Two summers ago I googled "save electricity" and was shocked to find a residential power factor correction device as one of the top hits on Google for the topic. Power factor correction has been proven to save industrial customer money by reducing any penalties they may pay the utility for poor...
My home energy report
Usually when I receive emails from my electric utility, Georgia Power, promising to offer energy saving tips I ignore them because they are just too basic. The other day I got an email that said the following:
High temperatures can impact your monthly electric bill because...
Below is a guest post written for Mapawatt. As you may know, I love my high mileage VW Jetta TDI. A few nights ago I drove from Atlanta, GA to Birmingham, AL and got 48 MPG! Excited to see other technologies that will help drivers save money at the pump! If you haven't heard, the Obama...
Ecobee Smart Plugs enable homeowners who have an Ecobee Smart Thermostat to wirelessly control and monitor 120V appliances from any computer connected to the internet. Currently, the Smart Plugs are not compatible with the Ecobee Smart SI thermostat. Regarding this, Stuart Lombard, the...
We're working on a page that will act as a directory to help users sort through the best ways to save energy. We've already written a free energy saving guide which I think is one of the best tools out there for beginners to energy saving. For those who want to dig a little deeper in saving...
Our first post went up on February 8, 2008. Our 100th post went up 6 months later on July 6th of 2008. Today marks our 500th post! The first 100 are hyper-linked for your convenience. Please read every single one and let us know your favorite :)
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I have a new dream car and it's called the Model S. We first wrote about the Model S almost 2 years ago and now it's finally here. Of course, I'll have to wait a few more years so I can afford it and move into a role at my job where I don't have to drive as far (I don't think there are charging...
Recently my sister Meggan and her boyfriend John decided to become homeless. They both had jobs in one of the most beautiful places in America, Jackson, WY; but alas, the food and farms of Europe came calling. They are currently living on the generosity of others on farms in France. They pass...
Power4Home claims on their main page that they are going to show you a "weird" trick that cuts your power bill. When you get to the site you can find a ridiculous narrated slide show that was torn from the playbook of Glenn Beck (the narrator does a pretty nice impersonation). You wont be...
Old Thermsotat
A few weeks ago my wife and I joined three other couples in Fajardo, Puerto Rico and stayed at Las Casitas Village at El Conquistador, a Waldorf Astoria resort. It was in a beautiful setting up high on a cliff overlooking the Atlantic. The view from our room can be seen at the...
The energy behavioral science industry is an emerging market, but there are many companies and utilities out there who feel it could be a large one. One of the biggest companies currently applying behavioral science to energy conservation is Opower. They provide an excellent white paper titled...
Below is an email I received from Shira Evergreen about a film he made about sustainable living and clean energy. I watched the preview and it looks very worthwhile. You can rent the clean energy movie and stream it online for $5.
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My name is Shira Evergreen and I'm a filmmaker and...
I first wrote about the wireless internet programmable smart thermostat by Ecobee over 2 years ago when I had one installed in my home. This thermostat enables me to easily program my thermostat over my computer or iPhone and makes it easy to put my system in vacation mode while I'm sitting in...
Energy incentives are an integral part to helping energy projects get off the ground. Whether the application is commercial, industrial, or residential, there is usually some form of incentive to help. The hard part is finding them!
As we mentioned on our post "De-mystifying Incentives",...
Chances are you haven't seen the video on youtube titled "If I wanted America to fail" which has the tagline: "The environmental agenda has been infected by extremism—it's become an economic suicide pact. And we're here to challenge it. " It was produced by a group called Free Market America...
One of our most popular posts is How Much Electricity Does My AC Consume? In that post I tried to explain how to calculate AC power consumption by multiplying the max current by the voltage of the AC unit. While I think this is a good introduction, I don't think it's the best method to calculate...
I recently purchased the Philips Ambient LED bulb at Home Depot for $24.97 but you can buy the Philips Dimmable AmbientLED 12.5-Watt A19 Light Bulb on Amazon for 72 cents cheaper! While I've voiced my opinions on why the Philips L Prize LED bulb is overpriced, I really like the lower cost...
I first heard about the Copenhagen Wheel (created by MIT) last week from CleanTechnica. I love the idea of converting a city cruiser to an e-bike that will give riders a boost when needed. Not only that, but the wheel serves to help monitor air pollution and traffic levels! From the description...
The production of this turbine is laughable
A little under a year ago we wrote about the Best Residential Wind Power case study in the U.S. out in Reno, Nevada. After analyzing some of the wind energy production data from Reno's installed residential wind turbines, I stated in the end of the...
In March 2012 I read an article on Triple Pundit regarding Philips defending the L Prize winning LED bulb from an article written in the Washington Post criticizing the government for handing out 10 million dollars to a company for producing a $50 light bulb.
I was all set to write a post...