Your Energy Diet - Modify Your Lifestyle

We Americans in particular are a very wasteful bunch. We waste time and money all in the name of convenience. Much of this comes from a bit of jealousy ("my neighbor just got a..."), bombardment of advertising ( nearly 40% of TV progaming is ads and print media has ads on every page), and the predominate thinking that some new product we have never needed before will improve our lives. Could it be that we need to modify our lifestyle to not only overcome this but also to improve our environment.

Our wasteful attitude begins with our government which wastes more money and time than any other entity on this Earth. Congress passes law after law after law to "improve" our lives. Then it allocates money (which it doesn't have) to institute these "laws". Result? More rules, more regulations, more bureauracy, AND MORE TAXES. The people's reaction is then spend more to get more (if Congress can do it, why can't I?). Ooops, the credit cards just got used.

And what are we buying? Hey, see that ad? There is a new cell phone out that can play games, see videos, turn on my lights, start my car. We exaggerated a bit, but you get the idea. Why get a car that gets 40 miles to the gallon if I can get that 16 cylinder, shiney monster that all my buddies will envy that "only" costs 2 years pay and only gets 10 miles to the gallon? Mindset, friends, mindset. We have a very poor mindset when it comes to our lifestyle and our world is suffering.

If we have the mindset that "going green" is too much bother, or too much work, or "it's not my fault" for the mess we are in, then folks, we are in real trouble and it's all down hill from here. The climate is changing and the weather is getting more extreme. The ice caps are melting and the ocean levels are increasing. The photo above was taken from our deck. We are only about 150 yards from the water. BUT, we were almost 200 yards from the water just 3 years ago. Yes, we have an ulterior motive for "going green" because we can see the effects every day.

You can bury your heads in the sand and continue to believe that it's not your problem or your fault. OR, you can change your mindset and start to help to reclaim the healthy world we had some years ago. A clean world is a healthy world and your health is directly related to how your environment is now and in the future. What can you do? Change your lifestyle a small amount to help.

Little changes will help. Turn off the lights when you don't need them. Get your kids to appreciate the outdoors and limit their use of the TV and computers. If a light bulb burns out, replace it with an energy efficient bulb. In fact, change all of your bulbs. Check out all of our posts about "Your Energy Diet" and begin to use our recommendations. What we suggest will save you money, help improve your health, and improve the world we all live in.

OK, we've been on our soapbox because the picture above illustrates where we are today. If the present situation continues, in a few years the row of houses in front of us will be gone. Just 50 yards more and the houses will be on the beach which violates Texas law and they will be removed. Our view will improve, but the beach will be much closer and it won't be that long until we will be "on the beach".

We need your help. We need cleaner air. We need to reverse climate change. We need less dependency on oil. We need to recycle. We need to be active in reclaiming a healthy life. Do join us in doing what you can on a daily basis to "GO GREEN". Your kids will appreciate it in the years ahead.

Your Energy Diet - Home Tips Continued

Real catchy title for this post, isn't it. Well, catchy or not, the considerations here will make a difference in your energy bill, improve your wellbeing physically and mentally, and in due course, make your world healthy. Let's continue.

By this time, if you followed our advise, you have cut the drafts from the outside, and have insulated the attic. Before you leave the attic, don't forget to insulate the attic access. Also, make sure that there is no paper on the insulation next to heating ducts or chimneys. Heated paper can burst into flames after a period of being over heated.

If you have a basement, you need to insulate the basement ceiling and the basement walls. If you have a crawl space, that too needs to be insulated. Also, vapor barriers should be added. If you have windows in the basement, check them for air leaks and take the steps we mentioned in our earlier post for doors and windows.

Now if you haven't had a professional energy audit of your home, you need to have a professioal check out your furnace, cental heating, and A/C. You could do this yourself but we don't recommend this. You can go ahead and wrap all your ducts to reduce loss of heating or cooling. You should also wrap exposed water pipes.

On the exterior of your home, you should caulk around anything that "breaks through" your walls. This means windows, water pipes, and doors. Also, have a professional insulate around elecrical lines, central air/heating/air conditioning ducts. And, if you have a chimney, check out the bricks or stones to insure that cracks and loose material are repaired.

If any of your appliances need to be replaced, don't just grab the first thing that looks good. Study up on energy efficient appliances. Energy Star ratings are a good place to start. Also, that "special" at a very cheap price offered this weekend may be an energy guzzzler that the store is trying to get rid of. Don't continue to run old appliances if they are "on their last legs". You are just wasting energy and your money.

Won't everything we've talked about cost money? Yup, sure will. But, if you do what we have discussed (save for the appliances) yourself, the cost is for materials and your time. Sure, you may spend up to $1000 in materials, but saving a $100 each month in your power bill pays you back in less than a year and the rewards go on for many years.

Can you do this yourself? If your handy with your hands, absolutely. If your all thumbs, you can still do some things. Anyone can caulk. Anyone can replace light bulbs. And, most anyone can lay insulation in their attic. This is not rocket science. It's common sense. Get a home repair book at your local hardware store. Black and Decker, the tool company, published a great one. Buy a book, study it, determine what you can do, THEN DO IT! But don't get in over your head. Only do what you, yourself, can do. Hire a professional to do what you can't.

One last note. If you need a professional, check them out. Don't just hire the first one you find. See if your better business bureau has suggestions or your local hardware. Get someone that has an excellent reputation. Do your homework. You want a good job done at a reasonable price. If a high priced repair is suggested, get a second opinion by another reputable professional.

Our Nightmare Is Almost Over

A few more days and the nightmare created by the twisted, perverted hackers will be over. Our site is back up (a few links do not work) and that is good. But, what this did do is let us seriously evaluate the entire site, and what we thought about doing in the future, we are now doing.

