The Creeping Disaster

Today's title comes straight from a NY Times post about the disaster of drought and permanent "aridification" or areas.

Droughts come and go, but population increase, redistribution of population, and other factors create increasing pressure on water supplies. 

Today most parts of the US and Europe can withstand droughts - even severe droughts.  Rationing occurs, our landscape plants may suffer and die, and we go without washing our cars.   But much deeper impacts are already being felt.

In the southwest USA, massive fissures open up due to depleted ground water supplies leading to ground settling (in some cases, damaging homes and other buildings).  Rivers that once flowed, supporting farming,  critical wildlife habitat and migration corridors, no longer flow.  Wildfires have become more massive due in part to water policy issues.  Droughts (and increased demand from growing populations) constantly cause food prices to move upward (recall the huge impact of the Russian drought on global wheat prices last year).  And this is just the start give the population stresses and natural weather cycles.

Save Water Today

Fortunately, there are many ways we can save water with no impact to our quality of life.  Unfortunately, these methods are largely ignored.  Like so often in this country, it seems clear that it will take an emergency before serious consideration of water policy occurs.

Today I hope you will take the bull by the horns and be proactive in addressing this issue.  I'm going to offer a number of simple steps that can reduce your water usage.  And I also hope that you will share this article with those that you know to help raise awareness.

What are some examples of ways water consumption can be reduced?  Slightly less than 70% of our water use is for agriculture, and largely overlooked flood irrigation is often much more efficient than traditional overhead watering.  At home, dual flush toilets, common in Europe, are almost non-existent in the USA.  Even "low-flow" showerheads can be further reduced to 1.5 GPM with minimal impact.  Choosing drought tolerant native landscape plants and using directed drip irrigation can save hundreds of gallons.  Rainwater can be harvested by connecting simple collection barrels to downspouts.

When you purchase your next washing machine, get a high efficiency model.  This could save a family of four 50 to even 100 gallons per month!  Make sure you run your dishwasher on the shortest setting possible - why run the "pots and pans" cycle when your dishes only had a few crumbs?

Home Power Saver has had a number of articles going in to more detail on saving water.  Please check them out:

http://www.homepowersaver.net/search/label/Water

Take the bull by the horns, and do your part today!

How One Bad Driving Habit Can Cost You $600 A Year

I drive on a divided highway most of my way to work. It is about a 22 mile drive one-way, with a speed limit ranging from 55 mph to 65 mph for most of it.

I’ve always been surprised at the number of speeders and dangerous weavers on this road, and I often have to try very hard to not take it personally when other drivers jeopardize my safety. I know, it is easy to get behind the wheel and only think of yourself – i.e. “I have to be to work by 8:00 AM”, or “I hate waiting for traffic”, etc.

But not only is this driving dangerous, it is extremely wasteful. 

I think most people know that jack-rabbit starts are terrible for fuel efficiency. But the one area that people don’t often think about is how speeding impacts fuel performance.  In fact, it can cost you $400 to $600 in an average car, and much more if you drive a truck or SUV!

Six Ways To Reduce Your Outdoor Water Consumption

Last week we took a look at seven ways to reduce your water consumption indoors - by as much as 5000 gallons a month! And the great thing about reducing indoor water use is that you also reduce your water heating costs.

Today, we'll move outside, and look at ways to further reduce your water 'footprint'. As you might expect, most of the savings revolve around your landscape and how you water - but you might be surprised at some of the ways you can save!

Seven Ways To Reduce Your Water Bill – Indoor Edition

As Spring approaches, thoughts turn to making your landscape look great – the manicured lawn, the well-watered shrubs, and healthy trees. For those in many locations around the USA, it also signals the time of year for higher water bills.

Here in the western USA, it is not uncommon to see water bills move from $50 to $100 during peak months. And these rates are only going to increase as population increases demand, water rights battles come to a head, and weather becomes more variable.

What can you do about this? This week we’ll look at some things you can do indoors to save. Follow these seven steps and you’ll save anywhere from 2000 to 5000 gallons per month - and reduce your water heating costs, too!

And check back next week for tips on reducing water usage outdoors.

Special Report: How Unrest in Egypt Will Affect Gasoline Prices

There has been a lot of speculation as to how the unrest in Egypt may impact gasoline prices here in the USA.

But is Egypt really that important to world oil supplies? The layman thinks of the middle east as one giant oil field, so it is easy to make hyperbolic statements about the immediate future for oil. However, the reality is that Egypt doesn’t produce much oil, and is a net importer.

Then why have oil prices spiked?  There are valid concerns, and the reasons may surprise you.

Efficient Cooking

I spend a lot of time talking about products you can buy to help you reduce your energy bills, but there are also plenty of other ways in which you can reduce your energy consumption without spending anything.  After all, when money is tight can we all really afford to be replacing light bulbs, adding insulation, and buying new appliances? (Check out the Free Savings category on this site for more tips to save energy without spending a dime).

