Ever been lost by reading one of my posts before? Ha. Buckle your seatbelt.
I use nothing by compact fluorescent or LED lighting, all of my windows are dual-glazed and tinted with solar-rejecting film, I have insulated shades on the inside of every window, the South and West windows have fabric awnings over them, the East windows have shade-cloth screens, I have the most efficient whole-house fan available, and I use in the evenings instead of the AC, I have ceiling fans in all rooms that are most used, my water heater has no pilot light, I charge my phones and radios on solar power, I have a solar-powered attic fan and lights, my computer runs off a UPS that is solar powered, I drive an electric car, and have another on order, my biggest electricity use is between the hours of midnight and 7am, I am building a 2.2kw PV array to send some power BACK to the gid during peak times, I combine showers with my wife
, I have a hot water-circulating pump, all powered devices are effectively unplugged from power when "off" (not just left in plugged-in "standby" mode), I have a rechargeable lawn mower and edger, I walk to places within a mile, I ride my bicycle to places within five, I carpool, I drive a 2001 Honda Civic when I need more range than my EV can provide, I recharge and recycle batteries, our household leaves very little "garbage" on the curb on pickup day, I rely on compost for decomposables, I open all windows at night for convective cooling, and close them all before the outside temp climbs higher than the inside, I don't use my AC unless it is an extreme day, and then, only after the peak electricity usage time has passed, I do laundry and vacuum in the morning before peak times begin, I use cold water for laundry, I have a front-loading washing machine, all of my appliaces are maintained, and efficient models, I watch very little TV, I hang my clothes out to dry, I've installed passive vents in the attic and in the garage, I open my garage door manually, I use the microwave to heat food whenever possible, I use a small toaster oven to heat things that aren't big enough to warrant the full-size oven, I have a gas range, dryer and waterheater, I use the neighbor's (solar-heated-and-pumped) pool, all the electricity I do purchase is from renewable sources (guaranteed through certificates), I don't take short trips in the gas car, I don't start the car to move it a few feet, I don't top-off my gas tank, I don't dump oil on the ground, I use a propane grill in the backyard to avoid heating the house, I set the toaster oven outside to avoid heating the house (did I ever mention that we live where it gets HOT?), I only use water during off-peak electric times (our water is all well-water and is therefore pumped), I.... well, I guess I could just go on and on.
This is truly a never-ending process for me. We all have to specialize in something, and mine is saving energy. That said - did you know that it takes about 100 amps to smoke the tires on an EV1?
Not out of my yard of course
