Energy Resolution

Happy New Years! The regular readers of this site may not need these suggestions, but those around you may be interested, so please pass them along.

How about a resolution to use less energy next year? You can resolve to drive less, take the bus more often, use less electricity, or buy organic products (organic cotton requires less energy to produce).

I recommend doing a bit of everything - but I'm going to encourage you to focus on electricity. Especially here in Minnesota, electricity comes mainly from coal and using it more efficiently requires little effort.

Get the cool looking light bulbs! Compact fluorescent light bulbs will save you power and money over their lifetime. They are the bulbs that cost more upfront, but use considerably less power to put out the same amount of light. After they burn out, recycle them! Take them to a hardware store to be properly disposed.

Turn off electronics you aren't using. My apartment had a VCR plugged in that we use once every 4 months now. Unplug it. Unplug all chargers when not in use. Such chargers are a major contributor to phantom load. This is where devices use power to eseentially do nothing.

If you are not familiar with the Energy Star program, learn a little bit about it. When you purchase appliances, make sure they are energy star certified. Such devices are more efficient than non-energy star appliances.

Those of us who have made many of these efforts already must work harder to reduce our consumption. Perhaps Solar Kismet can add some tips, I know he runs a very efficient ship. I just purchased an electricity usage monitor to better understand where I am using power inefficiently.

One suggestion is to use power strips for computer devices like switches, hubs, and firewalls. When you are not using your computer (at night for instance) you can switch all those devices off to save power. Most people have no reason to leave the internet connected all night. Turn it off when you go to bed and switch it on when you need it.

For a resolution, resolve to cut your power usage by 5% each month. When you get your bill, write down the number of kilowatt hours you used in that month (alternatively, use the bill from the same month of last year as a baseline if you are as anal with bills as I am). Multiply this number by .95 and write down your target number. If you use more electricity than your target, buy some green tags as a punishment. Terrapass.com has options for green credits to balance your home usage.

Your actions do make a difference. Set some goals and get going. The average household in the U.S. uses between 700 and 1000 kilowatt hours of electricity a month. If you are above that, try to cut your usage by more than 5%.

Update: The Energy Star site has some tips for reducing energy usage over the winter. These tips won't reduce your electricity usage, but will save energy.