Home Automation and Being Green

I was flipping through Time Magazine today (The August 26/September 2, 2013 issue). I came across a one page article in the Tech Section titled Home, Smart Home. I've had a soft spot for home automation for a decade or so now. I was among the "early adopters" when I started playing around with X-10 modules which would allow you turn on and off lights with your TV remote. I'm telling you ten years ago that was mind blowing stuff! Especially when you used it to turn on and off the Christmas lights!


It was all kind of cool, but in it early days was a bit unreliable. And while it was cool to turn on and off lights without getting up it was more parlor trick then actually useful to be honest. So after a year or so of messing around with home automation stuff I kind of forget about it.


So this article reminded me of the coolness of it all again. And apparently in the last ten years things have really improved. Especially because we all now carry little wi-fi connected computers in our pockets called smart phones. Most of the technology for controlling and tracking all these new cool devices are in our pocket all ready. This makes adopting home automation cheaper and easier to learn as we are all ready familiar with the interface known as our phone.


One cool item the author (Harry McCracken) mentioned was a new door lock which you could install on your entry door and could be operated with your phone. It works with bluetooth on your phone and automatically unlocks the door when you arrive home. You can also grant temporary access to friends who you want to access your house. It of course makes me thing of the possible security issues should you lose your phone on the subway, but that aside you can't argue with the coolness or convenience of the idea!


He also mentions the Nest thermostat which is available in stores now (I saw it on an end cap in Lowes a couple of weeks ago). Apparently this new gizmo starts to keep track of when you are home and not and figures out patterns of when to raise and lower the temperature in your home to minimize your heating/cooling energy use. Sounds pretty cool. I don't know the exact price, but I think it's hundreds though. I tend to be really conscious of my energy use, and very rarely forget to turn down the thermostat when I got to bed or leave for work. I haven't done the math, but I feel like since I tend to be good about turning it down anyway, it would take quite a while before I recouped the cost of the the Nest thermostat in energy savings. With that said it looks cool, and that is what a lot of tech is all about really. So at some point I'm really going to look into it closely, do the math, and will likely write a post here as well.


All of this got me to thinking about the tie in between home automation and energy savings. Being green and Saving Green! In fairness much of home automation is more focused on the cool of technology. Changing the color or lights in different rooms to create mood settings (cool but in practice, you'll never use it). Changing the radio station that is playing through out your house from a touch screen which is located in the kitchen, living room, and upstairs hallway. All of that is definitely cool, but likely is only going to use more electricity then you would have otherwise.

The stuff that I'm thinking about are the gizmos whose main function is to use less energy. The Nest thermostat is a great example of that. Whether or not it would pay for itself installed in my house, it's main purpose is to save you money. So sure it took ten years to pay for itself, but in the mean time you were using less fossil fuels and where there for saving the planet, even if it did come out of your pocket. I'd love to see home automation devices which would serve a similar purpose for your hot water tank. Or maybe something that would open and close your blinds depending on the time of day, amount of sun, and time of year, to help warm your house or keep it cooler. These are the kinds of items which can pay for themselves and help save the planet.

So I'll be checking out the Nest, and I'll be on the look out for other items which can be installed to save energy. Additionally I'll be checking out these items to see what the potential payoff would be. In other words home long do they have to be installed before they save you enough money in energy usage to cover their cost of purchase and installation.

Green Loans

On one of my other blogs I talk mainly about loans. Mortgages, auto loans, personal loans, etc. As part of that whole endeavor I found an affiliate which I've included ads for on that site to increase revenue. They are a peer to peer online lender/investor. Basically they connect folks that are looking to borrow money with folks that have extra money they'd be willing to lend. The borrowers get the cash they need, and the lenders make some interest on the cash that wasn't doing much for them right now anyway. The site tracks all this and keep a small fee and everyone wins.

 

What I found really interesting about this site is one specific category of lending that they offer as something to focus on. They have credit card refinancing, and auto loans, and home improvements. What interests me here though is a specific part of home improvement loans that they focus on. Green loans! They have a whole category of lending for Green Home Improvements! While I'm sure there are many banks out there offering loans for home improvements which you could choose to use for green improvements, I don't think I've seen ads before focused specifically on lending for green projects!

Maybe there really is hope out there that we can save this planet after all. I mean there are lots of folks talking about the fact that we need to do something. And there are plenty of places you can go to find out the kind of things you can do to start turning things around to save the planet. But really until you see the business world focusing on it, it's not really happening. At least not on a large scale.

That's basically the point of this whole blog, savings green. Sure everyone wants to do the right thing if you ask them. But really until the better alternative actually costs less then the easy alternative, then people aren't going to start doing the right in on a large scale. Now that I've seen a bank taking interest I have some amount of renewed hope though. I mean they obviously did a little homework and found that this is a category that they could make a little money with. Once there are ads out there it'll get people thinking, and maybe then actually doing.

So come on board big business and large banks. Let's save the Earth, and Save Some Green!

Saving Money With a Clothes Line

You know this one is so basic and obvious it pains me to admit that I wasn't all ready doing it. I always turn off lights when I leave a room, I never run the dishwasher until it's full, and I use CFL light bulbs. But when it comes to to doing laundry it finally hit me like a ton of bricks the other day. I'm still drying every single load in the dryer.

It's late summer and we've been living in this house for a 2 years now (we used to have a clothes line in our old house). I guess it's one of those things that I meant to get set up right away when we moved in and then the drum beat of life kind of distracted me and I never got back to it.

We go camping about 5 times a year with the boys and I almost always tie a rope between some trees so we can dry bathing suits and towels after swimming. We just got back from camping and I was putting things away when I thought, wait, why don't I have one at home?

Now they make some fancy clothes drying apparatus which are nice for your back yard. At our old house I had one that would coil up into a gizmo. Then when you were going to use it, you would just pull it out and hook it on a tree or something. That way when you were drying clothes you wouldn't even see it.

