new. I cut the long set of ribs into five smaller sections and threw them in the crockpot on HIGH where they will sit for 5 hours. Then I'll pull 'em out and toss them on the grill. What's the big difference? I thought you'd never ask.

Well, besides the fact that I'm saving a 2 foot length of aluminum foil (which ends up so food-encrusted that it can't be recycled), I'm saving oodles of electricity. Using my super-geeky-cool Kill-A-Watt device, I discovered that my large crockpot, when set on high, draws 260 watts. Compare this with my oven which has a kW rating of 8.7 (that's 8700 watts). So even though I'm more than doubling the amount of time spent cooking, I'm greatly reducing the energy required to do so.

Savings:

Oven - 8700 watts x .001 x 2 hours = 17.4 kWh

Crock - 260 watts x .001 x 5 hours = 1.3 kWh

Pretty simple to see that using the crock is saving me over 16 kWh. If I can use the crock once a week, instead of the oven, I'll be saving 64 kWh a month -- 832 kWh per year. That's another $8.32 :-) Who says "going green" is expensive? Most of my changes save me money. Maybe I should rename the blog "going cheap". Would you still read?

Difficulty Level: 1 out of 5

I already own two cookbooks devoted to crockpot cooking so I should be set on recipes for at least a full year, maybe more. Plus, it really cuts down on the late afternoon craziness around here. I've even heard tell of a clever woman who makes her crockpot dishes the evening before and stores them in the fridge overnight -- thereby eliminating all the chopping and mixing work the next day, while simultaneously guilting her hubby into giving the kids their baths while she is "working on supper". Wow, she sounds really smart, doesn't she? ;-)

Day Eighty-Two - Another Bright Idea

Switching From Incandescents to Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs

It's funny how so many things, on the surface, seem so obviously eco-friendly but upon further inspection, turn out to be questionable. Take for instance, the Incandescent Bulb vs. the CFL. Everyone and I mean EVERYONE touts the energy-efficiency of CFL's. By God, if we would all just switch one measly bulb from an incandescent to a CFL it would save the universe. Really? Would it?

There is a down side to CFLs that most folks don't know about. CFLs contain approximately 4mg - 5 mg of mercury per bulb. Mercury can cause many problems when inhaled, and can affect our brains, spinal cords, kidneys and livers. Due to their toxic nature, CFL's require special handling. To dispose of them properly you need to seal them in a plastic bag and take them to a recycler that handles hazardous household waste. If recycling is not possible, then you should seal the bulb in a plastic bag and place it in with the regular trash. So for every bulb that dies, you need to enshrine it forever in plastic and hope that the plastic doesn't break and release the mercury -- that doesn't sound good for the environment, does it?

As I've posted before, I really have no clue what is the right thing to do. I'd love to switch all my bulbs to LED lightbulbs, which are energy efficent and mercury-free, but who can afford a $75 bulb? Not I.

However, since this blog is all about the changes I'm making (whether right or wrong), I should tell you that I have been switching to CFLs. In fact, I've been switching bulbs for almost a year now. It started as a way to save money on the electric bill, but is now more about the energy savings. I currently have installed in my house: 16 CFL bulbs; 30 regular bulbs; and 21 "odd" bulbs (those little candelabra ones, the big globe ones, some flood lights, etc.). As each regular bulb burns out, it is replaced with a CFL.

Am I doing the right thing? I've no clue. It all depends on whose research you read. On the one hand, they definitely save electricity, but if my energy comes from a renewable source, does that even matter? I've already broken one bulb and it freaked me out -- thinking about mercury vapors floating around in my house. I guess there is no perfect solution. If we want to be able to see at night and we're not willing to light candles to do so, we have to choose the best option we can afford.

I've never claimed to have all the answers. Hell, half the time I don't even understand the question. But you do the best you have with information you've got. Kind of like life in general.


Savings:

Each regular lightbulb is 60 watts. The replacement CFLs are 18 watts. For each bulb changed, I save 42 watts. Assuming each light is on an average of 2 hours per day, that's over 30 kWh saved per bulb, per year. I've already switched 16 bulbs, so I guess I'm already saving 490 kWh. When I finish converting all 46 bulbs, I'll be saving 1410 kWh each year, compared to incandescent bulbs. Pretty substantial stuff.


Difficulty Level: 2 out of 5

The hardest part of this task is deciding whether it is, indeed, the best environmental choice. I'm still not 100% convinced, but I'm obviously a little convinced, because I'm doing it. So I guess once you decide if it's the right choice for you, then it's as easy as changing a light bulb. (Even in the dim light, you had to see that one coming...)

