Documenting my attempt to cut my energy usage in half.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Conservation Projects

As part of my half project I have identified several areas where I could reduce my energy usage for little to no cost.

PCs:

I have three PC's in the house that are used infrequently (less than 2 hours per day) which used to be left on all the time.   The kill-a-watt meter showed that on average these systems used 150 watts of power.  All of the systems have now been set up to hibernate if inactive for 15 minutes. 

Energy Saving/Yr3175 kwh
Initial Cost$0
$'s Saved/Yr$349
CO2 Reduction3779 lbs

LIGHTS:

Most of the lights in the house have been converted over to CFL's.  However, there are three 75 watt incandescent floods that are in the main part of the house and are on 16 hours a day, every day.  These have recently been replaced with 8 watt LED floods.

Energy Saving/Yr1174 kwh
Initial Cost$66
$'s Saved/Yr$129
CO2 Reduction1397 lbs

Printer/Fax Thingy:

My HP PSC2510 which was detailed in a prior post has now been put on a power strip so that it really is off.  I may actually use the thing once a month.  It's pointless for it to be using power 24/7.

Energy Saving/Yr149 kwh
Initial Cost$3.50
$'s Saved/Yr$16.40
CO2 Reduction177 lbs


Phantom Loads:

A survey of the house with the kill-a-watt meter showed that several devices that are plugged in 24/7 are using power even when "off".  The TV sets in the two guest bedrooms, a CD player and treadmill in the exercise room, and the TV in the master bedroom that was swapped out for a new LG.  Individually these devices didn't use much power.  As a group, they do.

Energy Saving/Yr203 kwh
Initial Cost$0
$'s Saved/Yr$22.35
CO2 Reduction241 lbs


Water Heater:

The issues with the water heater which have been detailed here have been temporarily fixed while waiting on parts from the local hvac company I use.  The savings for not pumping heat into the garage should be noticeable.

Energy Saving/Yr670 kwh
Initial Cost$0
$'s Saved/Yr$73.75
CO2 Reduction797 lbs


Totals:

For the changes listed above, which had almost zero cost other than I just needed to be aware of what was going on, I expect to see the following savings per year.

Energy Saving/Yr5373 kwh
Initial Cost$69
$'s Saved/Yr$591
CO2 Reduction6,394 lbs

This is a significant amount just for being more aware of what I'm doing.  The energy savings of 5373 kwh is roughly 12% of my yearly consumption.

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