Living in The East Valley » Saving Energy http://livingintheeastvalley.com Recreation, Real Estate, and Real Life in Arizona Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:40:05 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Ways to Save Energy and Money http://livingintheeastvalley.com/ways-to-save-energy-and-money/ http://livingintheeastvalley.com/ways-to-save-energy-and-money/#comments Thu, 06 Oct 2011 16:42:51 +0000 admin http://livingintheeastvalley.com/?p=1145

Visit houselogic.com for more articles like this.

Copyright 2011 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

]]> http://livingintheeastvalley.com/ways-to-save-energy-and-money/feed/ 0 My Adventures with a Kill-A-Watt http://livingintheeastvalley.com/my-adventures-with-a-kill-a-watt/ http://livingintheeastvalley.com/my-adventures-with-a-kill-a-watt/#comments Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:00:27 +0000 admin http://livingintheeastvalley.com/?p=1133 The Chandler Public Library has Kill-a-Watt devices you can check out just like a book.  These are provided by SRP.  I believe they are available at some of the other libraries as well.  SRP’s Info on Borrowing a Kill-a-Watt.  It is great to be able to borrow one of these for free because it doesn’t really need to be used on an on-going basis. 

What you do is plug the device into the wall and then plug your electronic device into it.  It will then determine how much energy is being used by that electronic device.  Some devices use electricity even when they are turned off.   They are sometimes referred to as energy vampires.   You can save money on electricity by determining which devices you should unplug when not in use.  An alternative can be to plug the devices into a power strip that can be turned on and off.

I’ve read that cell phone charges can be a problem with using electricity even when a cell phone is not plugged in to them.  I checked ours and they are not a problem.   I have unplugged an older TV and a CD player that are rarely used.  They were both pulling electricity even when off.  Our Wii which is frequently left on even when not in use was pulling  power as well.  I tried turning it off and it was still using power.  So, I’m going to try to turn it off and unplug it when not in use. 

There were a few things that I going to leave plugged in.  The first is our water cooler.  It used the most electricity of the small electronics/appliances.  However, it costs about 14 cents per day in electricity and we go through a lot of water.  Our phones also use electricity but I’m going to leave them plugged in.  It is convenient to have them in several rooms of the house and the usage is small.

]]> http://livingintheeastvalley.com/my-adventures-with-a-kill-a-watt/feed/ 0 Get Savings on Purchases of CFL Light Bulbs http://livingintheeastvalley.com/get-savings-on-purhcases-of-cfl-light-bulbs/ http://livingintheeastvalley.com/get-savings-on-purhcases-of-cfl-light-bulbs/#comments Fri, 05 Nov 2010 21:50:48 +0000 admin http://livingintheeastvalley.com/?p=1084 SRP is offering discounts with a variety of different merchants for purchases of CFL bulbs.  Merchants include:  Costo, Lowe’s, Walmart, Home Depot, and Sam’s Club.  – SRP CFL Discounts

APS also offers discount programs – APS CFL Discounts.    They also have a  CFL light bulb Savings Calculator which allows you to calculate savings by room based upon the number of bulbs replaced and the type of lighting in that roonm

]]> http://livingintheeastvalley.com/get-savings-on-purhcases-of-cfl-light-bulbs/feed/ 0 Save Energy – Save Money http://livingintheeastvalley.com/save-energy-save-money/ http://livingintheeastvalley.com/save-energy-save-money/#comments Fri, 02 Oct 2009 20:35:07 +0000 admin http://livingintheeastvalley.com/?p=444 j0438981

October is Energy Awareness Month.   Here are some easy ways to reduce energy use in your home and save you money.

  • Use a programmable thermostat to control the a/c and heat in your home.  Turn up the temperature during the summer during the times when you are away from home and do the opposite in the winter.
  • Use compact fluorescent light bulbs.  Remember that these bulbs must be disposed of properly when you are finished using them.  Ace Hardware locations that have SRP boxes for used CFL bulbs.
  • Set your dishwasher to air dry the dishes instead of using the heat dry cycle.
  • Turn off electronics when not in use including your computer and printer.  For TV’s and home entertainment centers, you can plug them all into one power strip.  Turn off the equipment then turn off the power strip because TVs and DVD players will still use power in standby mode.
  • Wash only full loads of dishes and clothes.
  • Make sure your fireplace damper is closed when the fireplace is not in use.

