I’ve been studying and pursuing solar energy advantages for more than a year now.

I am happy, no, thrilled with the obvious pursuit of renewable energy sources by federal and local governments as well as everyday citizens.

But I want information I can act on.

For the past year, August 2008 to August 2009, we have taken every actionable idea our home budget allowed.

This action steps centered on energy conservation measures. Indeed, energy conservation is the place to start.

The good news is that we reduced our home energy bill by 22.7 percent, a savings of almost $500 over the course of the year by practicing energy conservation measures only.

Really, if each of us practiced energy conservation only, a huge difference would be evident on our collective carbon footprint!

With all the conservation measures in place, the next steps are energy efficiency measures. These are the measures that cost a little bit of money—energy efficient windows, more home insulation, energy efficient heating/cooling systems, energy efficient appliances.

However, right now, I have no funds to take action on these efficiency items.

Sigh.

What’s a person on a tight budget to do?

Summer Energy Efficient Windows – Part 2

I love windows.

They allow light into an otherwise dark spaces. They provide restful views of the green outdoors when work requires you to be indoors. They allow clean air to circulate and freshen up your living spaces.

On the other hand, windows usher summer heat inside to compete with your air conditioning.

So if you are in the market for more energy efficient widows it’s time to do some homework.

Last time I posted about the U-factor.

Next, check the solar heat gain coefficient. This number measures how well windows block heat from the sun. The coefficient is a number between 0 and 1. A low number is what you want. Usually, you want a number from .25 to .8. Lower numbers indicate better heat blocking capacity.

Next time you’re in your local home improvement store, check out their window selections and locate  the solar heat gain coefficient.

Summer Energy Efficient Windows

Summer in South Texas has arrived. The solar thermal energy heats up our gardens, our cars and our house. Solar thermal on a cold winter day is a welcome treat.

Solar thermal energy during summer makes my air conditioner run.

Most people frame their energy efficient windows discussion around saving heating costs in winter. However, during summer months, energy efficient windows work hard keeping heat out of our houses.

Energy efficient windows can cost several hundred dollars each. While good energy efficient windows will reduce your energy bill, don’t expect the energy payback to cover the cost of the windows. But your new energy efficient windows purchases and installed this year (2009) may qualify for a federal tax credit. Energystar.gov .

Read the labels on the windows your are considering.

The first thing to consider is the U-factor. The u-factor measures heat transfer and the numbers range from .25 to 1.25. This is a measure of how well insulated the window is. A lower number is better, meaning the window is better insulated.

We’ll talk more about windows next time.

Our grandmothers naturally lived in sync with the seasons and took advantage of solar energy long before anyone referred to sunshine as solar energy. Solar energy dried laundry for centuries. It still can.

Today I gently washed a cherished crocheted bedspread and laid it flat on the grass in the sunshine to dry. It is one of those rare days in our part of south Texas when the air is cool, clear, and fairly dry.

Another perk sun drying offers is the bleaching without harsh chemicals. Did you know that? Sunshine is an excellent whitener. So our slightly yellowed, crocheted cotton heirloom bedspread is clean and white again. (I took the picture after shade covered the lawn.)

Truth is, I have waited for the right day to wash this bedspread. With our clothes washing and drying technologies, we wash and dry clothes any day of the year, any time of the day or night. We have no need to pay attention to the seasons as our grandparents once did.

But no modern industrial wonders could work as well as the sunshine did for me today.

So how about starting a new energy conservation habit this summer? At least once per week, use the sun to dry your clothes rather than your clothes dryer.

Weather Stripping Repaired

A couple weeks ago I posted  about our worn out weather stripping around our front door. http://simplehomesolarenergy.com/home-energy-use/weather-stripping-wears-out/ .

On closer investigation, we found that our front door had a flat jamb, the vertical piece of the doors frame. Attaching more weather stripping was awkward having nothing to attach more weather stripping to.

So my handy husband went to our local home improvement store and purchased strips of primed molding, which fit just inside the doorframe. The door shut against the molding, creating a better seal.

installing molding

Then we attached strips of weather stripping to the molding. These made an even better seal that keeps our conditioned air inside and summer heat from seeping in.

Do yourself a favor and check to see if you have air leaks around your windows and doors. Summer is coming!

Still striving toward that net ZEH home….

Energy Conservation Works

Going solar. Sometimes it seems the going is slower than I’d like. But occasionally I get motivation to keep going. Ours is defiantly a “Tortoise and Hare” story.

The most recent encouragement to keep our hare in the race was the arrival of our electric bill.

For eight months now, we’ve had our home on an energy diet of sorts, trying to reduce the amount of electric energy our home uses. The less energy we require the less we will need to spend on a solar energy system.

Our current electric energy bill…drum roll please… is 45 percent less than the same month last year!

Yes, that means a 45 percent reduction in kilowatt-hours used. And I am ecstatic.