Day Seventy-Eight - Good To The Last Drop

Using a Coffee Carafe To Keep My Java Hot

I have been plugging EVERYTHING in my house into my fabulous, geek-o-rific Kill-A-Watt device and am learning all sorts of unexpected lessons. For instance, one of the biggest energy hogs in my house is my Mr. Coffee! When it's just sitting there displaying the time, the thing barely draws any energy -- in fact it doesn't even register a watt. However, when it is brewing or just keeping the hot plate on (which it does for at least two hours each day), it cycles itself on and off at about 900 watts. YIKES!

This one is such an easy fix, though, and it doesn't even require me to break my compact. When the coffee is done brewing, I simply pour it into my already-got-one-so-I-don't-need-to-buy-one coffee carafe. How cool is that? So now I only run the coffee pot for 10 minutes and then that sucker gets turned off! Bonus? The last cup doesn't have that "burnt" taste that requires an extra-heavy helping of sugar and cream.

Savings:

The heating element cycles on and off at whate seems to be 1 minute intervals. When on, it is drawing approximately 900 watts, or .9 kWh. So, one hour per day, every single day equates to 27 kWh a month, 324 kWh per year (which, by the way, is about $32.40 in dollar-savings). HAHA! Paid for the Kill-A-Watt and then some!

Difficulty Level: 1 out of 5

Alread owned the carafe, just blew the dust off it and set it on the counter. Life just doesn't get any easier than that, does it?

Day Seventy-One - Feeling Disconnected

Turning Off the Laptop During the Day

My sister, Shannon, is a super techno-geek who is always in the know on the latest and greatest electronic gadgets, so I wasn't too surprised when she emailed me last week to tell me about a neat device that measures the energy consumed by whatever you've got plugged in to it. It's called a Kill-A-Watt , it costs around $20 and can be found at hardware stores, electronics stores, Amazon, wherever. I thought it was SO COOL that I once again violated the compact and ordered one. (You can bet your sweet ass that I've been running around the house plugging virtually EVERYTHING into this! I am SUCH a dork.)

Anyhow, I've been hearing a lot on the news and online about how much power our electronic devices use just by being plugged in. Supposedly, any appliance with one of those clunky transformers is making our meter rotate faster than Michelle Kwan in a scratch spin. So I was very excited to find out just how much juice I was wasting by having my laptop connected to the wall socket. Turns out, not much. Good news - yes; but in a way, disappointing.

Here I thought I could save mega-wattage by unplugging the computer at night, but the truth is that I'm only drawing 1 watt. yippee. Don't get me wrong, a watt is a watt, and I'll still unplug it, but this wasn't the earth-shattering news I expected. So once again, my hypothesis is flawed and therefore I've decided to change my resolution to something more productive.

I am turning off and unplugging my laptop during the day. That's right folks, turns out that when my laptop is running, I'm drawing about 30 watts. Even if it's just showing the screen saver, it's still sucking down 30 watts. And, even worse, it sucks up quite a bit of my time. Time I should be spending on the floor with my kids, rather than checking my email or looking stuff up. Time I could theoretically use to clean my house, but won't. Time that is generally wasted checking Yahoo Groups, deleting emails promising "Gi_anT Pe_nis Enlarge-mint", and shopping for techno-gadgets that violate my compact.

Sure I could let it go to standby power and save a little bit of energy, but that's not the point. The point is, I don't NEED it on. I highly doubt I will ever recieve an emergency notice via email that is SO IMPORTANT that it cannot wait six hours to be read.

So, today was day one of this experiment and, knowing how I like to cheat, I had to physically remove the laptop from my desk and put it in a kitchen cabinet. It felt wierd being offline, but I'm proud to say that, thanks to my personal therapist Dr. Hershey, I worked through my withdrawal and didn't bring it out until naptime. Once naptime is over, it will be turned back off until tonight, when the kids go to bed. So if you leave a comment and don't see it right away, do not fear, I haven't fallen into the compost bin, I'm just powered down ;-)


Savings:

I shut the laptop off at 7:30 am and didn't turn it back on until 2:00. It will power down again around 3:30 and be back online around 9:00. That's twelve hours of downtime, that normally would have been 'up and running' time. At an average of 30 Watts, that works out to .36 kWh a day, or over 130 kWh a year. At my average rate of $0.10/kWh, I'll be saving $13.00 a year.


Difficulty Level: 3 out of 5

I'm so used to checking emails and looking stuff up online that this will be a tough habit to break. However, the rewards are great. Today the kids and I played about twenty rounds of "Cariboo" without stopping and I built a Lego tower over 3' tall. I even got caught up on laundry. Besides, if I save up all my emails until the end of the day, I'll have so many to read, it will make me feel more popular and less dork-y. ;-)

Day Twenty-One - A Long-Winded Post

Changing My Energy Supplier

This is one of those changes that is super-easy to do and can have a really big impact. I like these ones and I hope you do too. To learn more about where our energy comes from and the different types of energy available, check out this article by Environmental Defense. If you're too lazy to read the whole thing, I'll hit some hightlights below for you ;-)

Conventional electricity sources include coal, nuclear, oil, natural gas, and large hydropower facilities. These sources supply about 99% of the electricity used in the United States today. Many of these sources of energy would not be economically competitive if we were to pay their full costs, including damage to the environment and human health, security risks, and long- term storage costs. These costs are borne by society, but are not reflected in our energy bills. They are paid for in other ways: higher health insurance premiums and defense expenditures, and long-term depletion of resources. Incorporating these external costs into the price of energy to give consumers accurate information on the true costs of energy is one of the most important challenges in creating a sustainable energy future.

