What do YOU do?

[me&thegals]

I couldn't bear to see this lovely category sit empty, so how about a survey on how YOU save energy on a daily basis?

I try to bike whenever possible and walk when 4 miles or less round trip.

Combine errands when going to town.

Turn off lights obsessively when not in use.

Ok--don't get grossed out--flush toilets about every 5 times (but always right away when someone has done their "big job")

Line dry clothing. Only wash clothes when they are actually dirty!

When buying new appliances, get Energy Star, even if more expensive.

...and so on...

 

[ticks]

I couldn't bear to see this lovely category sit empty, so how about a survey on how YOU save energy on a daily basis?

I try to bike whenever possible and walk when 4 miles or less round trip.

Combine errands when going to town.

Turn off lights obsessively when not in use.

Ok--don't get grossed out--flush toilets about every 5 times (but always right away when someone has done their "big job")

Line dry clothing. Only wash clothes when they are actually dirty!

When buying new appliances, get Energy Star, even if more expensive.
...and so on...

Our family does about what you do. We are still trying to make a clothesline. My mom doesn't want me to do it. Just because she doesn't want to pay me. Now that is saving money

 

[miss_thenorth]

Not just to save energy but how I am frugal:

I shop the sales at the gorcery store.

I rarely buy processed foods.

I cook from scratch.

I always wash in cold water, and I just started to make my own laundry soap, and i RARELY use my drier.

Clothes get worn until they are dirty/smelly.

It has to be really humid before the air conditioning comes on.

In winter, heat goes down to 60F at night, and it stays at 67F during the day. If you are cold, put on a sweater.

There has to be at least 10 items on my grocery list befor a trip to town is warranted. Then other errands are fun at the same time.

We truck in our water--(no well, no town water), so we conserve. We collect the cold water that comes out of the faucet while waiting for the hot water to come for our shower, and used that to flush toilets, water plants, etc.

(tried the no flushing--if its yellow let it mellow, if its brown flush it down--but I can't do that)

Do not use my dishwasher.

Pool pump is on a timer.

DH rides a motorcycle to work.

Do not have cable or satellite.

Re-use items when I can , and if it is safe to do so.

All appliances are energy star.

That's about all I can think of right now.

 

[Beekissed]

Combine errands when going to town.

Turn off lights obsessively when not in use.

These I do also, as well as appliances like TV, computer, printer, toaster, microwave, etc. Some appliances and electrical devices suck a little juice while not on, so these I have on a power bar and just turn it off. I don't know if that helps but I like to think it does! My highest electric bill this year was $43 and some change, my lowest $17 and change.

I hope to get a more efficient fridge soon. I am also going to get my clothes line back up. I had to relocate it to expand my garden!

I do dishes by hand, no dishwasher. Make bread by hand, no bread machine.

Have a water-saver shower head.

I let the dryer vent into the house in the winter. This closes off a "point of draft" into the house, and, with a leg of pantyhose taped over the end, allows moisture and warm air to return to us. Since I don't use fabric softeners and make my own detergent, it doesn't pipe unwanted chemicals back into our breathing range. I also use the dryer balls instead of fabric softener, as they help the clothing dry faster, renders them soft and static- free, and keeps us from having oil spots on our clothing and a perfumey smell on our persons.

I put up plastic on the more drafty windows in the winter. This is an old farmhouse, so we have plenty of those. I do the same in the henhouse.

I heat with wood. I cool with open windows, pull down blinds until afternoon, fans. My house is very well insulated, so we do very well here. I sleep with my window open right next to my pillow all winter long! The heat rises to my room from the wood stove, so my room stays too warm. We use down comforters in the winter and they feel like sleeping under a very warm, fluffy cloud.

I also am trying to change my career from nursing to medical transcription, so as to spend more time at home and to use less gas. I feel, with more time at home, I will be better able to prepare better meals, keep a more efficiently run household, and have more time to be creative in my efforts to become SS.

We try to eat healthy and gear our food intake towards good immune system health, thus saving money on medical expenses. We eliminated most dairy, red meats, refined sugars and preservatives from our diet and try to eat green leafy vegetables (raw), fruit (raw), and, if we feel the need to eat meat, its deer meat, or one of our own chickens. We sweeten with locally grown, nonpastuerized honey and get a dual benefit by not using refined sugars and boosting our allergen tolerance. Your immune system is just like a fine car, you feed it poor quality fuel, it will perform poorly. Feed it quality fuel, it should run well for many years. We haven't had to take an antibiotic for about 10 years now.

If I had my own place, I would build a hay bale/cob home, have a windmill and some solar energy options, have more animals for meat, wool, and dairy.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Some appliances and electrical devices suck a little juice while not on, so these I have on a power bar and just turn it off. I don't know if that helps but I like to think it does! My highest electric bill this year was $43 and some change, my lowest $17 and change.



These are called "phantom loads" and yes, they do suck money!! having these connected to power bars is what "they" recommend " to reduce/eliminate these phantom loads. TVs, stereos, VCRs, microwaves, etc, anything with a clock on it are all phantom loads. They do add up. My hubby, who makes electricity as a profession, says it doesn't make THAT much of a load, but I disagree--every bit counts.

I am jealous of your hydro bill. We are on a budget, and it is $143/mo. We heat with natural gas.

