Detect Energy

The trials and tribulations my wife has had with this front loading, high efficiency machine brings the whole energy efficient washing business under a new light. Go to the appliance store shopping for a new clothes washer and you feel like your shopping for, and looking at, a Bentley.

Although there is no way to stop hot water usage, unless you like cold showers, here are a few tips to limit the energy you use to heat up all that water, and save a few bucks in the process.

The concept of using electricity to twist and turn flames, and even put them out, is about 200 years old, but very little research has been done on the technology during that time. Until now, that is.

The engines that propel these beautiful cars put out around 650 horsepower, proving that ethanol is as good of a racing fuel as gasoline. Because they burn ethanol, the cars put out very few pollutants when they run, exactly the same as any ethanol powered vehicle would.

The countdown to Earth Hour is on. For those scared of the dark, consider flameless or Earth Hour-appropriate real candles to provide illumination during the 60-minute blackout.

Come along with me each day through "Todays Power Trip" and I will share the trials and the successes of this Home Energy Auditor as I try to find some energy to save. I'm hoping that by sharing my days work, you will find ways to save energy and lower your power bill. Let's head South today and check on my manufactured home replacement project. P.S. Hi Mom, I got to bed earlier tonight!

So off he went to the local hardware store and bought a brand new electric mower. With just the addition of an extension cord, anyone could plug it in, turn it on and cut the lawn. Of course little did anyone know at the time, but our family had just gone “green.”

And even then it will need power only during its peak use periods, mostly afternoons on hot July and August days. It just happens that those are the same days when solar power offers the most potential. And even if a thunderstorm reduces the solar output, Idaho Power's demand drops at the same time as farmers need less irrigation water and air conditioners don't have to work so hard to cool homes. Idaho Power needs the power when the sun is shining.

HOW TO INSTALL INSULATION AND ITCH LESS. Insulation batts wrapped in perforated plastic or other material is available and will greatly reduce the dust and irritation from fiberglass fibers. Don Ames

As I always did with a regular bath sponge, I infused the EcoPouf sponge liberally with body soap, and washed away. It lathered up nicely in the sponge, but best of all, the recycled content was soft and literally, spongy!

This video takes you on a tour of an automated home of the future. Everything literally is at your fingertips. Automation can assist energy saving efforts and green living.

HOW TO CHECK SMART METER FOR ACCURANCY. At a time where everything is all about green energy and saving money on energy bills its easy to assume that Smart Meters are here to help reduce the amount of energy we use and cut our electricity bills, right?

We can meet nearly 100% of global energy needs with renewable sources by 2050. Approximately half of the goal is met through increased energy efficiency to first reduce energy demands, and the other half is achieved by switching to renewable energy sources for electricity production.

It wasn’t until oil development slowed down a bit and families became concerned about their energy bills that somebody started to look at energy use and what could be done to use less power. With temperatures below zero for weeks and the wind at a near steady 30 miles an hour...

Some basics about selecting the right air conditioner for your home. A.C. Energy Efficiency. Hopefully, warm sun and the air cooling season is just around the corner.

According to the first comprehensive study into the impact of the "embedded water" in the UK's food waste on world water supplies, more than a 5% of the water used by the UK is thrown away in the form of uneaten food.

We talk a lot about saving energy with big ticket items like gas furnaces and solar panels, but we need to also be aware of some little ticket items like going paperless. Here's some ideas to help you use less paper.

Although in theory it was a great idea, in practice it never became more than an oddity. But the seeds were sewn, and in 1974, the French city of La Rochelle started their own bike sharing program based on the original White Bicycle Plan. It became the first successful bike sharing program in the world.

As people across the globe plan to turn off their lights Saturday during Earth Hour, Duke Energy is encouraging customers to take that opportunity to swap their bulbs to CFLs.

It's like watching a roller coaster, slight smile across your face, looks like fun, but glad your not on board. The track hoe was making quick work of depositing the home into a dumpster. Energy efficiency will be addressed in the replacement home.

How to use the AttiCat system to blow insulation into the attic. Includes attic preparation and equipment setup. Very good video that covers most every aspect of adding insulation to an attic.

It replaces an older, still functional but somewhat less decorative, 2.5 gpm showerhead that I’d gotten some time ago in an efficiency kit from the water company. Water conservation and shower nozzles.

About high efficiency gas furnaces and how they keep the heat going to the house and not out the chimney. Understand high efficiency gas furnaces a little better with this video.

Making the transition to be green doesn’t have to be painful. The easiest way to simplify is to start cutting back on your energy use right now, since using less means you’ll be responsible for providing less (and trust us: come the rainy season, you and your solar panels will be grateful for that).

To get the most out of Hohm, grab your power bills and let's get to work. The program is going to need a little data before it can tell you how your home measures up and what you can do to make it more energy efficient.