| My name is Jay, I live in the Midwest and I am a home | | | | above my wife's dresser. In the attached master |
| owner. I am also an "EX" utility company employee | | | | bathroom I have a 3 bulb light fixture with 3, 60 watt |
| and training instructor so please pay close attention to | | | | standard light bulbs, one electric tooth brush and |
| what I am about to share with you! | | | | charger, one cell phone charger and a 60 watt |
| In the next few minutes you will learn: | | | | standard water proof fixture in the shower area. |
| Energy saving strategies that will cost you nothing! | | | | Now, do this for the entire rest of your house! Don't |
| How to cut your electric utility bill up to 50%! | | | | forget things like, dishwashers, washer and dryer, |
| My home is a "typical" 20 year old, 2500 square foot | | | | coffee pots, stoves, microwaves, refrigerators, cable |
| two-story built in 1988. It was considered a | | | | TV boxes, satellite TV boxes, stereos, etc., you get |
| "state-of-the-art" home with 7" exterior walls, vapor | | | | the idea, absolutely EVERY THING that is plugged into |
| barriers on every wall, pulse type furnace, high | | | | the wall and/or runs on electricity must be accounted |
| efficiency 40 gallon hot water heater, etc., I think you | | | | for! |
| get the idea! The point of all this is to set the stage. | | | | Do you have a "Home Office"? Many of us do today, |
| We are setting the stage for improvement and to also | | | | me included. Here is a list of what is in use in my office, |
| give us a base line for improvement. | | | | although not typical it will help to illustrate my point: |
| How efficient is or was the house when new? | | | | 1. FAX/scanner |
| To put it in perspective, I cut my energy costs in half | | | | 2. Professional photo scanner |
| from our previous home which was a 1250 square | | | | 3. Laser printer (no off switch) |
| foot ranch built in the late '50's, early '60's. As an | | | | 4. Pro color photo printer |
| example, in the "old house" we had a 180,000 BTU gas | | | | 5. Custom built PC with 650 watt power supply |
| fired furnace that ran continuously when the outside air | | | | 6. 5.1 surround sound system |
| temperature dropped below 20 Degrees F. (this | | | | 7. 2, 24" LCD flat panel monitors |
| happens to be the "design" temperature in my area of | | | | 8. DSL modem |
| the county). When it got below 0 Deg. F. it was very | | | | 9. CD/DVD label printer |
| difficult to keep it at 65 Deg. F. in the house and when | | | | 10. Audio mixerfull late sixties and seventies |
| the wind was over 25 mph, the curtains around the | | | | component stereo system; |
| windows would move! Ice, not frost would form in the | | | | 11. 4 channel stereo receiver |
| ceiling corners of the rooms on the North side of the | | | | 12. 2, 2 channel graphic equalizers |
| house and my energy bills were as high as $359.00 | | | | 13. Pro cassette tape deck |
| USD a month and that was over 20 years ago! | | | | 14. Pro studio turn table |
| Enter the "New House", November 1988. Two stories | | | | 15. Pro 250 watt per channel amplifier |
| (easier to heat as heat rises), 2500 square feet Vs. | | | | 17. Pro video color correction hardware |
| 1250 square feet. Of interest is the fact that the "foot | | | | 16. 13" Pro studio color monitor |
| print" of the house as it sits on the lot is no bigger than | | | | 17. 200 CD/DVD changer |
| the previous home. The furnace is only 80,000 btu Vs. | | | | Yeah, a lot of "stuff", but I run a Professional video |
| 180,000 btu in the old house! The furnace still runs | | | | editing studio from my home, so, your results will very |
| constantly at or below 20 Deg. F. (again, design temp | | | | but you will be able to see the effects of this simple |
| here in Wisconsin). However, every room in the house | | | | "action list" that you will be working with. So what does |
| is equal in comfort even when -20 Deg. F! There is no | | | | all of this mean (what is going to cost you to save |
| ice any where in the house and the curtains do not | | | | money?). |
| move even in even the most severe wind conditions! | | | | For me, my entire out of pocket expenses covered 9 |