I however this time decided to go with the very basic of options. I tied the green rope that I use when we are camping between two trees in our back yard. Now I did this last night about dust. Kinda late to try it out for this first time because I think it's not great to put out clothes to dry at that hour because the dew will set into them. Then I worked all day today so again I haven't tried it. I'm hoping to soon. I'm off tomorrow so I'm thinking that'll be a really great chance to try it.

Even if I don't use it for every load it's still a big gain for each cycle my dryer doesn't have to run!

So why is clothes line drying to green you ask?

Well that is for one reason in the winter and two really great reasons in the summer. First, all year round the dryer is expensive to run. Basically anything that creates heat is using a good amount of energy to do it. In my case we have an electric dryer so it's sucking up electricity and raising my power bill. So this is the best kind of green change. It's not that I'm finding a slightly more efficient way to do something. It's that I'm finding a way to completely remove the appliance from the equation. Each time I dry the clothes on the line I'm not just reducing the power I need to dry that load, I'm making it zero. That is saving the earth and saving my wallet. Like I always say here at Saving Green, some folks will make a change to help the Earth, but EVERYONE like to save money!

The other reason that a clothes line is a green change this time of year is because it is summer time and it's hot. I have a couple window AC units that I use as sparingly as possible. But I am paying money and using power to cool the house. When I run the dryer I'm heating up the house which means I may be paying even more to run the AC's and cool it back down again. Its a vicious cycle. So when I use the clothes line I am not only saving the money and power I would have used to dry the clothes, but I am also saving the money and power that it would have taken to cool the house back down! Now that is what I call SAVING GREEN!

Wasted Light

This morning I had a doctors appointment. I parked, and on my walk into the office, I noticed one of my biggest pet peeves. The parking lot lights were on. There was four lamp posts around the perimeter of the parking lot and they were all on. My appointment was at 9 AM, so there was plenty of light from the sun!

I was impressed to see that at least one of them had a CFL bulb in it (at least one of the others didn't though). It was one of the biggest CFL's I've ever seen! I would guess based on the size of it, it had to be at least 150 - 200 watts. Maybe more. So kudos for having the energy saving bulbs.

Now it is possible that the doctors (or building management) have done the math and based on the cost of leaving them on all day, just don't care about the additional price. When considered against the overall price of running a building like that, I suppose it is a small percentage. However if you do the math and see what it costs of a year, I'm sure they would rather have the money rather then just completely wasting it!

The best thing they could do it put it on a photocell switch. When it's dark out the lights will come on. Then when the sun comes up they'll go off. If the intention is to keep the lights on during dark all the time, they'll never be wrong. Nobody has to remember to turn them on when it gets dark (safety issue), and nobody can forget to turn them off when it gets light out (energy savings). Granted there is an upfront cost for having a timer like this installed but it will pay for itself over time with the energy savings.

Now don't take me the wrong way. I'm not perfect. I'm not saying there is never a chance you could drive past my house one day in the middle of the afternoon and see my porch light on. It would really bother me if that did happen, but I'm sure it does. I have two small kids that I like to blame things on, but either way, people forget things. So while nobody is perfect, I'm sure we could all do a little better.

So...turn off those lights during the day! And don't get my started on how my kids leave the lights on in rooms they aren't occupying!

Just Use Less Energy!

Just Use Less Energy, sounds simple right? So often everyone is thinking about way to cut down on their energy use, whether it be electricity, gas, oil, etc. That is great and necessary. The trick is I was thinking about this over all the other day. Most often I am always focused on new technology, or a new gizmo, or a new procedure, which will allow me to do what I always do, and use less energy in the process. For example a more fuel efficient car so I can drive the same miles and use less gas. Or a more efficient light bulb that will allow me to light the same room with less electricity.

Both of those are great examples of ways to save money and the planet, and I'm by no means saying that they aren't great ideas. The trick is I get so focused on being more efficient in that way, that I lose sight of the one more obvious option. Just plain using less. So instead of just getting a more fuel efficient car, I should try to find way to just plain drive less miles. And while getting a new LED bulb is great, but making sure to turn off that light when nobody is in the room is a win every time!

A big one that I'm a huge culprit of is the long hot shower. I'm not going to lie, I LOVE taking long hot showers! I've certainly put lots of thought over the years into the ways to get the most hot water for the least energy. And of course wrapping my hot water tank in more insulation is great. But if I would couple that with taking shorter showers then I am really onto something! And yes I love taking the long hot showers, and thinking about taking really quick showers is hard to digest at first. But when I think, "Could I take a shower that is 1 minute less?", that doesn't really sound that bad at all. So maybe for a month or two I'll shoot for that. Then I can keep whittling it down, until it's as quick as can be over time. I'll save quite a bit in the use of less water, and the energy that would have been used to heat it. Then if I can still strive to more efficient with the water I am using, I'm getting a nice double dip.

Air conditioning is a big one too. Many of us, me included, have gotten to the point where it's an expectation in our lives to have air conditioning. Both at work, at home, and in our car. It wasn't really all that long ago that air conditioning was considered a luxury. Many, many fewer homes has AC. You just toughed it out for the couple of months of hot weather. Even affluent folks in the 50's, 60's, 70's would forgo air conditioning as a waste of money. Oh how the times have changed. Every late spring I lug out the three window units that we use in our small house. One for each of the bedrooms, and one for the downstairs living area. I do try to use them as little as possible, but once they are in the windows they are all to easy to use. One quick push of the button and relief from the heat is on it's way! I guess I'll keep working on that, as we should use them less, but I'm not sure that I'm ready to give them up all together :(

The easiest way to save energy is to turn things off

So the moral of the story is that less is more when it comes to saving energy. It's more a way of thinking then anything else. I just am going to keep working on incorporating it into my thinking in my day to day decisions. Yes I'm going to continue to make things as efficient as I can around the house. But, if I can realistically just use energy less overall, that will make a nice dent in my power bills (and help the planet) as well!

Basic Solar Light for the Front Door

So for some time now my wife has been complaining that when we get home there is no light at our front door. Well actually that isn't true. There is a light there, but it's not on a motion sensor, so it doesn't come on automatically. And being the green guy that I am I don't like to leave it on when we leave the house.