Since we are working on the revisions, we decided that we'll let things stand for now as they are online. A few more days and everything will work and will have the site as we wanted.

Since we are very close on finishing the "new" site, we'll take a little time off tomorrow and continue our posts on "Your Energy Diet" so we can keep you aware of what is best to go green and save some green.

A Long 4 Day Weekend Has Rewards

The Lord Be Praised!!!

We have had, what many would say, an unbelievable 4 day weekend. After being "hacked" last week, we were faced with (1) repairing our sites, (2) a big Mardi Gras weekend, and (3) the Super Bowl. Now put all of that in a "container", shake it up, and pour it out and see what happens. You won't believe the results.

Thursday, Jan. 31st, we began a marathon "repair party". By Friday, Feb. 1st, at 2 A.M., we had removed all the damage, laid out the replacement items, finished the monthly newsletter, and set up our "plan of attack". At this point, we "old" people had to stop and get some rest.

Friday morning, we began setting up our sites to at least get back online. After a few hours and many cups of coffee, we were back on line and the sites were functioning. Not all the links worked, but we were "up". We decided to let things be, and get ready for our weekend guests and the Mardi Gras parades and parties beginning Friday evening and running through Sunday.

Well, the final result was a very successful Mardi Gras weekend. Since Our Guests decided to leave early Sunday to make it home before the Super bowl started, we decided to skip the Sunday parades and rest since we had had 3 very busy days. We kicked back, took a nap, took a little time to prepare some of our final web site plans, and watched the Super Bowl. We were split about the game's outcome.

This week, we will have every thing repaired on our sites and some of our changes will be up. We hope the firewalls and other new security patches that our web host is applying will keep us from going through this mess again. Our best to you and, hopefully, your weekend was a happy one.

Stop The Insanity - We Were Hacked!

A couple of days ago, we mentioned that best laid plans don't always go as you wish. Well, that's what happened again. We were hacked on our web site. When it rains, it pours!

Yesterday, our host for our site was hacked. According to our host, hundreds of sites were "messed up". In addition, some of the c panels were "damaged". If we could get into our c panel, we were instructed to go in and delete our index pages and upload new index pages. Well guess who cannot get into their c panel.

Since we do not use a normal index page on our site but rather a php/html mix, and we can not get to our c panel, our rework is a little more complex than just to replace a few pages. So, we are in the process of preparing our replacement and have decided to make a few changes as well.

This is going to take a little time; and we will not be able to continue our posts on "Your Energy Diet" for a few days. Also, until we get it all done, the links that we have listed to the left will not work. Please bare with us. We'll be back up as soon as possible.

Your Energy Diet - More Tips For Your Home

Since we have looked at simple tips you can address quickly in lowering energy comsumption, there are a few advanced tips that will help make your home better prepared to lower your energy use and cost. Here a couple that really work.

1. Are your window and doors properly sealed or are you losing heat or air?
Many homes are not sealed as they should be to eliminate the passage of air in or out. The main contributors are windows and doors. Use a lighted insense stick and move it slowly around the edges of your windows and doors. If you see movement of the smoke from an outside source, you have an air leak. If you have molding around the doors or windows, move the insense along the edge of the molding where it meets the wall. Again, movement of the smoke indicates an air leak.

To remedy this air leak, you will need to caulk the windows and doors with a good silicon sealer. If the air leak is severe around the doors, you may need to remove the molding and reinsulate with a foam insulation. Once done, your drafts will be gone. (While checking for air leaks, check the bottom of the doors for drafts. If you detect any, replace the threshold insert or felt door sweep.)

2. Are your switches and recepticles allowing air movement?
Until just a few years ago, most builders were not even aware that insulating switches and recepticles was a good backup to insure the house was properly sealed. In fact, many builders dismiss the idea feeling they did a good job of insulation. Not so. Builders go by minimum code which is usually years behind in technology.

You can get foam switch and recepticle sealers at any hardware or home repair store. Just remove the covers and fit in the sealers. Make sure you check how many you need and the size (single or double) and style (switch or recepticle).

3. How's the insulation in your attic?
There is no hard and fast rule about how much insulation you need except that where you live is the main determination. Northern zones need about an R38, temperate zones need about R30, and southern zones need an R26. To determine R value for a quick evaluation, 1 inch of insulation equals about R value of 3. So, Chicago attics need 13 inches, Tulsa attics need about 10 inches, and Houston attics need 9 inches.

Check the temperature in your rooms. If a room is cooler in the winter than another when standing by an interior wall and you have sealed the windows and doors, then you could have an insulation problem or a heating problem. Check the amount of insulation in inches in your attic. If your measurement is below what we suggest above, you may need to add insulation. If the amount of insulation is adequate, you may have a heating (or cooling) problem.

We have given you some of the steps you can take to improve your home's energy usage. If you are not a "handy person", most power companies will provide some sort of help either by a kit or an energy audit. If you don't know how to do what we suggest, get qualified help. Start with your power company.

In our next post, we'll give some more tips about improving your home's energy usage. We will then move on to other areas which can improve your environment and reduce energy consumption as well as save you money. Also, your health in the long run will benefit.

Best Laid Plans Don't Always Work

We had every intention to continue are posts about "Your Energy Diet" on Friday and then skip it on Saturday and be back today. Well, the plans went out the window when our guests for Mardi Gras arrived early Friday evening instead of Saturday. Needless to say, back to square one.

Not only that, but today we are exhausted having "barely" survived multple parades, hosting the party on Saturday, and of course the traffic after the parades. Therefore, we are taking today off and will get back on posting tomorrow.

By the way, the first parades of our Mardi Gras were great and there is more to come next weekend and on Fat Tuesday. All of this will be shared with you in the future. Stay tuned.