My personal supplier of electricity is Dominion Power. I did some research and found that their energy source is mainly coal and nuclear. In fact, Dominion is spreading across the US, and is planning three new coal-fired power plants, one in Virginia, one in Ohio, and a mega-plant in an undisclosed location. And here I am supporting them just by turning on my lights and air conditioning. And there's not a damn thing I can do about it. Or is there?

Did you know that you due to energy de-regulation you can pick where your energy comes from? Yes, it's true! The US Department of Energy has a very user-friendly website that lest you click on your state to find companies that offer "green power" in your state. The results will include utility green pricing programs, retail green power products offered in competitive electricity markets, and renewable energy certificate (REC) products.

When I clicked through I was shown that PEPCO Energy Services offers two different types of green power - landfill gas or new wind. I've always been a big fan of windmills (call me the Anti-Don Quixote) so clickety-click-click and now my energy comes from a beautiful windfarm on the Chesapeake. Neat, huh? No more coal-burning and nuking for me!


Savings:

Ahh, my favorite, geek part of the blog. Considering my energy use over the past twelve months was, on average, 1,002 kWh per month.

The electricity generated per ton of coal is 0.4 x 6,150 kWh or 2,460 kWh/ton. (Yes, I love "How Stuff Works"!) To find out how many tons of coal were burned for our light bulb we divide 1,00 kWh by 2,460 kWh/ton. That equals 0.4073 tons. Multiplying by 2,000 pounds per ton we get 814 pounds of coal. That is a pretty big pile of coal, but let's look at what else was produced to provide that electricity.

Sulfur Dioxide - Main cause of acid rain - 5 pounds
Nitrogen Oxides - Causes smog and acid rain - 5.1 pounds
Carbon Dioxide - Greenhouse gas suspected of causing global warming - 1852 pounds


Difficulty Level - 1 out of 5

Again, the research took more time than the signing up, at least the PEPCO form I used was quick. I won't see any change in my delivery system or billing, just a small change in price ($0.10 kWh vs. $0.69 kWh) about $31 per month. I'm assuming, though that my new habits of turning things off will compensate for this increase. Even if it doesn't, that's a really small price to pay for clean air.

Day Six - A Bright Idea

SHUTTING OFF THE LIGHTS (when not in use)


OK, I thought I was doing the right thing by purchasing the ultra energy efficient CFL lightbulbs, then I started reading some more and got all freaked out about the mercury and plastic they contain. Plus the fact that they come in giant plastic packages that require a pick axe to open is a bit off-putting. So then I thought I'd switch back to regular lightbulbs, but then I'm wasting energy and contributing additional CO2 to the atmosphere. After doing more research, though, I found that I STILL HAVE NO CLUE WHICH IS BETTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT. So I'm just going to shut the lights off.


Don't think I'm typing here in the dark, because I'm not. I have on the lights I need to see. What I don't have on are the front porch light, the entry light, the upstairs hall light, the light in the corner that's wwaaaaaayyyyyy over there and the light in the bathroom that we usually forget about. Sadly, that's the number of lights that are usually on in my house for at LEAST eight hours each day, when they really don't need to be. Starting today, they will be shut off when not in use. As will any other lights or appliances that normally just hang out on standby, waiting for someone to need them (the printer, the cable box, DVD player, etc.).

SAVINGS

Let's forget about the other ancillary appliances and just talk about the lights for now. Two of these lights use two bulbs and the other three use one. That's a total seven light bulbs, each burning at 60 watts, unnecessarily, for a minimum of eight hours per day. Assuming they still have the old lightbulbs in them that's 3.36 kWh per day, 1,226.4 kWh per year. That's a CO2 savings of over 1500 lbs per year. Nice. I get the added bonus of saving money on my electric bill, which runs roughly $0.061 per kWh, making an annual savings of $74.81 for lights I'm not even using. Looks like there'll be a little something extra in my Christmas bonus this year :-)

DIFFICULTY LEVEL: 2 out of 5

Not too difficult for me to do, but I feel like I'm constantly nagging everyone else in the house. There will definitely be an adjustment period for this one. Ethan even asked me "Mommy, why we don't have all the lights on?", like it's totally unnatural to turn them off occasionally. Sad, eh?