Of course I have a CFL in there so it's only drawing watts in the teens, instead of 60+, but I still don't like wasting electricity. Less electricity is good, but none is better. Why light up my front step for 6 hours, when I really only need it to be lit up for the 20 seconds I'm out there looking for my house key?

The trick is that the light fixture that is installed out front is basic and doesn't lend itself well to a motion sensor. I actually totally agreed with my wife that we need a light. The trick is that I need to run a line through the walls, install a switch, etc. That isn't a 10 min project. It's not terrible expensive (probably $10-$30 worth of materials). It's just that it's going to take a number of hours to do it. And depending on how I find a path to run the lines through the wall, I may have to cut some holes. Then I have to putty, and it'll take a day to dry. Then I have to paint over the putty. Now this whole thing is really sounding like work. It's all stuff I know how to do, I just didn't feel like doing it, so I procrastinated for quite some time.

Then one day I was walking through Home Depot with my sons and found the solution. I tend to be in Home Depot quite a bit. If I'm not in a total rush I'll usually make a quite walk through the main aisles of the store to see if anything is on sale. I've found some really crazy deals doing this. Sometimes they are just looking to get things off the shelves.

So I see on sale, an exterior solar powered LED flood light. It comes with a small solar panel to mount on the roof (or anywhere that will catch the sun with in the 10 feet or so of wire that came with it). Inside the light unit there was 4 rechargeable AA batteries. I really liked that they were basic rechargeable AA batteries. At some point they are going to wear out and they will be very easy to replace.

$44.97 - Not bad!

So out my sons went to install the light. The whole thing to about 20 mins (keep in mind my sons are 7 and 6, so if I had done it myself it might have taken 10 mins :). With three screws I installed the solar panel on the edge of the roof, and pointed it to the sun. Then I put the batteries in the light and installed it up under the eve, and pointed the light down. Bingo.

The only pitfall I ran into was the first night I came home the light came on but was VERY dim. At first I was thinking that that was as bright as it was going to be and it had been a waste of time. Then I realized that since I had the motion sensitivity turned all the way up it was going on every time a car went by the house. It was doing this as soon as it got dark and was draining the batteries. I adjusted the sensitivity so it just came on when I stepped onto the front step. The next night the light was great!

It's called a flood light, but it shouldn't be confused with a halogen floor light like you would like up a large area with. It's just not that kind of bright, but what do you expect from four AA batteries right. It is however, plenty bright for finding you key and opening the front door. The whole thing cost be about $40, and 20 mins. My wife is happy and so and I ;)

Small Solar Panel Facing the Sun

Light Installed to Cover Area When we are looking for house key

The best part is that it doesn't use any electricity from the grid. All the power is created from the sun. Some day I'd like to save up and cover my roof in solar panels. But until that happens, this is a great start and great example of what can be done.

Business Electricity

Most often on this blog I am talking about using less energy. That can be propane, natural gas, coal, wood, oil, and electricity (among others). More often then not though I am talking about things you can do in your home to reduce you consumption of energy. Not sure why I thought of it today, but I got to thinking about ways that businesses could reduce their use of electricity. Lots of business use electricity and plenty of it. From small home based businesses to large industrial operations there are lots of places to save. 

Common Ways to Save Electricity


Many of the common household ways that I mention on this blog will also apply to businesses as well. A great example is a small retail store (or even a large one for that matter) which lights their store with incandescent bulbs. Not only are they wasting their business electricity by using inefficient bulbs but they are going to feel it more then at home because typically a store is going to leave their lights on 24 hours a day. The first thing they need to think about it spending the upfront money to get CFL's or even LED's. Yeah they will spend a little now (which is going to be a tax deduction) but they are going to save much more then that over the life of the bulbs! The next thing they need to think about is whether or not they really need to leave the lights on 24 hours a day. The argument usually is during the day they want to light their products better and therefore hopefully translate that into more sales, and during the night it is for security reasons. Well it might be worth doing some testing to see if they really need the lights on during the day. Or maybe turn off the lights near windows on sunny days and turn them on when the sun goes down. You could even consider posting a sign at the front door mentioning how you are going green and have turned off some lighting, and can potentially increase sales to people like me. Then for the nighttime security, maybe you could leave on half the lights you normally do. Or turn them off except for a few small ones, and install motion detectors so that if anyone should come into the store the lights will come on.

Systematic Ways to Save Business Electricity


Another way to reduce you electrical consumption at a business is to work to change your whole business culture. Have training sessions with you employee discussing ways to reduce electrical consumption in their day to day work, and emphasize how important it is. You might even consider holding a contest asking for employees to submit ways to save electricity. Make a big deal of awarding the winner and implementing their idea. Not only will you save with what you do on that one idea, but hopefully you'll be reinforcing how committed you are to saving electricity and therefore the planet and encourage people to save even if it's not part of the contest.

What is Green Tech?

These days I seem to hear the term "Green Tech" more and more, which is a good thing! I kind of thing of Green Tech and two things but really the definition that most people think of when the say it means the invention of new technology which will reduce green house gases and be good (or better) for the environment. 

Examples of Green Tech


So what is green technology? An example of green technology would be a new light bulb with puts out the same amount of light with less energy usage. So the new invention is going to use less energy and therefore less CO2 is going to get released to power that light bulb.

Green technology doesn't have to be what we typically think of as technology though. Even if something isn't electronics or science it could still be considered green tech, at least according to my green technology definition. New green technology could be something as mundane as a new sponge that somehow required less soap to wash the same amount of dishes. This would help the environment because the company wouldn't have to make as much soap, so the the energy involved in the manufacture and delivery of bottles of soap would be reduced.

More typically though green tech is associated with clean energy though. So a new solar panel would be a great example of what most people associate with green tech. Or lets say a wind turbine which can get more energy out of the same amount of wind would be a nice fit as well.

