100 ways to save energy - or more!

[webbie]

I'm putting together a wiki article with short tips - please add to the article at:
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/wiki/100_ways_to_save_energy/

if you are logged in (you should be), then simply hit the edit button on the top right of the page and add your tips/

If you find the wiki hard to use, reply to this thread with your tips and someone else will add them!

Let's see how quickly we can get to 100+

 

[webbie]

Bumping to up - will continue to do so.....

Some good tips have already been added - add yours!

 

[BrotherBart]

Thinking about this Wiki entry just reminded me of something. When I had my first house built in 1977 I had the middle bedroom insulated on all four walls and all of the walls in the walk-in closet. I did it for sound deadening since I was going to use it for an office. And the closet to store wine. With an exterior wall window if you didn't keep the door open in the winter you could store hanging sides of beef in that room.

I have always hoped nobody froze to death in their sleep in that room. No way anybody could ever figure out why that room was so different from the rest of the house.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

I dont see a edit button, but my addition is to watch all phantom loads. Anything with a transformer or a standby mode (like a tv, dvd player, etc) will draw power 24/7.

 

[Harley]

I'll go and see what I can add... looks like we have a "new" MSG though... any new baby updates, Hope the wife and the expectant "solar" baby are doing well.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

lol harley, im still in the stove business a few more weeks.

 

[restorer]

lol harley, im still in the stove business a few more weeks.

Ryan,
Still got buns in the oven? We expect a report from an appropriate source ASAP.

 

[NewtownPA]

Nice. Thanks! I'm all into keeping more of my pay cheque!

 

[mayhem]

I'd like to suggest if people have questions about some tips that we post them up here and argue it out.

I'm curious on the logic behind this one.

In warmer months “fill up” only to 1/2 a tank

I'm guessing that this is to save gas by reducing weight in your car, but I think its a false savings since you're going to have to make twice as many trips to the gas station. The added weight of a full tank of gas in even large cars with big fuel tanks is marginal compared to the overall mass of the car.

 

[PutnamJct]

And the way prices keep rising, it may cost much more to get that other 1/2 a tank later in the week.
Stations by me have gone up over 40 cents a gallon in the past 6-7 weeks.

 

[webbie]

I'd like to suggest if people have questions about some tips that we post them up here and argue it out.

I'm curious on the logic behind this one.

In warmer months “fill up” only to 1/2 a tank

I'm guessing that this is to save gas by reducing weight in your car, but I think its a false savings since you're going to have to make twice as many trips to the gas station. The added weight of a full tank of gas in even large cars with big fuel tanks is marginal compared to the overall mass of the car.

I didn't put this one in, but I did think of it a while ago.

Assuming that the gas station is not out of the way...for instance, you stop for coffee at the convenience store anyway, this would seem to save money over the long haul. Taken over, say, one million people - and saving of 50 lbs each, that is 50 million pounds that are NOT rolling down the road.

But the savings are probably small.

Since you can edit the wiki, it would be fine to put after the suggestion, asking inside them "is this so?".

 

[Corie]

I bet additional fuel savings from the 1/2 tank logic might come from evaporation. Since a fuel tank subjected to the heat of the son is more likely to lose fuel to evaporation, which finds its way to charcoal filter, you'd ultimately be losing some gas.

 

[Highbeam]

I have not yet been able to make the electrical meter stop spinning. All the lights off, no heaters, no appliances on, no lights, and that dang meter sits there and spins slowly. Phantom loads are a reality.

 

[mayhem]

Fridge unplugged? Furnace and hot water heater off? Electric motors that circulate water through heated subfloors or solar hot water systems off too?

Switch off the main breaker and see if it stops then...if it doesn't you may want to call the electric company and see if somehting isn't wrong.

 

[Highbeam]

Yep, it spins very slowly but still moves. Good advice to shut the main off and see if the meter is junk. I hadn't thought that the meter itself could keep spinning with the main breaker off. Whenever anything like a pump or hot water heater comes on the meter spins quite quickly. I'm more concerned with the super slow spin. Our bills have been very low so it hasn't been a top priority.

 

[Andre B.]

I didn't put this one in, but I did think of it a while ago.

Assuming that the gas station is not out of the way...for instance, you stop for coffee at the convenience store anyway, this would seem to save money over the long haul. Taken over, say, one million people - and saving of 50 lbs each, that is 50 million pounds that are NOT rolling down the road.

But the savings are probably small.

In my experience the effect of extra weight in a vehicle is very dependent on driving style and the road, hills and how often you have to stop and start.
I can put 500lbs in the truck get out on the highway set the cruse and get the same mileage as when empty. Now turn off on some county roads and have to stop every mile at an intersection and that extra weight makes a very noticeable difference, especially if all 300 ponies get used coming off each stop sign.

 

[mayhem]

Yep, it spins very slowly but still moves. Good advice to shut the main off and see if the meter is junk. I hadn't thought that the meter itself could keep spinning with the main breaker off. Whenever anything like a pump or hot water heater comes on the meter spins quite quickly. I'm more concerned with the super slow spin. Our bills have been very low so it hasn't been a top priority.

I have one 24x7x365 electric pump that runs in my basement to keep the heated slab's fluid in motion (at the recommendation of my brother the oil burner dude to keep it from potentially binding or clogging), so no matter what I do at my house, the meter will always run at least a little bit.

If the meter does in fact shut off when you kill the main breaker you can then go throuhg your house breaker by breaker and narrow down which room your draw is coming from...from there you should be able to figure it out.