8 Easy Projects for Instant Energy Savings

The average household in America uses 10,656 kWh per year. If we are to make a significant difference to help prevent global warming we must cut that in half, 5,000 kWh per year. Cutting your very extravagant energy consumption down to 40,000 kWh per year is just not enough.

Yes, to prevent global warming we will have to change our lifestyle. Short of that you are just wasting your time.

Hi Shane,
The 10,700 KWH you mention is just the average electricity use per household. When you add energy for space heating, water heating, and transportation, the total average energy use is much, much more.

Our going in usage was:
Electricity 11,300 KWH (a bit less than your average)
Heating: 35,000 KWH
Water Heating: 8,400 KWH
Automobile: 38, 700 KWH

As far as I have been able to determine, these are pretty typical for households in cold climates. I agree that they are too high, but I don't think they are out of the ordinary at all.

We have cut all of these by more than half, and we continue to make progress in the downward direction.
The material I've read on climate change indicates that we will eventually need to cut GHG emissions by about 80%. Our family is still short of 80% target. But, if everyone would do the kind of 50% to 60% reduction we did, we would be a long ways toward the target, and would be in a much better position to figure out how to get the rest of the way. The point is that for most people the first 50% of the saving is easy to do, can be done right now (no new tech needed), can be done by us (rather than depending on others), and is very very cost effective. Its the best of win-win situations.

All the figures on our usage, savings, and projects are tabulated here:
http://www.builditsolar.com/References/Half/Half.htm

Best -- Gary

The average household in America uses 10,656 kWh per year. If we are to make a significant difference to help prevent global warming we must cut that in half, 5,000 kWh per year. Cutting your very extravagant energy consumption down to 40,000 kWh per year is just not enough.

Yes, to prevent global warming we will have to change our lifestyle. Short of that you are just wasting your time.

Gary's suggestions are really good.

There are also additional energy conservation ideas just as or even simpler and less costly.

We've compiled from our own practices, as well as the contributions of many, a list of 240 energy savings ideas, of which 180 cost nothing or next to nothing to do.

Most are common sense, but then again, where would we be if everyone used common sense every day? :)

You can see the list we've compiled here on the Energy Conservation page of our home web site:

http://dailyhomerenotips.com/energy-conservation/

Energy conservation is typically must less costly and much simpler for the average home owner than the home owner's own generation of energy.

The more we reduce the demand side of the supply - demand equation, the less of a supply we will need, IMO.

Dan