My other meaning of Green Tech

So for me the other meaning for green tech has more to do with fixing the issues we have caused with the environment. So the planet is dirty with oil spills, the air is full of small particles from industry, and the atmosphere is full of green house gasses. Another meaning of green technology for me is a new invention which would directly remove this mess from our environment. So maybe a machine that would fly around and filter out the particles from the air, that would be great. Or something that would extract the CO2 from the atmosphere and store it some where.

The key difference to me between the two is that one is something that reduces the impact of what we do to the planet and the other cleans up the effects of what we do to the planet. Both are very important and likely necessary if we are going to save the day before we ruin Earth for all of us!

Saving Hot Water - A Small Tip For Today

So there are big ideals which will save millions of tons of carbon in the atmosphere and there are smaller tips which will just put a tiny dent in the CO2 levels. However these small tips if done by everyone can really add up as well. 

The suggestion today has to do when you are doing something at the sink which you would normally use hot water for. This would including washing your hands or rinsing your toothbrush, etc. First you should think about whether you really need to use hot water at all. Like do you really need to rinse your brush with hot water? Probably not, so you can just turn the handle all the way to cold and rinse it quick. Yes you are still going to use the same amount of water, but you aren't going to use any hot water. This will save all the energy that was needed to heat up that amount of water you ran off to rinse your brush. As an energy cost the amount needed to heat the water is much more then was is required to pump it and get it to you.

If you would like to still use hot water for a task, think about how often you never get hot water because you are done with your water task before the hot water actually starts coming out. This occurs because your hot water tank is far away from you in the basement. So when you run the hot water it has to travel all the way through the pipes to your sink before you get it. So if you are waiting for hot water then you are wasting all the water that filled the pipes and has cooled down. If you have to have hot water for your task then so be it. If you are like me though I'll just wash my hands while I'm waiting and end up being done before it gets there. If that is the case then what is the point? I mean I indeed just washed my hands with cold water. But in doing so I ran the hot water out of the tank and into the pipes, just not all the way to the sink I was at. So that hot water that I didn't even use is going to sit in the pipes and get cold and it'll happen again when I wash my hands. My point in all this is if you are going to end up just using cold water then just use the cold water from the tap. Don't waste the hot water by running into the pipes and not using it.

The do make a pump that you can install near you hot water tank which will circulate the hot water though the house so that it gets to your tap right away. I had one in my old house and it worked great. I don't think it cost much more then $30-$40 and it only took a 30 mins or so to install. The downside is that the pump was electric so I was using energy to save the energy. They manufacturer has of course thought of this, so there was  a timer build into the pump. So I would set it to come on in the morning when we woke up for work, shut off for the day, and the come on again about the time we came home from work until bed time. It really worked great. I think I'm going to look into getting one for the new house. Especially for the upstairs bathroom which takes forever to get hot water!

Green Design - From the Start!

With all that is going on with the environment and global warming these days it should be obvious that we have a problem and need to get something done about it. In fairness I know this is kind of wishful thinking, and there are crazy people out there that actually think nothing is wrong, but at least there are more and more people that understand the truth these days. 

Anyway, with that said I know we aren't going to realistically drop what we are doing as a society and just start tomorrow with a carbon neutral society, even if we were all on the same page and really wanted to. The trick I think is to understand that something is wrong and at least start making steps in that direction. At least when the climate crashes to a point where it has a serious impact on our lives, or more realistically when we run out of affordable oil and it impacts our life seriously, then the landing can be softer!

Green Design


I think one big thing we could easily start doing is making products right from the beginning with green design in mind. So right when someone is conceptualizing a product, it should be part of our culture that we factor in green design. How could it use the least amount of power possible, and how could you have it make the least amount of impact on the environment (both during operation and in disposal)?

So if you are thinking about producing a new lawn mower then of course you are going to think about all the things that a person would want a lawn mower to do well. But then, right from the original planning stage, you also need to factor in how you could design it to use the least about of power (gas or electricity) during it's useful life. Next you should also be factoring in how you could design it to make the least impact on the environment when it's disposed of when that useful life is over. So maybe that means you are going to use as many parts as possible that can be recycles easily into some new product. Or maybe it means that you are going to use parts that will decompose more quickly with a lower impact on the environment. Or maybe some other totally new factor that would help with it's impact on the environment because that is the type of thought process and breakthrough that would likely extend to all products and really give us the leap forward that we need!

Existing Products


Of course we should always be trying to improve the design of existing products so that newly manufactured ones can have a lower over impact on the environment then the ones products last year. If that was a solid part of the process for all products then we could really make strides on global warming and hopefully start to turn things around.

What keeps this green design from happening more?


The major issue is that for the most part it isn't profitable for companies to incorporate these types of design factors. They have no real cost when you decide to throw our their product and for the most part they don't care how much energy you burn when using it. The exception is in a case like cars where they can use it as a selling point to get you to buy more. But that is the point after all. If the consumers don't require it then it won't ever happen. Green design factors are only going to hit the companies bottom line when consumers start including green thought into their buying decisions. I promise you companies will always respond to consumer needs and wants. If not they would stop selling their product and go out of business.

So maybe the next time you are making a buying decision, whether it be something small as part of you weekly grocery shopping or something big like a new TV or new car, try to factor in the green aspects of the product. I promise you start doing this whenever you buy something, then manufactures will too! Then we'll all be in a better place!

Doing Your Dishes Green

So a few months ago I moved with my family to a different house which doesn't have a dishwasher. It's been a real adjustment since we moved in to taking the time each night (and often throughout the day to hand wash all the dishes). Yesterday my wife came back from the market with new dish sponges that were supposed to be a green product. It got me to thinking about the whole dirty dish process in our house and the environment. 

Are the sponges really "Green"?


The first question I thought about was if the sponges were really green. The problem with green products is that the word "Green" is relative. I mean the definition of green is that it is good for the environment. But really what the heck do I know about sponges anyway? So for all I know they could actually have a worse environmental impact the the regular sponges we had been using. But since they say "Green" on the label my wife and I was assuming they are better for the planet.

