Improved sustainability (the resources not used now are still available for the future generations)

Improved trade balance (by using less, you can either export more or import less)
=> stronger currency

Increased business certainty (if you consume less unit of energy per unit of output, you are less vulnerable to price fluctuations of energy commodities)

Decrease of cost as the cost of conserved energy can be lower than the cost of energy supply

Shift to high tech industrial sectors with high added value

Geolopolitical advantages
* security of supply
* higher stability in trade

Reduced cost of environmental compliance

Reduced cost of pollution

—–
And all of this without the need to reduce the added value and level of energy service (miles driven, °F in the house, etc…)

Your power company may offer rebates if you turn in your receipts for the energy saving bulbs. My utility provider was paying back 50% of the receipt price.

The electric bill stayed the same after the In-Laws moved out. Why? Because we went back to farming the land, and the electric is now used to run the 5 horse pump to irragate the fields (we live in the desert). That actually means the In-Laws were consuming a fair bit of electric, for the bill to stay the same, since the 5 horse pump in a power hog. Difference is that power now produces food for us, and for others.

After the In-Laws moved out, we turned the thermostat down 13 degrees!! They had it set on 78 degrees, we set it at 65 degrees. Our house is 3600 sq ft. When the In-Laws lived here, it took two 1000 gallon tanks of propane to get through the winter.

For us, it takes 700 gallons to make it through the winter, by turning the thermostate down 13 degrees. That’s a savings of 1300 gallons of propane!!

I ran about after spending a bundle on CFL bulbs replacing them all over our house. I have found they do NOT last longer, indeed almost always signifigantly shorter, nor do they reduce the power bill. I’ve lived here for three years. Almost all the bloody CFL bulbs have been replaced twice….so much for the 7 years of life! We do NOT leave lights on either.

Other power we save is a lot less tangible. We store food and shop only twice a year. How much is that is saved fuel? No idea, but it’s huge.

We truely cook from scratch. Dairy goats provide us with milk and cheese…how much is that is saved cost of plastic jug manufacture, disposal, and the fuel used to transport the milk? No idea, but it’s a large amount. Same with home baked bread, and animals we butcher ourselves. No transport cost to the grocery store, nor waste plastics, and styrofoam produced. Not easily meassured, yet it is signifigant.

How much fuel are we saving by producing our own biofuels? No idea, but the tanker truck does not have to go deliever to the gas station for us.

Our savings will get even better once we are able to build our straw bale house….then we will be totally off grid!

~Garnet
Homesteding/Farming over 20 years

put timers at all light switches to turn off lights you might forget to turn off,

put an energy monitor on our water heater so that it only heats water at high useage times (examples: on 20 minutes before wake up time for showers (no baths), off at the time we leave for the day, on in the evening for cooking and kitchen clean up and off all night and the water tank keeps (50 gals) water warm enough for in between times if we are here at home,

this is the largest energy savings in our home,

we have tried some green cleaning solutions

and wash clothes in cold water only.

good luck

The most financially advantageous way to go about switching is to change the most frequently used lights. It makes no sense to change the lights in the closet if you only use them 5 minutes a month, instead look for the lights you have on the most, likely task lighting in the kitchen, office or bathroom.

Another easy and cheap way to conserve energy is use power stips with switches for you computer station and entertainment areas. Plug the tv, dvd, game system and stereo in and when you are finished using them flip the switch and stop standby energy. Do the same thing with the computer, monitor, printer, speakers etc. Unplug chargers when not being used and you could save $10-$25 per month easily.

2. they say unplug the tv when you’re leaving for a long time and unplug lamps because regardless of if they’re off or on, they’re still drawing power from the outlet… the plug always has power running through it so then when you come home and turn the tv on it will turn on immediately… while unplugging the tv and lamps is sort of a pain in the ass, you can unplug things like hair-dryers, clocks that you just don’t need to have running (clocks are a 24/7 money suck), stereos that maybe you don’t use as often, kitchen appliances that either don’t get used much or are really for show….

3. turn the temperature up a little in your fridge and freezer… be careful though… you don’t want to ruin your food… but if you can put a bottle of water in the back of your top shelf and it freezes by the next day, you can spare 2 degrees….

4. conserve water by taking shorter showers…. DYK the average 15 minute shower uses over 100 gallons of water???

5. conserve water by doing less dishwasher runs… eat on paper plates so you don’t have to wash your big plates and bowls as often…

6. don’t buy bottled water…. on top of being a drain on your refrigerator to cool it, most bottled water was proven to be filtered tap water… dasani, ozarka, aquafina… all filtered tap water… buy a faucet purifier from PUR since you don’t have the option of buying a fridge with a water filter in the door….

7. conserve water by doing less laundry runs… never do a load that isn’t large…

8. watch your temp control… if you’re hot at night in the summer time, make sure you try taking off the 22 lb duvet you have before turning the temp down to 65 degrees… if you live in a state where the summers are between 80-100 degrees, then you’re apartment should be at 77 or 78…. if you live someplace where the summer is lower than 80, you don’t need AC… open a window and door and tough it out…

9. get a blanket or sweater or socks before you turn the heat on…

10. be sure to turn off all game consoles…

11. combine dryer loads…

12. clean your fridge of junk food… the more food that’s in there, the more the fridge has to work to maintain temperature…

13. don’t run your vacuum every day….

14. remember that hot air rises no matter what season we’re in… so if you live in a predominantly cold state, then you’ll want an upper level apartment b/c all of the heat will rise up to you and will save on your heating bills… if you live in a predominantly HOT state, then you’ll want to live on the bottom floor b/c all of the cold air from your AC will eventually push the hot air out, cooling your apartment, but sending your hot air up to the apartments above you… that will mean that your AC will run for less time while the ones above you have to work harder to achieve the same result…

hope that helps….

The earth will be here long after we are all dead and gone and the human species is extinct.

It is US that it will save from extinction.