 

[the simple life]

We have the energy saver appliances but I am not big on appliances to begin with, only the neccesities.
I have the washer (the high efficiency front loader), that type of washer spins so much of the excess water out of the clothes that the dryer only has to be on a short time to dry the clothes and then of course the frig.

When I did the kitchen over I said no to the dishwasher and garbage disposal. Garbage goes into the compost pile.

I make my own laundry soap and fabric softener

Shop the sales, farmer's markets and pick your own fruit stands and freeze,dehydrate and can all of my fruits and veggies to carry us over

I trade my chicken eggs for blueberries from a local woman who owns a pick your own blueberries (we both make out on that deal)

Planted my own vegetable garden that we should be able to live off of from now until the fall and not have to buy any of that stuff.

I make my own yogurt and I do 2 dozen jars at a time. It costs me only the cost of a gallon of milk and a little sugar.
I save about $20.00 right there. Yougurt is between 79-89 cents a piece at the store for a 4-6 oz container. Mine are 8 oz jars and since I do this weekly we are saving $80.00 per month.

Bake all of my own bread.

Never have to buy eggs since we have chickens and make enough money to cover the cost of feed by selling the extras.I also barter for other things with the eggs, such as haircuts from the barber, the barber even takes the chicken waste as trade.

We do as much shopping in one area as possible if we have to drive there and I don't like the car to be used for short wasteful trips.
Of course all of the lights go off every time we leave the room or if its my husband even if we are in the room

We cook as many meals outside on the barbecue as possible to save on running the oven/stove
Most of the nights we spend out in the yard around the campfire because the kids really like to do that and the bonus part is we aren't in the house running electricity.

We had all of the walls and windows in the entire house ripped out and replaced but had new insulation, electrical and plumbing put in there first.
We installed a new energy saving heating system and water boiler. So our plumbing and heating throughout the house is as efficent as we can get here and the new insulation and the new windows mean less heat escapes too.
Of course we recycle everything.

 

[miss_thenorth]

We have the energy saver appliances but I am not big on appliances to begin with, only the neccesities.
I have the washer (the high efficiency front loader), that type of washer spins so much of the excess water out of the clothes that the dryer only has to be on a short time to dry the clothes and then of course the frig.

When I did the kitchen over I said no to the dishwasher and garbage disposal. Garbage goes into the compost pile.

I make my own laundry soap and fabric softener

Shop the sales, farmer's markets and pick your own fruit stands and freeze,dehydrate and can all of my fruits and veggies to carry us over

I trade my chicken eggs for blueberries from a local woman who owns a pick your own blueberries (we both make out on that deal)

Planted my own vegetable garden that we should be able to live off of from now until the fall and not have to buy any of that stuff.

I make my own yogurt and I do 2 dozen jars at a time. It costs me only the cost of a gallon of milk and a little sugar.
I save about $20.00 right there. Yougurt is between 79-89 cents a piece at the store for a 4-6 oz container. Mine are 8 oz jars and since I do this weekly we are saving $80.00 per month.

Bake all of my own bread.

Never have to buy eggs since we have chickens and make enough money to cover the cost of feed by selling the extras.I also barter for other things with the eggs, such as haircuts from the barber, the barber even takes the chicken waste as trade.

We do as much shopping in one area as possible if we have to drive there and I don't like the car to be used for short wasteful trips.
Of course all of the lights go off every time we leave the room or if its my husband even if we are in the room

We cook as many meals outside on the barbecue as possible to save on running the oven/stove
Most of the nights we spend out in the yard around the campfire because the kids really like to do that and the bonus part is we aren't in the house running electricity.

We had all of the walls and windows in the entire house ripped out and replaced but had new insulation, electrical and plumbing put in there first.
We installed a new energy saving heating system and water boiler. So our plumbing and heating throughout the house is as efficent as we can get here and the new insulation and the new windows mean less heat escapes too.
Of course we recycle everything.

Just a heads up--barbecues do not burn propane efficiently. Stoves are more efficient, but cooking on the barbecue won't heat your house like the stove will.

 

[the simple life]

We barbecue over a pit. Burn the wood, let it burn down a little and lay the rack or/and foil over the stones and cook that way. We plan to build a stone woodburning oven in the back which will be nicer than the pit. But thanks for the tip.

 

[miss_thenorth]

We barbecue over a pit. Burn the wood, let it burn down a little and lay the rack or/and foil over the stones and cook that way. We plan to build a stone woodburning oven in the back which will be nicer than the pit. But thanks for the tip.

Cool, when we lived up north, I used to cook on an old wood cookstove outside. Nothing like cooking with wood heat!!!!! I would love to have an outdoor kitchen here.

 

[enjoy the ride]

I fill my water tanks once a week on the idea that starting and stopping the pump multiple times uses more energy than once with a longer run.
Low flow shower heads and energy saver appliances.
Lots of mulching in the garden as water not only costs here to pump but is scarce during the summer. I would love to save rain water but re-tooling for that is daunting.
I have a small (three) herd of goats who eat the brush (limiting weedwhacking) and do a lot of weeding for me. I haven't mowed in two years.
I try to restrict my going to town to once every two weeks so I buy things in multiples when I go.
Raise my own herbs, fill water bottles rather than buy bottled water, use cardboard boxes for weed suppression. And build my raised beds with deadfall.