Good old conservation: easiest way to reduce energy bills

Solar panels and windmills are cool and all, but did you know that you can make a huge difference by just switching to compact flourescent bulbs and putting your electronics behind surge protectors and turning them off when you aren’t using them?

This Christian Science Monitor article on conservation describes some of the ways where you can get the biggest energy savings for the least amount of money or effort.

Mr. Janke had hit on what experts say is perhaps the easiest and most cost-effective place to reduce one’s energy consumption: home.

Moving closer to public transportation or riding a bike instead of driving is not an option for many, but changing incandescent bulbs for fluorescent and buying more efficient appliances is not only possible, it quickly pays for itself with savings.

In the end, not-very-glamorous changes like these as well as obsessively sealing and insulating your home will save more than, in the words of one expert, “greenie weenie” additions like green roofs and solar panels. Twenty-two percent of all energy in the United States is used for residential purposes. (Transportation accounts for 28 percent.) And although residences consume only about two-fifths of this as electricity, because electrical generation is inherently inefficient, it accounts for 71 percent of household emissions. A home’s electrical use may be responsible for more CO2 emissions than the two cars in the driveway. Ultimately, changes made at home may be the quickest, cheapest, and easiest way to reduce one’s carbon footprint.

Give it a try!

I’ve switched out every one of my bulbs at home that isn’t on a dimmer to compact flourescent. And I’m eyeing a tankless waterheater when mine wears out.

Any other good stories out there for saving energy at home?