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Reduce Your Energy Use:

What Can You Do?

As the UUU works toward being a greener place, it's worthwhile to take a look at what real changes we can make as individuals to put less stress on the planet. Specifically, CO2 polluttion from burning fossil fuels (natural gas, petroleum, and coal) are causing dramatic changes in our climate which can result in the planet tipping to a high temperature killing most life on the planet. Since human beings represent one such animal, it is suicide to continue on our present course, making the planet uninhabitable for our progeny. Here are a few practical things you can do to make a difference. There are more Ideas in this vein, see Dr. Marilyn Stewart's excellent talk given on 08-05-07in the audio section, and her handy What Can I Do sheet which can be posted up as a reminder. Note: If you have any other suggestions, please e-mail the webmaster at the bottom of this page.

  1. Get an Energy Audit: The various utilities offer audits (online or to your place of residence) to cut your energy use.
  2. Use Compact Fluorescent Bulbs: Replace standard bulbs with fluorescent types, especially in areas that are on for long periods of time, such as those in the house, front porch or backyard. (Note: if you use these bulbs in an enclosed housing, use a plastic housing and drill a hole in the bottom of it to allow air circulation.) They cost more but last over five years and end up paying for themselves in less than two years. A fluorescent bulb which is "light equivalent" of a 75 watt incandescent bulb consumes only 20W. Fluorescent replacements cost about $5 each. For more information, see http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=cfls.pr_cfls. Think fluorescents are bad for the environment? Consider the alternative... John Masiello (Progress Energy) said at the Orange County Climate Summit that a standard CFL has 4mg and results in 13 mg being emitted into the air through our power plants whereas an incandescent results in 52 mg being emitted into the atmosphere for an equivalent run time, see this link, http://www.knoxviews.com/node/4493. Updated 10/07
  3. Retrofit or replace your existing old fashioned T12 bulbs with magnetic ballast to newer high efficiency electronic ballast with high performance T8 or T5 bulbs.
  4. Hanging Your Clothes Out to Dry Dave Symonds dries his laundry on a clothesline, eliminating the CO2 emmissions of an electric or gas powered clothes drier. If you click on the link, you'll see a lot of other people agree with him.
  5. Turn Off Your Coffee Maker: Many of us love our coffee in the morning. Yet, a standard coffee maker often take close to 1000 watts of power, and they're often left on for hours, which puts a further strain on the A/C system. (Note: see http://easygreen.blogspot.com/2005/12/quick-green-starving-electricity.html.) The strange thing is that coffee is best served at room temperature, so it's better to turn off the pot after brewing. Don't believe me? Then listen to the experts and get a taste of what is considered the best coffees available here and as a podcast --> http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2007/04/20070413_b_main.asp 08/07
  6. Cut A/C Costs: Remember to have your system checked once a year during spring for efficiency . Further, replace the air filter regularly, once every month or two. During the summer, increasing the thermostat by 1 degree fahrenheit cuts your energy bill by about 3 %- CR, Updated 10/07.
  7. More Efficiency, Less Driving: Unfortunately, the executive and legislature branches have acted irresponsible concerning this pressing problem. As it is now, the majority of cars sold in America get less mileage than they did ten years ago. So what can be done? 08/07
    1. Drive smart.
      1. Don't take unecessary trips. If it can be done, e-mail or phone to communicate; you'll save time, money, and energy.
      2. When driving, let off the gas when the you know the light ahead is going to change to red. Why rush up, which decreases gas mileage while putting increased wear on your car's brakes? Often, you can save more gas by slowing down enough that your vehicle is still moving when the light turns green again.
    2. Maintain your car.
      1. If possible for your car, use a 5W30 oil to reduce friction.
      2. Maintain good tire pressure; lowered tire pressure increases tire drag.
      3. Keep air filters clean.
    3. Get an efficient car.
      1. A little caveat here. Don't run out and get another car that gets slightly better fuel. Demand that your next car gets say 50 mpg or better. Don't buy obselete inefficeint junk! It's better to use your money on improving your home efficiency, cutting your driving, and other things first. Within the next five years, there will be hybrid cars available with over one hundred miles per gallon. Skeptical? Prius will probably come very close to that figure in two years. Another car, Aptera, will get over 200 mpg and should be available in less But if you have to get another car or truck sooner than later, say 3 years, consider buying a used car (recycling) and wait for the high efficiency models to arrive.
      2. If you have to buy, Replace gas hogs such as SUVs with higher efficiency vehicles.
      3. Always, look at the EPA figures for any vehicle and consider buying one with a smaller engine and a manual transmission to increase mileage. Further, reduce fuel consumption by reducing unecessary trips.
  8. Low Power Computers: Computers are often left on for many hours during the day. There are some simple things that can make a big difference.... 08/07
    1. Use an LCD flat panel versus a CRT type monitor: LCD monitors require on average 60% less power, see http://ergo.human.cornell.edu/Pub/LCD_vs_CRT_AH.pdf for an analysis.
    2. Buy high efficiency Power Supplies: When buying PC power supplies or complete desktop, insist on getting an 80Plus, see http://www.80plus.org/, approved power supply. Standard PC power supplies are rated for about 65% power efficiciency, whereas 80Plus supplies often acheive 85% efficiency. In simple terms, this difference in a 200W PC relates to an amazing savings of 40 Watts.
    3. S3 Standby Mode: Make sure your PC is either off or powered down into low power mode. You must be careful about this since Microsoft chose the much more power hungry mode of S1 versus S3 for its low power default mode in Windows XP. On a PC box in S3 mode, the machines fans should turn off when the PC is in standby. The difference in power consumption is hard to quantify but a standard PC in S1 mode could take 70 to 90 Watts in S1 versus 5 Watts in S3. All of this function requires a PC with the latest updates and a properly configured ACPI. See this link for more practical S3 information, http://www.exoid.com/?page_id=47
    4. Chose power efficient processors: Both Intel and AMD make power efficient models of their existing CPU's, it is important to buy one of these models. Plus, do not get hung up on the latest highest performance processors, since CPU performance is just one part of the computer's performance.
    5. Chose power efficient graphics cards: PC graphics cards often exceed the processing power of the PC's CPU. Many of these cards are fashionded for the high-end gamers. If you don't need that type of performance chose a business graphic card, for more info see this article --> http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/gpu-consumption2006.html.