My energy savings quest

Posted by Dcomer on June 2nd, 2008 at 07:38am

I guess you could say when I was looking around for ideas to reduce my family’s energy use I was looking for the magic bullet. Some miracle thing that would reduce my family’s energy use by huge margins. I looked into solar panels, wind energy and even hydropower. Even came up with a few ideas of my own.

What I have learned 6 months in? It’s not one or two or even a dozen things, it’s your way of thinking, and it’s your way of living. You don’t have to spend a fortune to save energy; you just need to be aware of your own actions. It’s like one of my favorite sayings, “mind the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves”.

The beginning

I started this quest purely for financial reasons, to save some jack. I started by immediately going out and buying a programmable thermostat, caulked all the windows and added insulation where I could, got it all set up and bam, waited for the next bill. It shaved a little under $30.00 off our normal $650.00 monthly utility bill. To say the least, that was considerably less than I thought it would save. I was looking for that magic bullet.

Solar Power

I spent about a month researching different solar panel manufacturers, different installers, had my solar panels picked out, inverters, batteries, and contractor picked out. Luckily, I am a very poor man, otherwise I would have purchased the $50’000.00 worth of solar equipment and be pretty much off the grid right now. Luckily huh? Let me explain that a little better. Two reasons, first; you wouldn’t be reading this right now had I done this, and secondly; I would not have learned the valuable lessons I am getting ready to discuss with you.

My innovation

The next step in that magic bullet mentality was to invent the solution, now you must understand that I am a restaurant manager by trade, not an engineer or someone that might actually be able to do this. I did however come up with a couple good ideas, I think anyway. First was a wind turbine that would be placed in your air return on your furnace/AC unit and utilize the wind blowing through your ductwork to produce some electricity. I mean hell, I figured it’s blowing anyway, might as well harvest it. The second was another idea I still think is good. Let’s place a small water turbine inside our main water line coming into the house, producing electricity from existing available commodities.

The lessen

I soon realized that I neither had the knowhow or the resources to make any of those innovations come to pass. Right about now is when I started thinking about real conservation. I don’t mean recycling or taking a bus to work every day (not an option where I’m at anyway). I mean serious thought about the cost of the way I use my resources. I found that when I walked through the house I turned on the lights as I walked through, even though I didn’t need them to find my way. I found that I automatically turned on the hot water when I brushed my teeth; I realized that I instantly grabbed a paper towel when someone spilled something. These are things that most people do. The problem is that we are so used to having everything handed to us instantly, resources such as hot water and lights are so taken for granted that we don’t realize that we are completely wasting them every day without even thinking twice about it.

I mentioned paper towels in the last paragraph; I realized that I was wasting a fortune in paper towels every year. One big pack every two weeks is about $240.00 a year in paper towels! I went out and bought some nice clothe dinner napkins and we use those at the table now, and we take the old tee-shirts and socks that are not in good enough shape to donate and cut them into good size square and there you have a whole stack of reusable clothe towels for cleaning up the occasional spill or mess.

Thinking about the real cost of products

When I say the real cost, I mean the cost of the product not only at the store but the cost it bears on the environment and the economy. For example, my kids love these “Lunchables” you know them, I know you do (if not here is a link). Once I started this change in thought process I began to see these guys in a whole new light. I realized that they had to ship the cheese from probably Wisconsin, the ham from Kentucky for example and the crackers from New York, all to a factory in the Midwest where they are packaged in plastic and then shipped out all over the country. That little Lunchables has been on a great adventure long before you ever get it in your refrigerator. Think of the impact all the transportation alone has on the environment.

Economy

I realize that what I am saying is blaspheme to some; it was to me not to long ago. This is the basis by which our economy has thrived for generations. Problem is I don’t think it’s sustainable anymore. We have to come up with new ideas and improve upon the current alternatives. This also helps the local economy because with gas going nowhere but through the roof, local items will start to become cheaper than their foreign competition.

Where does it take us?

Overall I think the country will come out better because of this, we will see the return of local manufacturing jobs. I don’t think it will be profitable to ship products from across the globe for much longer. I think we will all have to sacrifice and re think the way we live our life’s in the near future but it’s about leaving our children a country where they can continue to enjoy the American dream. I can make a few sacrifices for that…

Under Environment+ Uncategorized