About

The purpose of this blog is to bring a practical understanding of energy usage. Usage=money. To me it's that simple. You can't stop using energy completely, and I don't think any of us want to anyway. I love all of my gas and electrical appliances and toys and have no intention of not using them. But what I want to avoid is spending money unnecessarily to operate and enjoy them. Saving the polar bears and the ice caps can be just an added benefit...I want to save money!
This is a highly technical and polarizing subject. I have taken hundreds of hours of classes on this subject and I don't pretend to understand all of it; I'm not that smart. But I do know that even a little knowledge will save you money. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If replacement windows cut your power bill in half, you must have left them open year round. Closing them would have cut your bill in half. Even if they did cut your bill in half, would paying $3000-$5000(or more) to save $100 a month be a good idea? It would if you had money to throw away; but to most of us...no. The quickest savings will come when you spend the least amount of money. This may sound stupid, but what if a $5.00 tube of caulk saved you $5.00 on your first power bill. That would give you 11 months of profit! I know this is a small amount, but it adds up.
There will be times when you have to spend large amounts of money; nothing lasts forever. When you have to replace those windows or HVAC, this is the time to save. Getting a new HVAC unit for a tax break and a reduction in your power bill might not be the smartest idea. If it still functions you should consider making sure that it is functioning at it's highest level. Low efficiency can be compensated for (somewhat) by a good delivery system; the duct work. If you are losing half of your conditioned air to duct leakage all of the SEERs known to man won't save you that much. Sealing your ducts is do-it-yourself friendly and cheap. Insulating them is slightly tougher, but not much. The pay back on this one is fast and it will only compound itself when you have to replace the unit!
I would like to add one final and important note; don't let your politics keep you from saving energy. Don't do it for them, do it for yourself and your pocketbook! The government is full of ideas-some good and some bad. Ideas good-application bad. Buying a $40,000 electric car that essentially runs off of coal anyway is not very smart; the payback on that one is the day after...never! But I don't want to get started on these topics, I just want you to save money and use common sense at the same time! Don't be sold by a contractor and don't be sold by the government. Once again, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is!