How much better? Who really knows?  That the other problem with Green being a relative term. So say they are just a very tiny amount better for the environment. Like so little that it really makes no impact as far as saving the planet. But I'll still pay an extra dollar for two of them because I feel like I'm doing my part. There are products out there that I know a good amount about and can make an educated decision as far as their impact but when it comes to sponges I guess I'm just counting on the label. I wish there was some kind of standard or rating system that you know know for sure how much good you are doing.

Hand washing dishes vs. a Dishwasher


The next thing I got thinking about is what impact am I having on the planet by hand washing my dishes now compared to a dishwater? I mean there is the electrical and water cost to running a dishwasher. But when I do them by hand I'm going to guess that I'm really using more water then what a new modern dishwasher would use. I'm also thinking that any electricity used by the dishwasher would be compensated for buy the efficiency of the dishwasher over hand washing.

Now like all appliances not all dishwashers are made the same. You need to look for the Energy Star label and then look for the best Energy Start appliance you can afford. But assuming you have a really efficient model I'm thinking I'm using more energy (not even including my own) but hand washing. And a dishwasher is going to really wash them better and remove more germs in it's process.

So I guess that's it. I need to get out dishwasher shopping and start saving money and time (and not to mention my feet and back!). Good thing my wife bought those Green sponges!

Solar Power Airships - Awesome!

Jetsons here we come! Ecogeek his a home run again in their latest email. If you don't all ready get the email update, get signed up! Among the interesting stories in this weeks email was one about a new technology concept that deals with airships.

EcoGeek.com - Solar Ship is Half Airship and Half Flying Wing

Solar Airships


The idea is basically there would be a light airship which would be made even lighter with a pocket of helium. It would then take much less energy to lift off and fly. The great part is that while it is filled with helium it isn't burning it or using it in anyway, so you never have to refill it unless there is a leak of some kind.

Even better is that the top of the airship is covered with solar panels which it appears could produce enough energy to fly the airship. What that means is that it would have an indefinite flying range. Once it took off the solar panels would power it to where ever you want to go for as long as you want to go!

The trick there is that in order for the solar panel to produce all the power you need then the cargo weight is going to have to be very light. If you want to carry heavier items and deliver them far away then you are going to need some kind of fuel. In this case you are talking about a hybrid of some kind. So like a Chevy Volt, the solar panel's produced electricity would take you as far as it could and then when depleted the fuel would kick in and power the airship.

Cheaper then Trucks?


I guess someone has done some research and is knocking in the ideal of airships in general, even if powered by solar or other cheaper hybrid means. Essentially their argument is that when you compare the cost involved with these airships would still be cheaper to transfer goods and cargo in general by 18 wheelers.

The article on Ecogeek made a really good point though. That cheaper truck cost assumes there are all ready maintained roads available to drive on. It would be kind of hard for a truck to travel across a forest, where an airship could take off and land for the same cost whether it was traveling over the forest or a populated area. So because of these these airships are getting additional attention for their lower cost to travel to remote areas. Places like the Arctic and more general areas that are currently considered too remote for delivery of items.


For me I think a concept like this is great for two reasons. One it obviously will serve a need that isn't currently being served so it's a great invention. Imagine if you have a sick child in a remote area that is saved because these airships exist!! The other great thing that comes to mind is that this is a great example of energy efficiency being built in right from the concept level of a new invention/product!

Typically when there is a new invention it's all about the idea. I mean this makes sense. The idea is lets get this thing working and then when we perfect it, if the public yells for it we'll try to figure out how to make it more energy efficient. In this case right from the beginning the makers seem to understand that we as a population are going to have to live with less energy. So everything we create is going to have to use less energy. So instead of coming up with an idea and running with it before looking at the impacts, this time it's part of the invention process itself!

Got Over the Look of New Bulbs!

I saw a good article on EcoGeek today about a new LED bulb. It is a very cool looking new LED technology light bulb. It's much more energy efficient and it's stats look really solid. One of the other selling points is that it looks very much like a incandescent bulb even though it's an energy saving bulb.

And it does! Look at that.

But it got me to thinking. Really who cares that it looks like an incandescent bulb? I mean the fact that it looks similar to what Thomas Edison dreamed up about a 100 years ago isn't all that important to me. Really I just want to be able to see when I walk around my basement and not hit my head on a beam or stub my toe!

In fairness I do understand why manufactures covet the old look. They are trying to get the masses to adopt the new technology. The more the new technology looks familiar the more likely they are to pull the trigger. And I am all for anything that gets people to be more energy efficient. I just wish you didn't have to sell it so hard to people just because it's something new and different.

I mean if you find something that works better then the old version and will save you money are you not going to buy it just because it looks different? Are you more concerned about what it looks like or how it works? Especially when its something like a light bulb? I mean I guess I could see the argument if it was something like a car or clothes where the look can be very important. But a light bulb is suppose to give off light. It just just look like a thing that gives off light!

So go read Who Moved My Cheese and get over the effects of change and get with the program. We need to use less energy and if there are bulbs that save money, use less energy and give off the same light, there is no reason not to get them today!

Dual Flush Toilets - Save Water - Save the Planet

One major area I talk about here on Saving Green is water conservation. There are many area that water conservation touches. Part of it has to do with global warming because newer weather patterns are taking the rain to un-populated areas and leaving populations in drought. Also there is the energy needed to pump the water to your house for use (remember that energy is required even if you have town water, you just aren't directly paying on your bill, but 's built in!). Another area is over population because more and more people are in new homes that are drawing more and more water for a reservoir that is holding less and less water.

Dual Flush Toilets


I found a really cool item that can help when it come to home water conservation and ease the issues with all of the above areas. I've actually heard about these for a little while now but when I saw a conversion kit at the end of the isle at Home Depot this weekend for $20, I knew it was just time!

