Goal For The Green

Guest Post
by Johnathan Rivers

Tired of not knowing what your energy bill is going to be each month? Retail energy providers in Texas, and other states nationwide offer a sort of flat rate monthly energy plan. Your bill is calculated based on your average energy usage, and what you pay is more or less the same each month. This enables you to budget better and more accurately gauge your energy usage so you can focus even more on living green.

If you don’t live in a state that has flat-rate energy costs, you can still take steps to make your monthly energy bill more predictable while striving to reduce your consumption. Start with your climate control unit and your washing appliances.

1) Change the thermostat when the seasons change

Lux Products' Model TX900TS Touch Screen Thermostat. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The first thing most people do when Summertime rolls around is crank down their thermostat, when in fact, they should be doing the opposite. Instead of setting the thermostat to 65 in the Summer time – a temperature that your home may not even reach in 90 degree weather unless it’s extremely well insulated. Instead – set it to 74-78.
The difference in temperature between your home and outside should be the focus. A 74 degree home in 90 degree weather feels relatively similar to a 65 degree home in 80 degree weather. In other words, your body reacts differently to a room’s temperature depending on how relatively warm it is outside.

For colder seasons, take the same approach but from the opposite end of the spectrum. Instead of setting the thermostat to 78, set it at 68 and wear a pair of long pajamas or a hoodie inside if you’re more on the cold-natured side.
Allowing your thermostat to work at a similar level throughout the year, and thus consume roughly the same amount of energy, is an easy to way to make your energy bill more predictable.

2) Develop a schedule for washing clothes and running the dishwasher
Not only do your washing machine and dishwasher use electricity to run, they also pull from your hot water heater, which can further affect your electricity or gas costs.

For most people, running these energy-intensive appliances is sporadic. They use them when they need to do so.  But, when you consider that no other devices in your home – besides your air conditioner and perhaps your refrigerator – use more energy than your washing appliances, it’s worth looking at developing a schedule for washing clothes and dishes to help make your monthly bill more predictable.

A dishwasher containing clean dishes (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Instead of using your dishwasher after every dinner, consider rinsing dishes off and waiting until it gets full before operating it. Create a protocol for when you wash – for example, commit to running the dishwasher every Sunday night and Wednesday night. Do the same for washing laundry. Designate two nights a week (or less if you’re single or don’t have kids) to wash laundry. If you have the same number of wash cycles each month for your big appliances, you use roughly the same amount of energy. The outcome is, you’re rewarded with a more consistent and predictable power bill each month.

Do you want more consistent energy bills, so you can better plan your budget? Start with making these adjustments and being consistent when it comes to your home’s most energy intensive appliances. It’s easy, and you can start today.

We all know that America needs to become energy independent.  However, there isn’t a clear vision for achieving that goal, and no real clear cut plan either.  Here are ten steps we could make toward achieving energy freedom.

1.  There are 10 foreign government run oil companies that are much larger and have greater oil reserves than our Exxon Mobil. So, we need to quit blaming “big oil” here at home.  Even if they did make a record profit of $12 billion in less than 90 days.

2.  Congress and lawmakers should address or own domestic supply and production problems. If they increased our supply from our own sources and reserves, it could have an impact on the price we pay at the pump.

3.  We can make a difference by turning off lights at home, when not in use.  We can also save gas instead of time by slowing down our driving speed.  We can also save energy by keeping our thermostats set at 68 in the winter and 75 in the summer.

4.  Remember when grandma use to hang clothes out on the line and how nice and fresh they smelled? Or how about installing rain barrels to water the lawn instead of pumping water from the well.  If you aren’t on a well system, you can conserve water by using drip or soaker hoses.

5.  There must be a determination in this country to develop alternative energy sources such as solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal technology.  There is is no room for the NIMBY (not in my backyard) attitude.  This only slows progress that needs to happen.

6.  We need to build and reopen nuclear plants.  France gets 77% of its energy from nuclear sources.  We need to follow what they have learned in regard to safe usage of nuclear power and the recycling of nuclear waste.

7.  We should increase hydroelectric power in states where it is plentiful.  There should also be an environmental push to increase the survival rate of young salmon migrating to the Pacific regions

8.  If we develop and deploy our environmental cleanup strategies to developing economic powers such as China India and others, they could generate electricity from their abundant coal reserves.  This would drastically reduce air and water pollution in those countries, and make their people healthier.  Taking this step would also provide new markets for our American companies and create new jobs.

9  We need to produce more of our own oil and natural gas, while other technology and alternatives are being developed.  There is enough domestic natural gas offshore to supply the United States for the next 10 years easily.  The production technology is much safer than it was 30 plus years ago.  There are 109 offshore oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico that were directly hit during Hurricane Katrina without causing a significant spill.

10.  It will take patience and common since, as well as time and money to transform new technology and find new sources of energy.  The solutions won’t happen overnight, however, we need a dedicated government to get behind these issues and make sure these changes happen in a timely fashion.

Here are a few tips you can put into practice right away that take little effort and your wallet will thank-you.

Did you know that Americans idle away approximately 2.9 billion gallons of gas a year?  With the prices going up almost daily, that is almost $80 billion a year in wasted gas. Obviously, the less you have to stop and go the better. It also helps to maintain a steady, rather than fluctuating speed. Also, be sure your tires have the correct amount of air in them.  Just little things, but they make a difference in the air we breathe and in your wallet.

Just by turning off your computer when not in use, you can save about $90 a year. You can also save more by unplugging small appliances when not in use.  Every little bit helps, because even though it doesn’t seem like it, everything that is left plugged in still uses energy.

By signing up for Green Power, you are supporting the future development of renewable resources. Green Power, is electricity from renewable non- polluting resources like wind and solar power, that can be used over and over. Green Power usage does less harm to the environment.  Turning down your thermostat a couple of degrees can save you between 1-3% on your power bill. It might not seem like much, but it can add up considering 50-70% of your electric bill is calculated based on your heating and cooling consumption.  Wash your clothes in cold water.  This also makes a difference in your power bill.

Paying your bills online saves you time, money gas, and stamps.  It also saves on the amount of paper used to send you that bill.  To get rid of junk mail you can sign up ($1.00 fee ) at Mail Preference Service on Direct Market Assistance website. Most junk mail will stop within about 90 days. To stop opt-in offers from cluttering your mailbox, you can call 1-888-5-OPTOUT.  Follow the instructions, and you can opt out for 5 years or for life.  Next, it takes a little work with our at home printers but it can save a lot of paper if you print on both sides of the copy paper.  Here in the U.S. we use approximately 4 million tons of copy paper per year, most of which is copied on one side only.  That averages out to about 27-30 lbs. per person per year.

You can keep a lot of dirt, pesticides, and germs from entering your home and causing allergies or illness, just by taking your shoes off outside your door.  Something else to consider is to drink hormone free milk. It’s a healthier alternative. Thank goodness it’s the time of the year to start enjoying the wholesome freshness of the farmers markets for fresh fruits and veggies.  Here’s to your health and your wallet.