How do you conserve energy?

[DanCa]

I just finished watching the HBO special too hot not handle and without spoilling anything it scared the hell out of me. I was wondering what are some of the things that you do to conserve energy. I for one am no longer going to post while I have the tv running. Secondly I already take public transportation everywhere I go. So I was wondering what else can be done to cut back personal energy use? Any ideas or suggestions?

[DS1]

1. I drive slower

but what I really need to do is cut down on the amount of rubbage I'm responsible for. Yes, I know that sentence is open for misinterpretation

[NYC]

2. I walk,

but that's not an option for everyone. I don't turn on lightbulbs unless I absolutely need them. I have fluorescent bulbs, but I'm not sure I'm in favor of that. I don't watch television, except on rare occasions. (I keep it in the closet.)

Recycle things. If you can't give them away, or alter them for a different use, give them to a thrift shop.

[Flabbergasted]

3. Spread Bird Flu.....

I'm joking!

[BrklynLiberal]

4. I buy those low energy light bulbs that last 100 years.

In the Winter I keep my thermostat in the 60's and wear sweaters and socks all the time.
I do not use air conditioners, but I live right near the ocean so I am lucky that I usually have breezes.

[Mr_Spock]

8. I bought one of those that lasted a week

I was pissed - they're not exactly cheap!

Good suggestion though - the compact fluorescent use a LOT less energy.

Saves you money eventually - though they are really expensive without discounts - though most states offer discounts.

[BrklynLiberal]

11. You should have brought it back to where you bought it!!!

Mine have lasted forever.

[Mr_Spock]

23. Most of them work fine, I got a defective one

I think it was part of a two-pack. I'm sure I should have returned it, though there are no returns on electrical items at Home Despot, so maybe I had no recourse...

[Mr_Spock]

5. Use programmable thermostats! Keep lights off not being used.

Run hot water heater at a lower temperature.

Keep thermostat at cooler temperature.

Insulation.

Run refrigerator at a higher temperature.

Don't gun the engine in the car - cruise at a steady speed.

[TahitiNut]

6. In a La-Z-Boy.

:silly: :dunce:

[BrklynLiberal]

7. That is pretty damn funny.

[dipsydoodle]

9. My mother is 82

and she's always been like that - swtiches lights off when she leaves rooms. I guess it's a hangover from the austerity which followed WW2 which some of us would only remember as children. It's certainly not that she's hard up - just force of habit. Drives me crackers sometimes when I'm visiting but with increased energy costs I can now finally see the sense in it.

[stillcool]

10. Live simply so others may simply live...

http://www.energybulletin.net/14507.html

[babylonsister]

12. Sealed up the house tighter, bought a gas dryer and a new frig

for energy efficiency. Also changed energy companies to cheaper rates. All that is selfish, but I figure if I save $ on bills, I'm not using as much energy.

[DanCa]

13. A shower with pretty women?

Man I gotta lay off late night show time. :evilgrin:

[Ian David]

14. Insulate your atic...

...with all those bulletproof vests our troops are being forced to send home.

Dragonskin is not only an excellent insulator, it also deflects small micro-meteorites.

[BrklynLiberal]

15. There is a Frugal and Energy Efficient Living Group

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=353

[oneold1-4u]

29. Check out your "oldest friends"

Mother Earth Mag is a very good source of hundreds of ideas applicable today.
Once in Scotland, a small dairy operated totally self sufficient off grid. Heat and methane were both generated from manure of livestock. Water lines, through the compost, heated house and barn and all hot water for cleaning same and cows. The methane operated their vehicles, pumps, and generators for what electricity they used.
If only one tenth of the daily wasted sources of energy were being used, no one would be concerned about petroleum fuels or the middle east!
Coal and natural gas are the most common sources of easily accessed energy and should have been sourced scientifically many years ago to not be contaminate.
Hydro power is still being used, but every small stream current will turn a turbine!
Every created source of power is a source of power and 99.9% is then totally wasted!
No one wants to hear about perpetual energy because it soon becomes "free"!

[cspanlovr]

16. I put up two clotheslines in my backyard.

Its really very pleasant to hang wash. Who'd a thunk it?

[Warpy]

17. I use fluorescent bulbs wherever they fit

and incandescent bulbs as sparingly as possible. I use task lighting rather than trying to flood a whole room. I've replaced CRTs with LCDs. My second car is an electric moped. My main car is a 4 cylinder econobox. I do my own cooking and avoid processed foods except for obvious things like soy sauce and peanut butter. My cooling is evaporative (only in the desert) not refrigerated, something that adds $15 to my electric bill in the hottest part of the summer. I supplement my wheezing 1952 gas floor furnace with a woodstove and go through about a cord a year. My dishwasher is at the end of my arms. My washer has a water level setting and I'm fanatical about using it. I use a toaster oven instead of the oven in my stove for anything that will fit. I live on iced tea and let the sun brew it for me. I stack pots on the stove with flat lids between them when something needs cooking and something else only needs warming.

One of my summer projects will be to set up solar dyepots. Not only will it help with the energy bill & keep the kitchen cooler, a lot of dyestuffs STINK. It'll help with that, too.

I spin my own yarn and knit my own sweaters, something else that helps with the heating bill.