So the basic concept is that you need much less water to flush urine and a small amount of toilet paper then you do solid waste. I know it sounds gross but when you get over the factor of using bathroom words, it comes down to very basic water conservation. You existing toilet is going to use the same amount of water every time it flushes no matter how much water it really needs. Typically toilets that were manufactured after 1994 use 1.6 gallons per flush (before 1994 I believe it was 3.5 gallons - Yikes!). For solid waste 1.6 gallons is appropriate, but for urine much less will do the trick.

Dual Flush Installation


So I bought the kit for twenty bucks. It claimed that I could install it in 10 mins with no tools. Well I won't say that is really true but it was very basic. I ended up using a screwdriver and a pair of pliers (I also used a battery powered sawzaw but that was just because I didn't want to waste time carefully taking out the old handle and I knew my kids would think it was really cool :).

You just take out the old flapper and handle. Follow a few basic steps and pop in the new mechanism and flush button. Read the directions and do a few basic and quick adjustments to make sure it's flushing how you'd like. Wa La!

There is one round button split into two. The top is for a "quick flush" and the bottom is for a "full flush". Simple as that. In the short run I probably used more water because my kids kept testing/playing with the new flusher. But starting tomorrow we are going to really save some solid gallons.

How Much Will I Save?


They don't give specific stats as to how much the quick flush uses vs the full flush. Although like I say a regular toilet uses 1.6 gallons so I would guess the full flush is the same. I would also ballpark that the quick flush is about half that. Which means every time someone in my family uses that bottom compared to the old flusher we are saving about .8 gallons. Think about how many times you toilet gets flushed in a day. That savings is going to add up!

I have a drilled well so for me the big money savings is the savings on my electric bill because my well pump will kick on less often. But also from a planetary standpoint that is quite a bit less water I'm going to be pumping out of the ground each year.

The box claims that the average family of four will save 15,000 gallons per year if they install this on their most used toilet in their house. They also say that is enough water to be equal to stacking water bottles 45 miles high!

New Dual Flush Toilets


This technology is really catching on. Recently I stayed at a Marriott in Baltimore, MD and noticed they toilet was a dual flush. You can also pretty commonly now buy new toilets with dual flush technology as well.  If you are going to by buying a new toilet anyway then you should pull the trigger on the new technology. Your water/electric bill will be lower and you'll be doing your part to save the planet.

Holiday Guilty Pleasure - Christmas Lights

So if you think of almost any Christmas scene in your mind which brings that nice warm fuzzy feeling to your heart and brings you back to your childhood, you will more likely then not notice that there are at least a few Christmas lights. Now being that I'm constantly trying to do what I can to reduce my carbon footprint and save money at the same time, I am constantly walking around the house turning off lights behind my kids. I always make sure to mention that they left the light on and I had to turn it off for them so we weren't wasting power. I have to admit there are occasions where they catch a light I left, which is annoying and makes be proud at the same time.

So I am really conflicted when it comes to Christmas lights. I grew up with them. It was a holiday tradition at our house growing up to string the lights out on the front bushes and on the roof line. I remember how cool I thought it was when technology came around so that we could have the traveling lights along the roof and twinkling ones in the bushes. Cool stuff for sure. The problem is there is no real need for the lights so really I'm just wasting power to put them out there. But there has to be some joy in life right?

The happy medium for now is that I at least make sure that all the lights we are using are LED lights. This saves quite a bit of power and they don't get as hot at the old style Christmas lights so I don't worry about fires either. That's a win win for sure! I also make sure to have them all plugged into a photocell timer as well. No point in having the lights on at 2 in the morning. If someone happens to drive by the house at 2 and misses out on seeing my lights, I'm OK with that. The photocell timer is pretty cool and I picked it up a few years back for like 2 bucks. It has different settings on it, but the one I use turns on the lights when it gets dark and keeps them on for 8 hours. Really simple, and saves me money. I'm sure it's paid for itself by now!

The new things I've heard about but don't have yet is solar Christmas lights. My understanding is that there is a solar panel of some kind that you put on the roof and let it charge the batteries during the day. Then when it gets dark they kick on and run until the battery dies. I'm not sure how long they are able to run and how bright they are but for me the concept at least is the ultimate in guilt free Christmas displays! I mean if its all solar then why not put up as much as you want and run them as much as you want right? Like I say I'm just not sure how well they actually perform. If possible I'll probably buy at least one set of the solar ones this year and see how they go...so I'll report back.

I'll also put a link to all the kinds of products I've mentioned here below.

So I guess I can't always be the power grinch all the time, even though most of the time it's needed so we can save this planet, so go ahead and deck the halls. Just make sure you are at least using LED Christmas Lights!

Electricity Monitor - How to Keep Track and Save

I talk here on Saving Green a lot about how to save electricity (and power in general for that matter). Most of this stuff I talk about is ideas on ways to change your routines and habits in a way that would reduce you usage. This however is a way to track how you are doing and potentially change your usage based on solid stats that relate specifically to you and your home.

I'm talking about an electricity monitor, which is a little gizmo that you plug into your wall and then plug something into it. It will then tell you how much power you are using for that item. The key with these is they show you absolutely how much power you are using for each item you use. So you might not think your TV and all the electronics that go with it are really using that much electricity but when you put your power strip into it you are likely going to be surprised. Might make you think twice about leaving everything plugged in while you are aren't there. Or for that matter you might even watch less TV!

There are many makes of these types of devices these days but one of the first and still most popular is called the Kill A Watt. The idea is that if you know for sure how much each appliance is using for power you can find the really big drawers of power and avoid them. Or in some cases you might even want to get rid of them and replace with new more efficient options. Cost is always a factor but if you find that you are using so much more power then you would with a new one, then sometimes a new appliance will pay for itself in the first year! These are the kind of decisions a Kill A Watt will help you discover and make.

The other effect one of these electricity monitors will have it similar to that of folks who wear a pedometer. They say that people who wear a pedometer that keeps track of how far you walk, tend to walk more in a day, simply because they are conscious of how far they are walking. So they do better simply because they are now keeping track of it.

The next cool step in all this electricity monitoring is going to be down the line when all the appliances we have, have their own IP address. Then we could have an app on our phone that would show how much each item is using, in real time and over time. Once you have real time easy to access feed back that's when you'll see something that really has the power to change the way we use electricity.

