The biggest message we can hopefully convey to all our customers is one of striving to become more energy efficient and to practice as much conservation as is possible in the home. If you are contemplating a solar system, bear in mind that every dollar spent on decreasing your consumption will save you around ten on the amount of solar needed to match that consumption.

We offer energy consultation to customers to help you reduce your utility bills. The tips we offer will more than pay for our consulting fee in a short time.

A lot of energy is wasted on something-called “Standby” power losses, or “Phantom” loads. These are the appliances and electronics that draw power even when their switches are off. Examples: televisions, VCRs, many stereos, computers, wall cubes (like calculators use), motion detectors, cordless phones, etc. In Japan, standby power losses make up a tenth of their total energy use. The clock in a microwave oven uses more power in a year then all the cooking time combined. The solution is to use power strips and switch things off when not in use. Wattmeters are useful for tracking down phantom loads, as well as measuring power consumption of all your loads. They work by measuring wattage and time and can equate monthly costs. A few companies that sell meters are http://www.doubleed.com and http://www.brandelectronics.com/powermeter.htm. We also have them available for rent for a small fee.

Compact fluorescent lights are a good way to save electricity; they use a fourth the power of normal incandescent bulbs and last up to 10,000 hours.(Incandescents last a few hundred) In bulb replacement costs alone they pay for themselves not to mention energy savings. If you have an electric water heater, install a timer on it and save $150-200 a year right there. Just recently, the new higher effiency EnergyStar compliant refrigerators came out (see Fridges) and it might be time to toss that 20-year-old watt guzzler and use the energy savings to pay for part of the new one. Insulate your home to cut both gas and electric consumption. Install radiant barriers in the attic to cut down summer heat.

Renewable Energy is our most promising long term solution and thanks to state and federal incentives. Solar is becoming cost effective, with rebates available that will pay half the system costs .See Grid Inter-tie Systems

We’d like to suggest picking up a copy of Homemade Money by Richard Heede. This book covers many of the things one can do as a homeowner and even as a renter, to reduce utility bills and increase energy efficiency. See the Rocky Mountain Institute web site to order.

Be sure to comb our links list to check out all the energy efficiency sites that can help you keep the money in your pockets instead of the utility companies.