Cooking is one area where a number of common sense and a few surprising tips can save you a couple of dollars each month. 

How To Reduce Your Electric Bill (or Why Is My Bill So High?)

The entire purpose of Home Power Saver is to help readers reduce their electric, gas, and water bills. We do this by discussing changes in behavior, simple energy saving products, and improvement projects that most readers should be able to do.

Thus far I've looked at many specific areas where you can save energy and reduce your electric bills, but I have yet to take a holistic view of why a bill is what it is.

That all changes today, where I will dissect the average bill for an average family in the USA, and look at the prime target areas where the most savings may be obtained.

The Eleven Habits of Highly Efficient People (Energy Efficient, that is).

Since the introduction of Home Power Saver, we’ve spent a lot of time talking about making your home more energy efficient through simple projects and innovative products. However, some of your biggest savings can be gained from simple habit changes. Following the tips below, you may save $250 or more per year, without spending a dime.

I’ve tried to come up with some simple tips and habits that will save you energy and save you money. Many of these are common sense, and you’ve likely seen them before. Hopefully a few are new to you!

Are Energy Savings Going Up In Smoke?

Fireplaces and wood burning stoves add great ambiance, are a design focal point, and can help create wonderful family memories.  However, they can also be a source of drafts and literally suck the warm air out of your living space.  After all, they are a gigantic hole in your house. And while cool drafts are more noticeable, any source of air infiltration is also a problem during warm weather, forcing your cooled air right out of your home.

In fact, depending on your gas and electric costs, a typical fireplace may be costing you as much as $100 a year.

To make maters worse, fireplaces are actually inefficient heaters as compared to forced air systems.  Even when they are creating heat, they are drawing inside air as an oxygen source.  But few of us would trade the other tangible benefits of fireplaces for these reasons.

So how do you ensure that your fireplace is not a source of air infiltration and improve its efficiency to reduce your energy bills?  Follow these tips and check out these products designed to help.

Door Thresholds - What You Can't See Loses Money

I posted a few weeks back about a simple product that can be installed in 30 seconds or less that will give you a nice tightly sealed door.  The ratcheting strike plate is wonderfully simple and useful, but it is only part of the picture when it comes to sealing your door.

The biggest gap is often under the door, along the door's threshold.  The threshold often doesn't seal tightly with the bottom of the door, creating a gap for air infiltration as well as insect infiltration.

But never fear - the solution may be another 30 second fix.

How A Simple Change to My Site Design Saves You Energy

Black Hole

There is an interesting posting that I stumbled across recently which posed the question of 'what if all of the most popular web sites used a black background instead of a white background'?

9 Easy Home Maintenance Chores You Should Not Skip

It is easy to get caught up in daily life and forget (or consciously put off) simple home maintenance chores.  However, if you consider that putting off some of these chores may be costing you money, perhaps your sense of urgency will rise a bit.

Today we’ll talk about a few simple maintenance steps that most of us know we should be doing, but we often forget.  Consider this a ‘nudge’ to action.

Make A Kilowatt-Hour Make Cents

I think most people are aware the primary unit of power is the watt. Even the non-scientifically inclined know that many light bulbs are rated in watts, or at the very least that Marty McFly needed 1.21 gigawatts of power to get back home.

Then why is it that electric companies charge based on kilowatt-hours?  And how can this knowledge be used to reduce your electric bill?

First of all, a watt is actually a very small unit of power in the grand scheme. As we've already shown, a single computer system can use 250 watts or more power. Now consider a typical household with multiple TV's, computers, air conditioning units, lights, clock radios, cell phones charging, clothes dryers, ovens, etc all operating. At any given time well over a thousand watts may be used. Kilo means 1000, so measuring household and commercial power in kilowatts makes sense.

OK, I Understand Kilo...but why Hours?

If I turn on every light in my house for 20 minutes, should I be charged the same amount of money by the electric company as someone running every light in their house for 24 hours a day? Obviously, the answer is no.

Four Ways to Reduce Computing Cost by $100 or More A Year

Computers are one of the larger power drains in many homes. To demonstrate this point, I used my Kill A Watt and measured my HP Pavilion Media Center, with all of the peripherals connected (printer, external hard drive, monitor) in a number of scenarios. When everything was all "fired up" and running, I was using 290 watts!

If I left everything running but wasn't actively working, power consumption dropped to 220 watts. Let's say I'm lazy and I happen to leave the computer on all day while I'm sleeping and at work (about 18 hours). Using the Home Power Saver Calculator, 18 hours of 220 watt consumption equates to $179 wasted every year (my electric rate is 12.5 cents/KwH).

Solution #1: Be Lazy

The obvious solution is Don't Be Lazy and turn things off when you are done. However, you can actually be lazy and still save power.