Even further down the line is going to be smart appliances that actually talk to the power grid. So in the summer time if it's really hot out and the power grid is getting maxed out, then the grid can talk to your appliances to save power for a while until the load dips and can return to normal. For example you might be running your dryer and the grid is maxed out. The grid will talk to your dryer and tell it to keep running but turn off the heat for a while. If it does this for many houses in the area it can get through the tough stretch and then turn the heat back on. Impressive right? Then next piece of this is when a power plant is maxed out and an auxiliary plant will have to come on line. Sometimes there isn't anything you can do to avoid this. However it is most wasteful when the auxiliary plant is just barely needed. Again the same theory could be put in place. Turn off items in households that aren't mission critical at the moment and get through the surge and avoid having to do anything with the auxiliary plant at all! Now that is Green!

***UPDATE***

While doing a little research about electricity monitoring I came across this little gem! It is similar in theory to the Kill A Watt but it monitors the power your whole house is using, IN REAL TIME! It looks like you don't need any special electrician skills. Just basic clips at your power box that anyone can clip on. Then it transmits to a base station you can keep in a convenient location. I am definitely getting one of these babys!!!

Teaching Kids to Save Energy

I'm sure you all remember you old mad standing in the door you just walked out of saying something like, "Close the door! I'm not paying to cool the whole neighborhood!". What's funny about that whole statement is that back in the day when you father was yelling that at you electricity was very cheap. Even if you account for thing being cheaper back then electricity was still very cheap. You could run all the lights in your house for the whole month and still only owe a couple bucks.

These days there is really two facets to teachings kids about saving energy. One there is the fact that you want to pay less for your monthly utility bills. Two there is the global warming angle to teach them about as well.

Paying Less For your Monthly Utilities


Since your kids don't pay the bills they don't really care if they use a little more electricity. If you catch them young in life you can hopefully instill that being wasteful is bad, but that is the best you are really going to do until they have a place of thier own. My kids are still young and are in the range where I can get their attention by teaching that wasting is bad. But as they get older I'm thinking about reducing their allowance based on how many kilowatts we use on each month. I haven't decided what the exact parameters are going to be but it'll be something basic like this. There will be a baseline weekly allowance, let's say ten bucks. I'll then look at the bill and decided where we should be at for monthly usage. If that's how much we use for a give month then each week of the following month they'll get their ten bucks. If we use less then that then they could each a bonus up to say $12 bucks. If we use more then that it'll either cut back to $7.50, or if it's really bad then it could be $5. I'll lay out all the rules at the beginning and even show them how to read the meter so they can check where they are at mid month. It'll save me money, and they'll learn the value of a dollar at the same time. Especially for something so tough as a utility bill that they aren't going to have to pay.

Dealing with Global Warming with Kids


They are aspect to teaching kids about saving energy is the effect of their actions on global warming. We always talk about doing the right thing so that out kids will inherit a clean Earth. But this is even more direct because it's what the kids themselves are going to be doing to affect the kind of world they are going to live in.

So I would talk to the kids about all the effects that are all ready happening. Melting glaciers, change of habitats, loss of land, stronger hurricanes, moving weather patterns, etc. Then you can talk about how much the decisions they make with energy effect global warming. You can even do the math. So if you see them leave a light in their room on all day while they are at school, then you can do the math and figure out exactly how much carbon they caused to be released into the atmosphere today. Then use the method above to potentially cut into their allowance. That one two punch should really open their eyes!

Why Should We Save Electricity?

For many people the reason they try to save electricity is to save money on their power bills. This makes total sense and it's what should be happening. Sure we'd all like to save the planet if we can, but really for the day to day people who are stressed and working for a living they are driven by money. They want to either make more or spend less. This is how our economy works and it's how we work. So saving money is a really good reason to trigger someone to turn off a light, or try to find more efficient appliances, or any other host of ways to try to save electricity. 

Environmental Reasons to Save Electricity


So let's say you have tons of money and you don't really care how much you electric bill is. Why not just leave on all the lights and turn the air conditioner way up and juts go crazy. Well the problem with that is that most of the power plants here in the US (and around the world for that matter) burn some kind of fossil fuel to create that electricity you are wasting. So sure you aren't actually burning the fuel that is creating the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and creating more global warming, but really aren't you? I mean if you didn't use that much electricity then less would have had to be created and there for less fuel burned, so really you are indeed causing global warming.

Now I know there are going to be people that write in and say yes but the power plants aren't on a one watt to one unit of fuel basis. And you are right. Just because specifically you left that light on all night in the basement doesn't mean that someone at the local power plant is going to get a report and have to turn up the process. But there is a point where a power plant hits a level where either they turn up the dial, or more likely they call and turn on the auxiliary plant to deal with the additional demand.

Loss of Electricity Due to Friction in the Power Lines


Not only would be you wasting power in the above scenario but even though you don't know it you are wasting more then you actually use. Actually all of us are using more then we are actually registering at the meter. This is because electricity has to flow through power lines to get from the power plant where it's created to our house. This about the power lines in your area during winter. Remember all those birds that cluster on the power lines? Why do they do that? It's because the lines are warm. And why are the warm you ask? It's because of the friction of the electricity flowing through the power lines. As those electrons flow they cause friction with the molecules of the power line itself. Friction causes heat. There is a reduction of the amount of electricity created compared to what is delivery to homes because a percentage is lost as heat energy along the way.

It is a good amount lost to heat too. As a percentage it's about a high single digit. That might not sounds like a lot but think of all the electricity that is used around the world in a day. Imagine if that was 7% less? Think of all the fuel that wouldn't have to be spent if we didn't have to create 7% of the electricity anymore! That would make a big dent in global warming right there!