[ThomWV]

18. Recently Retired - Energy Use Way Down

For the first thing I'm not hitting the highway for 40 miles round trip every day. In fact we are purposfully driving a lot less these days and we use the vehicle which is most appropriate to the trip too. That is to say no one just jumps in the truck to hop to town for some little thing. We let the little things pile up and then on the one trip we make if the truck is needed to haul then it gets used and if not one of the cars will be used - the smallest one suitable to the task.

At home we just finished a winter in which we used the least amount of heating oil ever in our 30 years in this house. We have used almost exactly 200 gallons, which is about half of what a good year should have used. This past winter we had plenty of firewood for a change because I had the time to cut it.

Screw work. I wish I had quit earlier.

[thereismore]

19. I vanpool to work, 30 miles one way. nt

[BrklynLiberal]

20. Online compact fluorescent info and purchasing

http://www.servicelighting.com/library/compact_fluorescent_light_bulbs.cfm

[FloridaPat]

21. I moved to Florida. Cut my heating bills way down. I don't use the

air conditioning hardly at all.

[oneold1-4u]

22. Simply forever!

"ENERGY CANNOT BE DESTROYED, ONLY WASTED" -AI-
Start with one simplest; light a birthday candle and watch it turn a small fan blade with it's heat!
Candle power is the measured energy of light, and thermal is the power of heat. That single combination is the source of the earth itself, without which the world could not exist. It is the greatest "source" and the greatest waste. Science is very slow to try to understand simplicity!

[LiberalEsto]

24. Compact fluorescent light bulbs

They used to be so expensive that I would wait and buy one every payday, or every other payday, until the entire house had them. And dimmers for the light fixtures that weren't suitable for compact fluorescent bulbs.

We buy only Energy-Star appliances when the old ones die.

We added lots of extra attic insulation last fall.

I caulked all the windows to seal out drafts.

Solar walkway lights.

We drive small, relatively efficient Toyotas.

We use a ceiling fan and open windows to avoid air conditioning until it gets to around 85 degrees.

[sweetheart]

25. i plan to die and rot

away someday.

This will save a lot.

Until then, i fart occasionally, and it helps keep the bed warm,
much to the chagrin of my less energy conscious SO. ;-)

[rucky]

26. Drinking water instead of running the A/C right now. n/t

[brmdp3123]

27. Heat with wood...

Never turn the furnace on at all.

[williesgirl]

28. Combine 2 households' laundry into 1 - no longer leave computer running

unless I'm actually using it - increased tire pressure to maximum recommended by manufacturer - keep windows open on hot days even though I have asthma and the pollen is getting to me - don't cut grass as often as I'd like at my home or my daughter's (huge yards require riding mower) - no lights on anywhere in home unless I walk in the room for something (used to leave "pretty'light on in living room etc) - heat doesn't go on even on damp nights unless it's below 40 degrees - lowered wattage on all light bulbs, even turned out my security lights outside since they're huge (have a great security system though) - try harder not to "see what's in the frig 10 times a day" like something great is going to miraculously appear. Also trying to better coordinate my daughter's and my doctors appointments to same days (have to drive 70 miles one-way to doctor)

[WePurrsevere]

30. Save Mother Earth & Save Money... Works for us & has for years. :-)

With our car we...
Remember the old adage, "Use your head, save your feet" and transfer that philosophy to our car usage.
Use cruise control whenever practical.
Keep our tire pressure correct.
It's actually more energy efficient in newer cars to use the AC (if you have it) then have our windows down (it creates drag).
Don't use our car as a storage unit unless we have to for some reason... extra weight uses extra fuel.
Keep our car tuned up.
Plan to invest in a KN air filter. We've had them in previous cars and found they work well.

In our home we...
use compact fluorescents where ever possible
turn off lights, etc when we're not in a room
keep the thermostat down in the Winter and up in the Summer in most of the house and warm/cool the rooms where we are a bit more (with our disabilities we can't be too cold or too hot for too long or we have increase in symptoms)
Use passive methods to help cool and warm the house and are looking into geo-thermal
Keep the water heater temp turned down.. dh is installing insulation and a couple of other tricks (I think he said heat sinks?) this summer to help more.
Use the microwave over the oven/stove when possible.. especially in the summer... in the winter when we use the stove we prop it open after turning it off so the extra heat adds a bit of warmth to the house.
Use the clothes line in the summer and use the heat from the dryer to help heat/humidify our home in the winter.
Adding insulation/caulking to this "new to us" old house (this is a BIG one for "bang for the buck")... one of the most often missed places for insulation is around the foundation and house sill.
We have an old oil/wood furnace and if we don't pick up enough e-heat panels we'll be buying a new and more efficient "gun" which will save us quite a bit when we need to use oil (we don't use wood at night or when we're going out).
Keep the freezer packed as full as possible.
will be either installing glass doors to the fireplace or adding an insert to make it more efficient
Looking into using this paint additive that adds a bit of insulation.
Shower together often. :D

In our garden/yard we...
mulch... this cuts down on water usage
let the grass grow a bit before mowing and don't scalp it to low.. that's not healthy for the grass and you'll need more water to keep it green
Planting trees... deciduous on the south side to help shade in the Summer, let sun through in the Winter

We also reuse and recycle as much as possible. B-)

My (retired due to disabilty) husband is always researching/trying new and better ways to save and create energy efficiently and in an earth friendly manner. That old joke about engineers and hell would be air conditioned is oh so very true with my beloved. :D