| So, it was no surprise that we saw nothing higher than | | | | power strips, 23 fluorescent high efficiency light bulbs |
| $215.00 USD a month our first winter in the "new | | | | of various outputs, replacing 60 watt bulbs with 40 |
| home"! Now flash-forward November 1988 to April | | | | watt bulbs where fluorescent could not be used, |
| 2010. Our "new home" is over 20 years old and | | | | moving power plugs to the top outlet in all dual outlets |
| starting to show her age. Our energy bills have climbed | | | | in the house (may not work for every one, my house |
| to an AVERAGE of $210.00 USD a month not | | | | was wired where all upper outlets are controlled by a |
| including winter months! Where to start? The first | | | | wall switch), this actually allows me to "shut off" entire |
| place you must go is to your utility company. Your say | | | | rooms of the house with just the flick of a switch! |
| "why?", they are out there to make money, not help | | | | The point I'm trying to make is to TURN OFF |
| me. NOT TRUE! | | | | EVERYTHING THAT DOES NOT NEED TO BE ON |
| Do you know that the utilities are actually paid to help | | | | OR CREATES "PHANTOM POWER" USAGE |
| you reduce energy costs? That at least in Wisconsin, | | | | WHEN NOT IN USE! You need to develop a strict |
| they are mandated by the Citizens Utility Board to | | | | "schedule" to do this every night or it will not work! |
| reduce electricity usage by a certain percentage each | | | | Are there any drawbacks or negatives to doing this? |
| year to help counteract air pollution and to help reduce | | | | The answer is YES! However they are very minor |
| the "Green-House Effect"? | | | | when looking at "The Big Picture" (man, I hate that |
| PLEASE TAKE NOTE: this could be the biggest clue | | | | saying!). They include having to possibly reset the |
| to your most cost effective solution in "Going Green" | | | | "default" channel on your VCR if you us it as a tuner |
| (saving money!). | | | | for your TV each time you turn it back on, mine goes |
| OK you say, you have my attention but what is this | | | | from channel 4 to channel 2 so I have to use the |
| going to cost me? Guess what? NOT ONE SINGLE | | | | remote to turn it back to 4 each morning, big deal! |
| DIME (at least form the utilities)! | | | | HERE IS THE "BOTTOM LINE": |
| The first thing I want you to do is to get an entire | | | | I went from 43 to 47 KWh (Kilowatt hours) a day to |
| years worth of energy usage print outs, two would be | | | | 12 to 16 KWh! This has equated to a $65 to $80 a |
| better. This includes gas, electric and if you live in the | | | | month savings and my total outlay in cash was under |
| city, water and sewer billings. Once you have these it | | | | $100.00! My ROI (return on investment) was less than |
| is time for you to go to work! The second thing I want | | | | 60 days, ask your accountant about that one! So what |
| you to do is to make a list for every room in your | | | | are you waiting for? After all, its' only your money! In |
| house. Do not forget the basement, garage, any | | | | the meantime, if you want to carry this to the "Next |
| attached out-buildings (Gazebo, etc.) and even the | | | | Level" on your own, I highly recommend using the |
| attic. For each room, find and list every outlet, what is | | | | money you have saved within the first several months |
| plugged into them and every light fixture. | | | | to purchase the "Save-On-Energy" program from A & |
| Example; My master bedroom has 5 dual outlets, 1, 27 | | | | P Media. |
| inch old style CRT TV, 2 vcr/dvd players, digital to | | | | And, if you decide to go even further, the "Final Step" |
| analog converter box, wireless phone system, an | | | | is to get you off the "Grid" entirely and possibly have |
| answering machine, digital alarm clock, ceiling fan with 3 | | | | the utilities start paying YOU! |
| standard 60 watt bulbs (this unit contains a fader | | | | Possible? You bet! Stay tuned for "The Rest Of The |
| switch so I cannot go to energy efficient lighting here), | | | | Story!" Please check back with for future installments |
| a clip-on lamp on the bed head board with a 60 watt | | | | as I am just getting started! |
| standard bulb and a small light built-in fixture over mirror | | | | |