Going on an Energy Diet

Of all the diets that one can go on, an energy diet has got to be among the easiest things to do. There are many low hanging fruit in every household, which will bring energy savings and the shedding of carbon pounds from your life. I know I'm a little bit of a zealot, but I actually look forward to seeing my electric bill every month. Why? Because I am so thrilled to see how little electricity my household uses compared to years past.

Not too long ago, my house of six people was pretty average in Maryland. We used about 1,000 KwH a month of electricity. In Summer, we would hit 1,400 or so, and in Winter, we'd drop to 600 or so. This Summer, in May, June, and July, we've been averaging 650 KwH a month! I'm not saying this to brag so much as to let you know how easy it is to go on an energy diet. Most importantly, you can do this without any loss of quality of life.

In my house, we've made investments over the years in insulation, air sealing, and energy star windows. When we've had to replace an appliance, we've purchased the most energy efficient one we could find (within our budget). We use CFL's and got rid of energy hogging halogen lights.

One of the best investments was a $45 programmable thermostat. By simply following the Energy Star guidelines, I knocked 3-5% off my energy use. Going beyond those settings (which I did), knocked off another few percent.

By doing all these great energy efficiency measures, I could now go solar and have the solar array produce 60%-80% of my Summer power. That's huge!

The point is that going on an Energy Diet is simple to do and should not be put off until tomorrow. Not sure how to get started? We at Clean Currents are proud to have partnered with ecobeco to provide Energy Efficiency and Green Energy Assesments for low cost. Have the folks from ecobeco come to your house and you'll find out how to get started on your Energy Diet today.