energy vampires?

jeremy's current edition of handyman magazine has 10 really great tips for saving money & energy around the house. here's one that really struck home with us: according to the department of energy (as quoted by handyman magazine), "75% of the electrical use of home electronics occurs when they're turned off. these 'energy vampires' suck electricity all day long--costing you an extra $100 each year." 

a quick scan of our living room shows lots of possible waste--a television that we don't watch, a record player that we use, a dvd player and a receiver. we're all set up to be totally eco here, with all of the aforementioned items plugged into a power strip. but eco we aren't--the power strip stays on 100% of the time, which totally defeats the purpose. 

until now. i'd known in the past that electronics drain energy, but i wasn't aware of just how much it could be costing us. over the summer i went around the house unplugging things that weren't in use--the toaster, the dryer, a couple of lamps. it didn't really stick. tomorrow i plan on going around the house again, pulling plugs. i'll leave plugged in only what's hard to get to & used daily--the living room stereo, for instance. 

who knows if there'll be a difference on our energy bill, but it's worth a shot--last months grand total was $175 (running the heater, longer showers, baths for lucy in the real bathtub, christmas lights--it all adds up, i guess.). paying out on this small fortune makes me long for the $35 bill of no-dryer july, that's for sure! 

lighten up...

here's a quick, printable guide to the very best CFL's on the market, published by the environmental working group. apparently all CFL's are not created equal--some contain higher amounts of mercury that others, and don't last for as many hours.  

i'm not exactly sure what type of bulbs we're using. all i know is that, since switching all of our standard bulbs out for CFL's over the past 2 years, i haven't had to change a single burned-out bulb. it's great. and they seem to be coming out with more attractive and functional options--jeremy picked up some that look just like a regular lightbulbs and work with our dimmer switch.  of course, i don't know what these fancy bulbs rate on the ewg's list!

on a not-so-related note, it seems i may be e-cycling soon. my 4-year old laptop made some very odd clacking noises, shuddered, froze, and is currently refusing to do anything that i ask of it. including, you know, turn on. posting may become sporadic in the near future as i try to sort this all out. 

ho-hum. sad laptops are a true bummer for this valley girl. 

laundry fix. and giveaway!

there's always lots of laundry around here. and since line drying seems to be a no-go until spring, i've been looking for ways to save energy while using the dryer. i tried throwing a beach towel in with the clothes (which seemed the easiest fix), but i didn't find it to be all that helpful. jeremy even thought it might be making things worse, since our dryer is usually jam-packed with clothes (we're still on mandatory water restrictions due to drought conditions, so i try to only wash very full loads). he thought that there wasn't enough airflow with the addition of the towel, and he was probably right. at any rate, some loads were taking nearly 2 hours to dry. not energy efficient at all!

i've read about using dryer balls--they apparently not only help cut down on static and work as a softener, but also help speed up drying time by promoting airflow between fabrics. they can be bought in stores, though of course handmade is always better, and come in different materials, including plastic (yuck). from all my research, though, wool dryer balls are best. and by far the most eco-friendly.

i found a wonderful do-it-yourself tutorial here and made a set of my own in no time flat. i tried them out for the first time a couple of days ago, and was thrilled when the dryer shut off in just under 60 minutes--half the time that it had typically been running. i look forward to using them with the cloth diapers next to see if there's improvement there as well. this lovely set, handmade by your loyal blogger, is up for my january giveaway! to enter, leave your name and email address in the comment section, along with a quick statement on something "green" you've done recently. hopefully your comments will inspire me, along with other readers!

i'll be using a random number generator to decide the winner on wednesday morning (the 14th). good luck to all who enter!

the energy audit...

was kind of a letdown.

three young guys showed up at my door. they came in, and, in a whirlwind of lightbulbs and showerheads, were gone before i knew it. this was definitely not the 2-hour, in-depth assessment that i was picturing in my mind. they didn't look at the caulking, weatherstripping or appliances. basically they replaced a few lightbulbs (we have mostly cfl's throughout the house anyway), changed out the showerhead with a low flow model, and put an aerator on the bathroom faucet. as they were leaving i gently mentioned that we had a 2nd bathroom in the bedroom. so they made similar improvements there. i asked about the attic insulation (was told when i signed up for the program that qualifying homes can get new insulation on the cheap) and the guys sighed and poked around a bit up there. i was told we qualify, but they didn't mention how to go about getting it done.

they left me with a paper that instructed me to clean the back of my fridge and turn off the lights when not in use. and that was it.

so disappointing! i mean, i love the fact that we got some free stuff (and the showerheads are actually a major improvement over what we had) but the level of detail was sadly lacking. i'm thinking that maybe i just got stuck with a group of young kids who didn't want to be working on this lovely day and were just rushing through. i'm bummed!

saving money...

we got our energy bill (billing period through the first half of july). i was excited to find that our bill went from $67.00 to $42.00. that's a big decrease! i'm thinking it has lots to do with no-dryer july. and while it's not our cheapest bill ever (our checkbook log shows $32.00 in july of 2006), it is our cheapest bill so far with little lucy as the third member of our household. i am really interested to see what next month's bill will be. i'll be staying dryer-free until then.

ALSO!

we've got people coming to the house tomorrow to do a free energy audit and tell us how we can cut back even more on our consumption of electricity and water. the entire thing is supposed to take 2 hours, so i guess they're pretty thorough. i look forward to reporting the details!