Comments on: Time for a Energy Diet

By: Broke in America

Broke in America — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 19:01:25 +0000

I keep my programmable thermostat at 72 Fahrenheit when the humans are gone, 74 when the humans are awake, and 72 overnight. However, it is hard to leave one

By: ThiNg

ThiNg — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:33:36 +0000

Just a quick add-on. You have to be careful about directly cutting the power to certain items. If you own a projection TV, like my 52 inch Sony Grand Vega, when you turn off the power from the remote, the fan stays on for a couple of minutes to cool the lamps. Cutting the power directly could cause your lamp to prematurely burn out – an expensive boo boo to say the least.

Most items that need to be left on will be pretty obvious – they will continue to whir and make noises or beeps when turned off. Then a couple of seconds or minutes later they will go quiet. Then you can kill the power at the outlet!

By: Benjamin

Benjamin — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 02:51:12 +0000

Great Article!

Kill A Watts are great, my buddy and I recently did an “audit” of his house and realized that a stereo that he had plugged into an outlet in his basement (that he realized) was costing him over $3 a month in passive energy use!

Also, that is a great suggestion about the wasteful use of holiday lighting decorations!

By: April

April — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:02:49 +0000

Some old systems with steam radiators don’t have a thermostat. I once lived in such a place. I had on and off. I finally figured out that was why a bunch of places in the neighborhood had windows open in winter. We turned the steam on, then opened various windows to get the right balance.

By: Joan

Joan — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:14:35 +0000

“If you

By: kerry

kerry — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 16:34:40 +0000

@ Julie: that’s an interesting idea, but are you using a tankless heater? I’m not sure my time management skills are up to the task of remembering the water heater before a shower (a mistake you’d only want to make once )

By: Julie

Julie — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 15:12:23 +0000

I only turn on my hot water heater when I am going to take a shower or use the dishwasher. I have saved a fortune over the past 31 years that I have been doing this.