Low-hanging Fruit #2: Let there be (more efficient) Light!

Okay, so you've sealed up and insulated your house and you are hungry to taste that next piece of low-hanging fruit. Well, look up...at your light fixtures.

[Alternative title: How to get paid $23.24 for installing 6 free light bulbs in your home!]

First and foremost: Turn off your lights!

Turn off your lights when you leave the room. It's that simple. If you are not in the room and the light is on, you are wasting energy, spending extra money, and damaging the planet. I know - it's harsh, but it's true. (My wife and I are working on doing a better job at this too.)

Second and pretty darned huge: Go buy some LED bulbs already!!!

JG and I ran by Lowes at lunchtime today. (She still has a bunch of incandescent bulbs in her house.) We found this deal on LED bulbs:

That's $1.66 per bulb!

So let's say, hypothetically speaking, that she bought this 6-pack of LED bulbs. (She did indeed buy a 6-pack of LED bulbs, but she bought the daylight bulbs which ran closer to $1.85 per bulb, but I did not take a pic of those.) She plans to install them this weekend.

Back in blogger world, I googled incandescent vs. LED and this was the first graphic that popped up:

Find the original here 

Now, here is where it gets even better - very few modern homes have less than 24 bulbs in the house. And it's not rare to find homes with closer to 60 bulbs. So, if your home is still running old school light bulbs, you could be saving big money just by swapping for LEDs. And that doesn't even factor in bulb life. Most incandescents are rated for 750-950 hours of life. LEDs tend to range between 10,000 and 50,000 hours. I have been replacing bulbs in our home for a few years now and have not had a single LED burn out yet.

Okay, Okay. Enough about money. Let's look at what's really important here: saving the planet!

Check it out - a 90% reduction in CO2 emissions!

Learn more here.

Imagine the impact if we all just switched to LED bulbs overnight. And this one is easy. It's easy on the budget, it's not labor intensive, and it saves you money. This one's a no-brainer. Just do it already!

A few more things about LEDs

• Various formats, shapes, colors, sizes and features (some are even controlled by smartphone apps!)
• Instant light (unlike CFL)
• No mercury hazard (unlike CFL bulbs - the twisty ones)
• They generate very little heat
• They are more rugged than incandescent or CFL
• They make you eco-sexy
• Don't forget that 90% reduction in CO2 emissions!

So, here are six radical ideas for you to pursue after you get your own bulbs swapped out - start giving LED bulbs gifts!

1. Have bulb swapping parties!
2. Have LED interventions!
3. Give them out for Halloween - save the planet while reducing cavities!
4. Don't go to Jarred - go to Lowes or Home Depot or wherever to show them that you really love them!
5. Coffee, tea, or LED?
6. They make great stocking stuffers!

Okay, that's about it for low-hanging fruit #2.

May you save money and save the planet! And, may you now have a lot more gift ideas!

PS. LEDs make great Christmas lights too.

Minipost: Super Cheap LED Lights to the Rescue

An ad from today's local newspaper - man, that's cheap!

Do you want to save the planet?
Do you want to pay less for electricity?
Are you a cheap !@#$% ? (I am!)

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then it's time to switch to LED bulbs in your fixtures.

Lots more great info here

 

So, let's do a little quick math. The average number of bulbs in American homes is 60.) If your house used 60 watt incandescent bulbs, those 60 bulbs would cost you $775.62 per year in electricity.

 

60 bulbs x $12.92 per year = $775.62

 

If you switched those 60 bulbs out for LED bulbs the math looks a lot better:

 

60 bulbs x $2.58 per year = $154.80 per year

 

And those numbers don't even take into account the short life of the incandescents vs. the extremely long life of the LED bulbs.

 

When all is said and done, each LED bulb uses around 1/5 of the power of an incandescent. Think how much coal and natural gas we would not have to burn if we just made that one switch. Think how much money you could save.

 

I have been replacing all of our bulbs for a few years now and have been stepping it up since the bulbs in the ad above became available at our local big box store. They have great, instant light, they put off virtually no heat, and I have never had an LED go out in the house.

 

So, what are you waiting for? Go buy at least one package and try it out, or do yourself a favor and buy a bunch.

 

May all eco-friendly choices become this easy.

Mesquite Hugger Disclaimer 2: Solar/Wind Power vs Energy Conservation

[Earth Day is just 4 days away!]

 

Yep, you know me. I'm an eco-dreamer. One of my struggles with going green is how snagging expensive it can be, especially if you follow popular media and conventional wisdom. If you pay much attention, you quickly develop a high-dollar list of must haves in order to go green:

• solar panels
• electric car
• high-efficiency appliances
• rain collection system
• organic food
• so forth
• so on

It's pretty easy to see that I bought in - at least figuratively. My finance manager, however, did not buy in. My finance manager believes that you should not spend money you don't have. (We argue a lot.)

So, the Mesquite Hugger home does not have solar panels mounted to the roof or a wind generator spinning away in the yard. But I have done a lot of reading in preparation.

Home Energy Saver Calculator

The first two things people do to prepare for going solar is assess their home and clean up their act. The more energy efficient you can make your home, the smaller your solar setup needs are, and that means less money out of your pocket.

So, where do you start?

Electricity

 

One of my favorite electricity tools - simple and inexpensive

This one is multifaceted and can have a huge impact. It can be as simple as working to reduce energy use in rooms you are not in (no lights left on, close a/c and heater vents, eliminate phantom power losses) or measuring power usage of the electric devices you have (Switch to LED bulbs already!!!) or finding ways to not use your electric devices (Hanging your laundry up to completely or partially dry can drastically reduce electricity usage).

20 Things You Can Do to Conserve Energy

Air leaks

Doors, windows, vents, even light switches - these can all contribute to air loss in your home. Sure, it would be great to have someone come over and replace them all, but most air leaks can be dealt with using much less intense and expensive approaches, and many of them can be done by a less expensive technician - you.

US Department of Energy - Tips: Sealing Air Leaks at Home

Insulation

Similar to dealing with air leaks, adding insulation to your home can be a great way to conserve resources and make your house more comfortable all year round.

A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Sealing and Insulating with Energy Star

 

Looking through these on-line resources, you can see that there are lots of projects you can tackle yourself with very little time, money, and skill. Small efforts can make big payoffs when it comes to making your home (or workplace) more energy efficient.

 

May you find a path to green conservation and money conservation with no financing involved!