Solar Roof Shingles in the US

I've yet to jump into the solar panels on the roof idea but I am very eager. I have been hesitant for a couple of reasons. One has been the initial cost to buy and install and wire the panels. The other is that from everything I read, unless you get some really solid governmental subsidies, then the life span of the panels (25ish years) aren't long enough to repay for themselves in electrical savings. This blog is called Saving Green for a reason. Yes I am all about the environment and I want to save the planet for sure, but I want to do it in a way that will save people money too. Otherwise I believe the masses just won't do it.

So one other option that I've really been eyeing for quite a while from a far is solar roof shingles. These are roof shingles similar to asphalt shingles commonly used. However these shingles has solar panel on top of them and wires run from them into your attic and eventually wire into the grid to save you money on your power bill. I really just think this is a great idea.

Well I noticed on a blog today that they are going to be come largely available in the US for the first time in 2012. They are going to roll them out in Colorado with many more states coming by the end of 2012. Check out some of the details here.

Apparently these shingles' solar panels are made of a less efficient type of solar panel without the silicone. The bad news is they are less efficient but the good news is that they are much more durable. So they can take the beating of being walked on and a hail storm now and again. And since you are going to cover your entire roof edge to edge with them then you are still going to get a good amount of electricity from them.

One nice side effect is that since these panels are soaking up the sunlight they are also keeping that heat from transferring to the roof below them. So you are going to use less power to cool your house anyway.

In the long run I'm not sure that these shingles will become more widely used then regular panels but I really think they have the cool factor down! I did see someone mention that because each shingles is it's own panel then there are obviously going to be a lot of electrical connections on your roof. That alone is fine but the problem is there is a high change of needing lots of maintenance as those connections begin to fail with time.

Over all I think solar of any form is a great idea and I really want to push in that direction myself. In the next couple years I hope to buy the house that I'll retire in, and hope that the cost of solar panels/shingles will have come down to a point where it makes financial sense as well as green sense too!

10 Ways To Go Green

Go Green Images

You hear about it all the time these days, which is a great thing. Being Green, Going Green, Green Products, etc. Anyone that had put any real and objective thought into it it, knows that the Earth is in trouble and being green is the way that we are going to save it! So if anyone asks you why to go green, tell them it's to save the Earth from the crumbling spiral that it's now in which is caused by man's reckless actions.




Below are 10 easy ways to go green:

1. Change out your traditional incandescent light bulbs for CFL's. This is a really easy one, and yes CFL's are more expensive then incandescent but you are indeed going to save in the long run. Since CFL's are more expensive I suggest that you just buy them as you existing incandescent bulbs burn out. Then it's only a couple bucks more once in a while, and each of the new CFL's will pay for themselves over their life, and reduced power consumption.

2. Buy a new refridgeration. This of course is going to be a more expensive of the ways to go green at home. This trick is that your refrigerator is the appliance that used the more electricity in your home. It takes a good amount of energy to make it that cold and it is ALWAYS on. On average refrigerators you buy today at about twice as efficient compared to those from just 10 years go, because of new technology. This means you can cut in half the electricity you are going to use on the appliance that used the more electricity. Not bad!

3. Take shorter showers. Now I'm not saying skip showers...that would stink! :-) But think about how long you spend in the shower each day. Could you cut that by one minute? I would guess anyone would be able to cut their shower by one minute if they put their mind to it. There is a cost and power consumption associated with getting water to flow out of your shower head. There is an ever bigger cost and power consumption associated with making that water hot! So you and everyone in your family cut the shower by one minute and see the savings add up.

4. Turn off the water while your are brushing your teeth. I am always amazed at the number of folks that leave the water running while they are brushing their teeth. I know it's a matter of habit, but you need to change your habit! I mean are you worried there their may arise an emergency where you have to rinse your brush in an instant or your hair will catch on fire?! Turn it off and you'll make the writer of this go green blog very happy!

5. Unplug your phone charge when not in use. Did you know that your phone charger draws a little bit of power when it's plugged in and not attached to and charging your phone? This is one of the go green facts that many people have never heard of this but it's true. It is a relatively small amount of power but still why pay for a little bit of power for anything if you aren't using it at all?!

6. Insulation. Whether you are heating or cooling your house insulating it to seal out air leaks will make a big difference in the amount of energy you use. This can mean laying more insulation in your attic to reduce the escaping of heat through the roof, or sealing up air leaks around windows and doors. Removing even a small air leak can make a big difference in your energy bill. This is an example of the go green projects that will easily pay for themselves.

7. Buy go green energy. Many power companies now offer green energy options. Basically you can option pay a small amount more to be supplied with only electricity from green energy sources like wind turbines and solar arrays. Yes the name of this blog is Saving Green, not Spending Green, but sometimes when it's a very small amount of money, it makes sense to spend a little to save the Earth.

8. Ceiling Fans. When ever you can use a fan to cool yourself off instead of air conditioning you are going to save a large amount of energy. If you don't have a ceiling fan above your bed you would be really surprised to see how much cooler a fan makes you. Many hot nights I can turn off the AC units and just run the fan when I got to bed. It makes for a large savings on my electric bill in the summer months.

9. Power settings on your computer/laptop. Monitors tend to use quite a bit of electricity, as does your CPU. All computer operating systems today offer power setting options where you can choose the amount of idle time before you computer will turn off the monitor, sleep, hibernate, etc. You know best how you use your computer but more often then not, if you are idle for more then 2 mins you can turn off your monitor. Then if you are idle for more then ten mins you might as well have you computer go to sleep because you are obviously busy doing something else. Adjust these settings to the lowest possible time frames that doesn't cause major inconveniences.

10. Power strips. Any piece of electronic equipment that responds to a remote control is going to draw some power even when it's off. This is because it needs some power to operate basically waiting for you to ask it to turn on. If you plug in your TV, DVD, Cable Box, and all other AV components, into a power strip, you can turn them all off quickly and easily when you aren't using them. This will save power from going to all those components all day long while you are at work, and all night long when you are in bed.

These are just a few power savings options that will help you be green. There are tons of others. Basically think about how you are using power on a day to day basis and always be thinking of how you can reduce it. Let me know if you can think of other great way to save power, and I'll continue to publish top ten lists with other great ideas.