10 Quick and Easy ways to conserve energy

April 6, 2:17 PMSanta Monica City Buzz ExaminerJ.S. Mael

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The Green Microgym, Portland, Or.

Take advantage of readily available tips to help you save on your daily energy consumption and your monthly energy statement at home, work and play:

1. Heat your water wisely. Heating water is the most costly of all household energy consumption. Most water heaters are pre-set at 140 degrees Fahrenheit, 20 degrees higher than needed. Lowering the setting to 115 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit can make a 3-7% impact on your monthly water bill. Keeping your water heater insulated is also highly recommended.

2. Turn off your PC when not in use. USA Today recently reported companies waste nearly 3 billion dollars annually due to PCs not being shut-down properly when not in use. Turn off your computer when you are not using it. “Simply shutting down PCs at night can save a company with 10,000 PCs over $260,000 a year and 1,871 tons of carbon dioxide emissions,” the report says, and it will also save you money at home.

3. Efficiently light your home or business. Studies indicate a growing number of consumers have switched (or plan to replace) incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs which produce power that lasts up to four times longer.

4. Buy a ceiling fan. Because warm air rises you’ll want to get the warmer air down low by buying a ceiling fan. Reversible switches come on most all models and can be used in summer time too. The relative cost of the ceiling fan and its usage costs are quickly made up in savings.

5. Invest in good power strips. The world is gadget happy. Aside from our usual electrical needs (lamps, computers, television) we have video games, iPods, cameras, battery re-chargers, speakers among the many others. Good power strips make a difference. Cheap $7 strips must be turned off to keep from losing “phantom power”, while purchasing a Smart Strip ($40) or Watt Stopper ($90) will make an impact on wasted energy and lower your energy tab.

6. Get a low-flow attachment for your sink. For about $10-15 dollars this will help control your sink’s water waste. Low-flow attachments will also help on your shower and bathroom water heads. Insulating your plumbing and making sure your refrigerator is an Energy Star product will be cost saving.

7. Inefficient refrigerators can consume massive amounts of electricity and run at about a 30% higher energy output level.

8.  Green exercise machines are coming. Soon you’ll be able to bring your rechargeable battery to your local gym, hook it up to upgraded spinning bike or rowing machines, exercise, and take the battery home where you’ll be able to power up some common utilities. In fact, the Green Bike is already revolutionizing workouts at some local gyms!  At Revolution Fitness in Santa Monica, CA, Green Bikes are connected to rechargeable batteries used to power the facility’s music and PA system. 100 minutes of spinning will charge the battery for two days. The inspiration comes from Adam Boesel, founder of The Green Microgym in Portland, Oregon, and is an idea sparking the imaginations of gym owners world-wide.

9. Common alcohol can be used for a many purposes including: cleaning, anti-bacterial sanitizing and even deodorant.

10. Insulate your windows. A window that is well-insulated will act as a radiator, bouncing cold air away in the winter, which will cut down on the need for blasting the thermostat to get your desired home or business temperature.

The Snackwell Effect is a commonly noted analogy used when discussing patterns of energy consumption. Like when a dieter eats a low-calorie food, then indulges by eating more than the recommended serving, energy users who save in one area commonly indulge somewhere else. Keep this in mind, because while saving energy in one category is great, it should not be a green-light to over-indulge in other areas.

There is no perfect formula for lowering consumption and not all ways of conservation come cheap. Solar power, though a technology recommended as far back as the Carter administration in the 1970’s, still remains too costly for most common homes and businesses to afford. Low cost landscaping water units is utilized by less than 15% of land owners. Telecommuting to work, though a rising trend in times of high gas prices, is still done by only 10% of the workforce, and still has a converse relationship with gas prices.