I feel myself becoming an energy miser.

Not all months have shown this great a decrease in energy use. But each month, compared with the same month last year, has shown a decrease.
The interesting thing is, we have only been practicing energy conservation, not energy efficiency.

Energy conservation practices do not require huge outlays of money. Think of conservation as small conscious habits and choices, which, made daily, add up to huge savings over time.

After we get the conservation habits down, we begin implementing efficiency measures, which require some larger monetary investments.

After efficiency measures reduce our energy consumption even further, we will have a more accurate idea of how many solar panels we need.

I’ll keep you all posted on our progress.

We’d love to hear how your home energy story is unfolding, so leave us a comment. Thanks!

Free Weather

Today in south Texas, we enjoy what my family calls “free weather.”

Free weather happens when the outdoor temperatures are such that we need neither heat, nor air conditioning, nor clothes dryer. Open windows allow cool breezes to circulate through the house and clothes dry quickly when hung out on the clothesline.

Free weather means our kilowatt-hour usage is at a minimum. We still use some power of course, to run the refrigerator, lights, water heater, and phantom loads.

Many folk enjoy this kind of “free weather” for a long stretch during the summer months. We get “free weather” a few weeks each spring and fall.

Now, if I had grid-connected solar panels installed on my roof today, they would be generating electricity and sending it into the grid, making my electric meter run backwards!

Well, I hope to have those solar panels this time next year. Until then, I’ll content myself with the “free weather” while it’s here.

Learning About Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs

We are still trying to reduce our monthly kilowatt-hour consumption before we bite the bullet and install solar electric energy.

Installing Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs) reduces the amount of energy your home uses so most people make the switch to CFLs.

Here’s what the EnergyStar site says about CFLs:

If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars.

Currently, we are living with a mix of incandescent and CFLs because it just doesn’t make sense to me to throw out a perfectly working incandescent light bulb. As our incandescents die out, we replace them with CFLs.

Our first CFL came from our energy provider, who gives one CFL (not an entire box) to each customer who asks. We used that one to replace the light over the stove as that light stays on more than any other in the house.

Last weekend we purchased our first boxes of CFLs from our local Walmart Store. As I recall now, Walmart offered a GE brand of CFL and the Walmart store brand of CFL.

Since we are currently working our way up the CFL learning curve, we purchased the lesser expensive Walmart brand. We installed the new 100-Watt equivalent CFLs in the walk-in closet to make that dark spot brighter for those of us who must choose clothing early in the morning, before the caffeine kicks in.

When we flipped the switch on, I learned there’s a reason CFLs are labeled either “warm white,” “cool white,” or“daylight.”

The “warm white” CFLs give off a light that is more yellow. I really don’t like the yellow light although it’s fine for the closet, being less harsh than the other two choices.

Noli Control Systems describes “cool white” this way:

Cool White bulbs are preferred in many applications because the light they output makes items illuminated appear crisper.  Cool White is often preferred in bathrooms and other task areas.  They are also great for reading.

About “Daylight” Noli says:

Daylight bulbs are often preferred for photography, painting,  or other tasks that require a true color representation of the objects being illuminated. They are also great for helping reduce the effects of Seasonal Disorder disease since they give the effect of summer time sun light.

I think I’m going with the “daylight” version in the rest of my house.

Cool white and daylight bulbs cost a teensy bit more than warm white CFLs. But after seeing the difference, I think they are worth the extra few pennies.

Do you use CFLs? Why or why not?

Make Solar Energy More Efficient and Less Expensive

No matter how you look at it, solar energy carries a huge initial price tag.

Even with state and federal tax incentives and municipal solar financing, it’s a major home improvement project.

The economy being what it is these days, none of us really wants to take out another loan, at least not a big one.

The best way to make solar more affordable is to:

•    Practice energy conservation
•    Implement as many efficiency measures as applicable to your home

These steps make sense for two (2) reasons:

1.    The less energy you use, the less your solar system will cost
2.    It’s irresponsible to use waste energy, even if it’s a renewable energy.

Jessop Petroski does a great job of explaining why you should go the energy efficiency route first, BEFORE going solar.

Read his excellent article for yourself.

Leave a comment and let us know what you think.

Ready to start conserving energy? Join the Home Energy Conservation Challenge now.

How Much Energy Does it Take to Dry America’s

Clothes?

For those of you in energy conservation mode – or would like to be – here’s an interesting information tid-bit from Kilowatt Ours.

Question: How much energy does it take to dry Americans clothes per year?

Answer:    Eleven (11) power plants worth!

Please join me at the clothesline!

For other great energy-saving ideas and a community of energy conscious folk, visit the Kilowatt Ours Community. The site includes:

•    access to their community forum,
•    ways to be involved with energy issues,
•    Energy saving tips and support, and
•    A way to track and compare community members energy savings