iPod Docking Station – Uses three watts charging and five when it’s
playing music. This costs you a penny a day!

Big Screen TV – When the TV is on it can use 210 watts, when off 64.
It costs you 11 cents a day just having the TV plugged in at your
house!

Game Systems – Can use 2 watts when the system is off but uses 145
when it’s on. This costs you about one penny an hour!

Digital Video Recorder – This can pull 83 watts all day long. That
means just having one of these plugged in the wall in your home can
cost you 15 cents a day! *

*From Edmonds Scientific site – watts dectector

My uncle sells Logix insulated concrete forms. essentially styrofoam giant legos that you connect together – about 3 inches of styrofoam with plastic braces that hold them together and you fill with concrete. The walls have are something like R50 insulated. The initial cost is much higher, but you would be amazed at energy savings.

I have read articles of energy companies filing complaints against costumers accusing them of stealing energy and cheating the company, only to find that they are in the wrong. I helped deliver them for several years and I’m totally sold. Construction is incredibly quick and easy.

another money saving tip. On a hot day, take the kids to the pool or to a public place like the library, a museum, or a movie during peak hours and use their energy, meanwhile turning your energy down. They usually keep it in the low 70s.

double glazing windows – prevents heat from escaping through the windows

loft insulation- keeps heat in the house

energy efficient boiler – go outside the house near the flue and ask the wife to turn on the hot water tap (the boiler will kick in) can you smell the gas? if so get a condensing boiler (90% efficient)

freezer – when putting foodstufs in the freezer/fridge try to use clear plastic foodbags as much as possible, your fridge/freezer works overtime trying to maintain a adequate temp, having glass bottle/redundant packaging does’nt help

All of what CitizenRe is trying to do may be replaced in a couple of years by a new technology breakthrough I heard about on a local TV station last week. Solar cells will be printed on a special paper on our home computers. According to the news spot, this would allow all of us to create our own solar panels on demand for a fraction of the cost of installing solar panels.

**We are located in MI and our house was built in 2005

Some good habits we taught ourselves was to keep all the lights off in the house unless we are in the room. Sometimes we just leave a tiny lamp on if we are going to pass through a main room frequently – rather than keep on the main lights.

However to circumvent this I just invested $4k in a gas fireplace insert trying to save myself money on heating during the winter. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Since I’m in a townhouse my neighbor who didn’t have gas line accesibility went with an electric heat pump. We’ll see who saves more money us or them, especially since we both paid $4k to install two different solutions on 2 identical units.

As for the water heater… No, I haven’t insulated it at our new house (though we did at our previous house). This is especially helpful in the winter when the crawl space (where the water heater is located) can get pretty chilly.

I was going to suggest that you convert over to an on-demand hot water system – that way you’re not storing and constantly heating hot water. They do make electric models.

A whole house fan in the attic can help keep the house cooler, then you don’t have to run the A/C so much.

One other thing we have, that came with the house, are solar screens. I don’t know how much a difference they make in energy usage, but they are supposed to block out a lot of the heat if you are getting direct sunlight.

I hear you on humidity. I’d probably keep it at 76 if we had higher humidity here. 80 is the absolute top here (without humidity), with 78 being much more easier to tolerate.

The might be something to try if you don’t already. When you come back it’s a bit warmer, but so far it’s never been as bad as outside, so it feels good. Then it cools down and feels really good. (but it’s less of a shock than a frigid house on a hot day)

My actual electric usage cost is around $5 but after adding fees its now around $45. There is no direct gas service, and it would be costly to change the refrig and washer dryer to gas…

Its time to get independent of government monopolies but hard to do in a condo.

Some things off the top of my head that we’ve done or are in the process or doing:

1. We had single pane windows, so we had the windows tinted. It’s similar to car windows, but a higher quality film, and much cheaper than replacing the windows. We had it done last fall, and I can see a difference in the power bills. This would’ve worked for your garage.

2. Get a Kill-a-watt power meter and check for phantom loads around the house. Don’t want to get the meter? Put your hand on electronics you’re not using and see if it feels warm. I found an unused TV in a guest room that burned power just sitting there. It’s on a power-strip and gets turned off when there’s no guests.

3. If your house is older, it may not have a radiant barrier in the attic. There are companies that sell radiant barrier paint that allow for a simple upgrade to older houses. Disclaimer: I havn’t done this yet. YMMV, yada yada.

4. Figure out the efficiency for your AC unit. It may be worth while to replace it. Most power companies offer rebates for new AC units, and the Feds are offering tax credits.

i would definitely check out solar panels if i lived in the south or southwest. i like all the energy saving tweaks you did to your house.

A friend of mine, Chuck Hazzard, has a keen interest in going green. He is supporting a project for finding a cost-effective way to install solar energy in people’s homes. It might be something that is worth looking into.

It will not necessarily save you a ton of money since they base it on your average kwh cost at the time you sign up with them, but the energy costs never go up. That can be handy…

The company is called The Citizenre Corporation; unfortunately my house is completely shaded to the southern sky so I don’t think they’ll be able to do much for me. Some friends just bought a house that gets a lot of sun light though and they are going to look into it.