In "Save Energy, Save Money," we focused on big-ticket efficiency improvements, but there are plenty of lower-cost ways to slash your energy bills at home without becoming an energy anorexic, including these and those that follow:
In the bathroom
• Save hot water by taking a 5-minute shower
rather than a deep soak in the tub. Replace standard showerheads with
low-flow models and turn off any supplemental showerheads.
In the kitchen
• Reheat dishes in your microwave, which likely consumes only about 20 percent of the energy of a typical full-sized oven. On the cooktop, use pans that are the same size as the burner and keep the lid on the pot when you want to boil water.
• Wipe minor oven spills and splatters regularly with a damp cloth so that you don’t have to rely as often on the oven’s self-cleaning feature. When you do use the self-cleaning feature, start the cycle right after cooking in the oven to take advantage of the preheated space.
• Get the fridge out of the garage. During summer the unit will have to work extra hard to compensate for the 100-plus degrees that a garage can reach. Better yet, consolidate your refrigerator and freezer items into one unit and turn off other refrigerators and freezers.
Around the house
• Unplug your television(s) and most other electronic devices if you use them infrequently or when you’re away from home for an extended period. Even when turned off, electronic devices like TVs continue to draw standby power. Also unplug your computer and scanner if they’ll sit idle for an extended period.
• To maximize light output, position lamps in the corner of a room, where their light will bounce off two walls. Painting interiors a bright color will also augment light levels, as will regularly dusting lamp shades and lightbulbs.
• Use LED lights for task lighting. In our test of undercabinet lighting, fixtures with LED bulbs were the most energy efficient, even besting fluorescents in the lumens-per-watt department.
• If your existing exterior door is old but still in good shape, install a storm door. During the summer, replace the glass or Plexiglas panels in the storm door with a screen to improve air circulation in the home and reduce the need for air conditioning.
• Buy a humidifier. During heating season, the colder it gets outside, the lower the relative humidity will be indoors. Providing some humidification will help to improve comfort, but don’t overhumidify. Use a model with a humidistat to control indoor moisture levels.—Daniel DiClerico
Written by larrylarr on October 31st, 2008 with no comments.
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From its roots in the former International Lawn, Garden & Power Equipment Expo trade show, the Green Industry and Equipment Expo has tended to be long on equipment and short on green. But at the 2008 event, held last week in Louisville, Kentucky, many companies, even heavy-gear manufacturers, got in on the green act.
Trumpeting one’s claimed pro-environmental efforts is good public relations, of course, but some equipment makers have another motivation to market eco-friendly products: The latest U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations for curtailing the emissions of small, nonroad engines allow for low- or no-emissions engines to generate credits to offset the emissions of relatively gas-guzzling products.
Here’s some of what I saw at the expo:
The first zero-emissions zero-turn-radius emerges. Zero-turn-radius mowers and zero emissions might seem an unlikely couple, but with the electric Zeon (shown), you’ll be able to get a no-emissions ZTR mower. Outfitted with a 48-volt, four-battery system and a 42-inch welded-steel deck, this prosumer model will run for 80 minutes on a full charge, claim manufacturer Hustler Turf Equipment and its partner, transmission maker Hydro-Gear. Zero emissions won’t come cheap—the Zeon, due out next spring, will likely cost $6,500 to $7,000.
This robot can charge itself. Husqvarna introduced 80 products at the show, with a new version of its Automower robotic lawn mower among the most interesting. The Automower Solar Hybrid, $3,000, can recharge its battery even as it mows, claims Husqvarna. It’s designed to handle lawns up to a half-acre, with the odds of its reaching that goal improving if the sun is shining. As with other robotic mowers we’ve tested, this Automower is supposed to mow within an area you set using wires laid along its perimeter. When it reaches a wire, it turns; when the battery gets low down, the mower returns to its base. In our past tests, robotic mowers have delivered unimpressive cutting performance.
A new oil is "suet-able" for small engines. Manufacturers of equipment such as mowers, snowmobiles, and generators have met the new federal emissions standards by redesigning engines and other components. Green Earth Technologies has introduced another way to run an engine more cleanly: G-OIL Garden & Recreational engine oil, made from beef tallow. Company president Dante Terzigni told me the biodegradable two-cycle oil starts as fat harvested from slaughtered cows and is morphed into usable form through nanotechnology. Terzigni claimed the oil runs cleaner than petroleum-based oil, emits no smoke at its 262°F flash point, and meets industry certification specs. You’ll find Green Earth Technologies products at Home Depot, Ace Hardware, and other retailers and on Amazon.com.—Ed Perratore
Written by larrylarr on October 31st, 2008 with no comments.
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