Last night my former extension unit met at the Topeka Public Library where a speaker from Weststar energy gave an excellent presentation on how to save on the electric bill.
Most know the new energy saving light bulbs are more efficient. Here is an interesting fact: if everyone would replace their present light bulbs with the energy savings bulbs, we would save about $600 million in annual energy costs. Each bulb saves about $6 a year in energy costs. LED light bulbs are even more of a savings and I noticed today they are available at Sams. They are expensive right now, but Laura, the Weststar speaker said the price should come down. It will take a while for us to need new bulbs as we have converted most and they should last a while.
Appliances are 20% of our energy consumption. We can save 10% a year if the dishwasher is set on air dry. Keep filters clean, etc.
I was especially interested in power consumption in electronics. Interestingly the DVR uses the most power. Again, she recommends turning off, although, the DVR continues to record. Dan suggested we need to stop recording programs we never watch.
Computer--the same. For the energy savings, turn it off at night. I will need to change the program to have the virus scan run during the day instead of middle of the night.
She recommends the new digital furnace/air conditioning thermostats that program the furnace for temperature adjustments when away from home. It should be set at 78-80 summer and 68 winter. And, there is a 3-5% savings for each degree adjustment.
There is a meter on the market that tells how much an appliance, or anything plugged in uses in energy. I really liked that idea. It would be easy to see which old appliances need to be replaced. However, they cost around $30.
The rumor was that regular 100 watt bulbs would not be available after January 2013. In fact, the bill that was before the legislature was defeated. Laura expects regular light bulbs to eventually be totally off the market except for specialty type bulbs.
Well, I’m on a mission to see if I can see any reduction on our bill by implementing some of the suggestions. I’ll let you know.
2 comments:
We changed about 95% of the light bulbs then read that the cost of disposing of them safely is very high and that a lot of pollution is being caused by people just putting them in the garbage. Seems one just cannot win sometimes.
OW, Laura did address the disposal of the new bulbs. Most Lowes and Home Depot stores have recycle boxes for the bulbs. Also, she said the danger of the bulbs is overblown. Perhaps air the area where one breaks, but it is certainly not lethal as some have reported.
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