For more energy-saving ideas:

Visit www.energysavers.gov

Visit the US Department of Energy’s Energy Savers Blog

]]> http://livingintheeastvalley.com/save-energy-save-money/feed/ 0 Rebates on Appliances, A/C and More http://livingintheeastvalley.com/rebates-on-appliances-ac-and-more/ http://livingintheeastvalley.com/rebates-on-appliances-ac-and-more/#comments Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:18:11 +0000 admin http://livingintheeastvalley.com/?p=420 There are a number of rebates available for replacing appliances and systems in your home with more energy efficient versions.  Here are some places to check for information regarding rebates that you may qualify for:

SRP Customers – www.savewithsrp.com

APS Customers – call 602-371-3636

Manufactuerers’ Appliance Rebates – www.energystar.gov

Tax Credits

]]> http://livingintheeastvalley.com/rebates-on-appliances-ac-and-more/feed/ 0 In Search of Shade http://livingintheeastvalley.com/in-search-of-shade/ http://livingintheeastvalley.com/in-search-of-shade/#comments Fri, 04 Sep 2009 22:18:02 +0000 admin http://livingintheeastvalley.com/?p=408 42-15681486There was an article in the Arizona Republic on 08/29 about different ways to produce shade for your home and the energy saving benefits as a result.  Unfortunately, I can’t find the article on-line to provide you a link.  It indicated that shade produced for the home from outdoors reduces energy use more than say curtains inside the home.  It had advice on where to plant trees but also had the idea to hang curtains on the patio.  It told of a couple that had purchased heavy cotton drapes at IKEA and hung them along their back patio.  We have done this but only along a section of the back patio.  Our engery use has been lower the past few days but I don’t know if that is due to the shade produced by the drapes/curtains or if it is just weather related.  Once the weather cools down, we’ll remove the outdoor curtains until next summer.

]]> http://livingintheeastvalley.com/in-search-of-shade/feed/ 0 Rebates Available for Appliance Purchases http://livingintheeastvalley.com/rebates-available-for-appliance-purchases/ http://livingintheeastvalley.com/rebates-available-for-appliance-purchases/#comments Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:30:00 +0000 admin http://livingintheeastvalley.com/?p=187

If you are an SRP customer and considering buying a new clothes washer or dishwasher before the end of the year, then you should check the rebate offers available by clicking on the following link. To qualify, purchases must meet the defined energy ratings.

SRP Appliance Rebate

I couldn’t find a similar program for APS customers; but, if someone knows about one, please leave a comment.

]]> http://livingintheeastvalley.com/rebates-available-for-appliance-purchases/feed/ 0 SRP Daily Energy Usage http://livingintheeastvalley.com/srp-daily-energy-usage/ http://livingintheeastvalley.com/srp-daily-energy-usage/#comments Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:39:00 +0000 admin http://livingintheeastvalley.com/?p=157

When I got our electrical bill from SRP this week I noticed that it had a note on it – “As a customer with a Smart Meter on your home, you can go online anytime to My Account and view your daily electricity use. Sign up at www.srpnet.com/myaccount.” So, today I went and signed up for an on-line account. Sure enough, I was able to click on “Smart Meter Daily Usage” and see our daily electrical use for the last month. It even breaks out off-peak usage and on-peak usage. I’m going to try to use this to see if we can reduce our electrical usage. It is a bit difficult to see if small changes at home will affect this because the outside temperature obviously has a big impact on electrical usage from day to day.

Not all SRP customers have a smart meter. For more information – Smart Meter.

You should also know that SRP has a discount in conjunction with ACE Hardware for 20% off new or rebuilt solar shade screens purchased between 7/1 and 9/30. For more information on this and other offers – SRP Offers.

]]> http://livingintheeastvalley.com/srp-daily-energy-usage/feed/ 2 Rocket Scientists Weigh In On Saving Gas http://livingintheeastvalley.com/rocket-scientists-weigh-in-on-saving-gas/ http://livingintheeastvalley.com/rocket-scientists-weigh-in-on-saving-gas/#comments Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:52:00 +0000 admin http://livingintheeastvalley.com/?p=149

I found a pretty interesting article through Google Reader from Market Watch (The Wall Street Journal Digital Network). They interviewed some rocket scientists regarding whether it is better to drive with you tank full or half empty in order to save gas. It seems like the most common answer is the best thing you can do is make sure the tires on your car are inflated properly. Click on the link below to read the full article.
]]> http://livingintheeastvalley.com/rocket-scientists-weigh-in-on-saving-gas/feed/ 0 1975? 2008? Same Story on Energy http://livingintheeastvalley.com/1975-2008-same-story-on-energy/ http://livingintheeastvalley.com/1975-2008-same-story-on-energy/#comments Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:07:00 +0000 admin http://livingintheeastvalley.com/?p=141

I was going through some old things I’d saved from my youth this past weekend and found some interesting things. Some things I have no idea why I saved them and others were still meaningful. One of the things I found was a page of Jan. 23, 1975 Des Moines Tribune that my aunt had sent me. It was an article about the author of the Nancy Drew books. What was more interesting to me now was an article written by John Shuttleworth on the same page about energy. Read this and see if you think it could have been written this year,

As I’ve stated before in this column, last year’s so called “energy crisis” was only a mild foretaste of the chronic, desperate and very real age of energy scarcity that now looms over the world. Tomorrow, in short, appears rather bleak. Or does it? Perhaps we’re not really facing a scarcity of the power we need to turn our machines or heat out homes after all. Perhaps it’s just been so easy to burn coal, gas, and petroleum all these years that we’ve overlooked a far richer – and pollution free – source of power.

He goes on to discuss the appeal of solar power. We all know that solar power never took off in a big way following the 70′s energy crisis. Hopefully, this time we’ll make more progress in our ability to capture and use solar energy.

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