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| Thursday, July 31, 2008 |
| You have to show the reward of conservation |
The NPR story: Maryland Residents Asked To Cut Energy Use reports on various states who's leaders have set energy reduction goals. The problem is just asking residents to use less and conserve more is not really working. People just aren't jumping at the chance to save energy.
That's partly because electricity is still relatively cheap, says Michael Dworkin, who has been involved in Vermont's energy-use reduction program — one of the most successful so far.
"Even high energy bills are typically only 2 to 4 percent of a household's discretionary income," Dworkin says. "You know, they're a third of what they spend on healthcare, or they're a third of what they spend on the car. They're a quarter of what they spend on housing."
Someone who spends $160 a month on electricity, for example, would save less than a dollar a day by cutting electric use by 15 percent.
But as the price of fossil fuels climbs, Dworkin says it doesn't make sense for people to wait until the pain of higher bills prompts them to act. "Efficiency is by far the better choice," he says. Personally, it was not until I really started looking at my utility bills that I got serious about conservation. But my real "Ah-ha" moment with saving energy was when I could clearly see the money savings in my utility bill.
I think I have told this story before, but I am going to tell it again (in case some of you were not paying attention the first few times I mentioned this). When I purchased my home back in 2004 it came with two refrigerators. A brand new one in the main kitchen and a very old, harvest gold, fridge in the basement apartment. Almost a year later the harvest gold fridge started breaking down. I found an ad on craigslist for a white fridge that was just a couple of years old. The owner had just purchased a home and wanted to switch to stainless steel appliances - so I got the new "used" fridge for $100 (which included delivery). I was happy because I had found a bargain. But I became really happy when my next electric bill arrived. It turns out my $100 fridge was much more energy efficient than the old harvest gold one. The new fridge cost $10 less per month to operate.
Seeing that drop spurred me on to find other ways to decrease my bills. That is when I started swapping out my light bulbs and unplugging unused appliances. But the first step has got to be monitoring your utility bills. This is as simple as creating a spreadsheet and noting how much you are paying each month as well as how much you are using (kWh for electric). As you collect the data, you can start to compare your yearly costs. You may not be motivated by saving $10 in one month, but seeing that you saved $120 in one year might get you more interested.
To get the general public interested in meeting a conservation goal, you have to show them how they will be rewarded by achieving it. The states need to do a better job of showing the monetary rewards of saving energy. Once that connection is made in people's minds - they will conserve. |
| posted by Boston Gal @ 9:15 AM *
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| 5 Comments: |
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Do you use NStar? I use online billing and they have a little bar chart thing that shows usage. I took your advice and unplugged all unused appliances and now my bill is down to $16 a month (I live in a 300 sqft condo in JP)
emily c
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This may be a tad off topic, but it does conserve. I was checking into Waste Management (www.wm.com) for a new recycling bin. Ours got stolen, and I've felt really guilty about not recycling this week. Well I went their website and they have a ton of helpful things on the website. They even have light bulb and battery recycling programs.
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I think the hardest part of the whole conservation thing is that you have to contiously be thinking about it. Not that I don't want to save money, but to do the things that you have to do, you have to think about it all the time. For example my TV (I only have one). I watch it for about 4 hours a day. That TV draws 240w when on. When turned off, it draws 35w. So what does that mean? That in the 4 hours a day I watch TV I spend $35.04 a year and when it is powered off, I spend $25.55. To fix this - what do I have to do? Put another surge protector on it (It is already on a battery backup and surge protector for my entire entertainment center - I have frequent brownouts).
I would have preferred if the manufacturer had made it so that the TV is off when off. Same goes for a lot of other electrical items in my house. I mean I will keep my 4 computers running 24/7. I will keep my cable modem and DVR running all the time. What can I turn off? I turn lights off when I leave the room. I run my AC a little as I can and let the house get warm with a programable thermostat during the day when no one is home. Other little things (night lites on timers, etc.)
I guess trying your best is all you can do and trying to conserve where you can. If it becomes an obsession, then time spent scheming to save a few cents or bucks a year costs more than the actual pay off and then is it really worth your time.
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I hear you Middle Class Hick,
But instead of thinking of it as being "obsessed" with saving a few kWh's I prefer to think of it as a challenge. A brain power excercise if you like. It is also fun to think of it as a way of outwitting and outplaying the electronics industry and the phantom foe - phantom power draws!
Right now, I am doing the ol' powerstrip thing for my cable box and TV to ensure they are really off when I am done watching. Putting the powerstrip on an automated timer (the kind people use to turn lights on and off when they leave for vacation) takes some of the guess work out of all of this - at least the timer shuts the strip off in the wee hours of the morning when I am sleeping.
I know someone who is knowledgable about electricity and he has put wall timers on certain outlets in his home. In order to use the microwave, you have to spin the dial on the wall. That way the outlet is only on for a maximum of 60 minutes (most microwave use takes less than that time and this way no one forgets to unplug). He has also put in switches in his closets so the light turns on only when the door is open (like the fridge). So no one accidently leaves the closet light on then shuts the door. I have seen others do the timer light thing in laundry rooms or the door light thing on basement stairs.
Basically, you figure out ways to outwit your energy wasting habits. Personally I can see putting one of those timer/outlets in my kitchen where I plug in my cell phone, etc. for recharging. Turn the dial and have the stuff recharge for 60 minutes then poof - the outlet shuts off.
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Well .. if you want to get creative .. this is one that I have done in the past at certain houses :) When I lived in Seattle, they had meters which measured your usage at certain times of the day (Ie. how many MWh between 9am to 6pm, 6pm to 1am, 1am to 8am), and charge you different rates. I put in a 20 amp timer on my hot water heater, which would mean it would only work certain times of the day. I put a huge blanket over it so it insulated better (20 bucks at lowes) and you can set it to run during the cheap times. This way I was instead of constantly heating, during the day when I was at work, it would not heat, but when I got home at 6pm and it was the cheaper time .. It would heat up again. Plus when you were gone on vacation, all you had to do was to pull the time pins out and it was always off :) You can do the same thing for gas hot water heaters, just you have to connect it to the blower (which makes it suck more gas) and not to the element heaters for an electric :)
my hot tub is another example of something that I modify in the summer - I put it at 80 degrees during the summer and make it instead of a hot tub - a cold tub .. which let me tell you is better to sit in at 9pm after dark and it is still in the 90's and 90% humidity here in the midwest :) The temp change means that the "heater" only runs every hour, and that is the preset timer to run the filter for 5 minutes. That is because it is warmer than the water inside the tub :)
I was not trying to be a curmudgeon .. just throwing a little sanity on the conversation.
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Do you use NStar? I use online billing and they have a little bar chart thing that shows usage. I took your advice and unplugged all unused appliances and now my bill is down to $16 a month (I live in a 300 sqft condo in JP)
emily c