Dec 26, Happy Energy Efficient New Year!
We wish everyone a Happy Holiday Season and look foward to another wonderful year of Making Your Home Energy Efficient!

Students Assigned To Save Energy – Tampa Tribune

Tampa Tribune

Students Assigned To Save Energy Tampa Tribune, FL - 1 hour ago He helped Principal Lynn Roberts focus on more efficient lighting, door seals and door sweeps, she said. An energy patrol of four fifth-grade students …

Brave new lean, green world – Venice Gondolier

Brave new lean, green world Venice Gondolier, FL - 52 minutes ago Schroeders said a growing number of home buyers view energy efficiency as a priority. "All the people we've been working with are looking for …

China A-shares end morning higher led by consumer plays, Unicom
Forbes – 000729) rose 0.87 yuan to 20.53 after a report that the company raised prices in its home Unicom assets by fixed-line operators China Telecom and China Netcom will be the most efficient way to restructure the telecom industry. China Shenhua Energy

Chevron looks to add 3rd unit to Gorgon LNG project
Reuters – Building three production lines at the same time allows for a more efficient use of The island, off the western coast of Australia, is home to a nature reserve that More Energy News

Five New Year's resolutions for your home
Dubuque Telegraph Herald – and aerators; fix leaking faucets; install Energy Star appliances; install energy-efficient heating and cooling equipment; upgrade insulation; and install replacement windows. Go green It's never been easier to be green when it comes to your home

Culpeper's Troiano family Lights up the night
Culpeper Star Exponent – Well, the former vice president’s average monthly bill in 2006 was about $1,200 at his Nashville property, which includes a 10,000-square-foot mansion and a pool house. He recently renovated to make the home more energy efficient. The Troiano home is

New Homes May Be a Good Deal
Street.Com – With home prices sagging and builders often eager to reduce inventory, a newly built home might offer more for the buck Brand-new homes tend to be more energy-efficient than their counterparts. They also have modernized equipment installed and often

It all boils down to efficiency in Somerset County – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

It all boils down to efficiency in Somerset County Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, PA - 1 hour ago "Simply look for ways of making your operation more energy efficient." The first Rural Development grant in Somerset County was received by the VanGilder …

Electric energy provides efficient way to go green – Hilton Head Island Packet

Electric energy provides efficient way to go green Hilton Head Island Packet, SC - 1 hour ago In winter, the heat pump will pump heat from the ground to the home using electric energy. One-hundred percent of the gas is saved, including the carbon …

No reason for high holiday electric bills – Charlotte Sun-Herald

No reason for high holiday electric bills Charlotte Sun-Herald, FL - 48 minutes ago Brunjes also said that the basic energy efficiency guidelines are also a good thing for people to apply to their household during the holidays. …

Ratings proliferate for eco-friendly builders – Bonitanews (subscription)

Ratings proliferate for eco-friendly builders Bonitanews (subscription), FL - 15 minutes ago Homes that meet the standard usually have features such as extra insulation and energy-efficient appliances, and must be verified through independent home …

Other developments in Washington on Wednesday
St. Petersburg Times – tightens vehicle fuel-economy standards; mandates an increase in ethanol use as a motor fuel; requires more energy efficient The government's Low Income Home Energy Assistance program, which provides heating and cooling subsidies for the poor

Winter Wonderland lights up home Toyland awaits visitors at Lugonia
Redlands Daily Facts – REDLANDS – The sight of Santa and his reindeer on the roof is drawing people to the Hartman home at 839 Frontier Ave Hartman went high-tech this year, using energy efficient LED lights. "Using these LED lights will use 80 percent less

NHF: End energy rip-off
Politics.co.uk – should take responsibility for building environmentally-friendly homes by dropping their "wrangling" about compliance with sustainable home regulations. "If we are serious about tackling climate change, we need to start building energy-efficient

Trane, formerly American Standard Cos., saw its shares surge more than
Marketwatch – Trane's Web site emphasizes its efforts in energy-efficient building systems. It notes that its systems power climate control at Beijing's World Trade Center complex, the Milan opera house La Scala, Toronto's Skydome and the Washington Monument

Oil costs bring demand for space heaters
Maine Sunday Telegram – is making it more attractive than ever to find another way to heat a home. And Denis Bergeron, director of the Efficiency Maine energy program, said people can Resistance heat is 100 percent efficient, as the ads say, but it's how you use them.

Thermal tech to measure energy efficiency
Silicon Republic – 18.12.2007 – Computer simulation and thermal-imaging technology will be used in an audit to gauge just how energy efficient The key performance indicator for the project will be the level of increase in home energy efficiency that can be attained

For sustainability, a city beats the country
High County News – We should have known we were in trouble, but how hard could it be to find an energy-efficient house and a sensible way to live? I was going to be working from home, so we started looking for a two-bedroom house. Nearly everything we looked at

Lower your heating and energy costs
Packet Online – Council (PERC), 57 percent of homeowners who recently remodeled or purchased a new, custom-built home saw increased household energy costs A heating system that runs well is more efficient and saves money. • Change your furnace filter regularly

Alternative Construction Technologies' ACTech Panel System Receives
MSN MoneyCentral – The recently certified 1,425 square foot home, which was built in Southwest Florida by ACR, had an average 29 days of and efficient construction solution utilizes an inherently better galvanized steel "skin" SIP system to complete energy efficient

Strickland wants utility disconnection moratorium
Dayton Daily News – left them without power, resulting in a fire from using candles in their home, he Absolutely — DP&L is anything but a sainted company with competent and efficient complanies could lower their prices so everyone can afford to pay their energy bills

Energy Tax Benefits: Time Is Running Out To Save Money
CNBC – A number of energy-efficient home improvements qualify as long as they were done this year or last, but these tax breaks expire on December 31st. It’s still chilly in the master bedroom, so I probably could have put in a bit more insulation, though

Green can be great
Minneapolis Star Tribune – HOW IT HAPPENED • Divided the space into zones for sleeping, sitting and home office. • Painted the walls light Brightened the room with efficient, low-energy LED lighting. • Purchased chairs filled with soy-based foam. BEST TRICK Chose fabrics

Gores' mansion goes from 'energy pig' to energy star
Nashville Tennessean – Al Gore, who was criticized for high electric bills at his Belle Meade mansion, has completed a host of improvements to make the home more energy-efficient, and a building-industry group has praised the house as one of the nation's most

Dollar's slide adds to rise in energy, food prices; outlook for '08 is
International Herald Tribune – other major currencies in recent years has helped drive up prices for energy and A recent home heating bill was $120 (€83) higher than at the same time last Besides buying a more fuel-efficient car, he has tried to tamp down his family's

Reno show host builds Etobicoke home over from scratch
Inside Toronto – new and improved home is unique in that contains many green features, using leading edge building methods, materials and technology. It will also be a prototype of the kind of house Holmes intends to build: reliable, eco-friendly, energy efficient

Consumers unaware of big-screen TVs' energy use
Nashville Tennessean – Consumers making an effort to go greener at home — and who also want to ditch their bulky old TV — can be in a bit of a bind. The energy savings gleaned from swapping out incandescent light bulbs for energy-efficient compact fluorescent lights

Lighting done right is a joy
AZCentral.com – The super energy-efficient bulbs provide just as much glow as traditional lights while using less than 20 percent of the wattage. Move or remodel? Old home needs retrofit for aging occupant Study clears the air on purifiers Shape of homes to come won't

Christmas 2007: Dreaming of a green Christmas
Daily Telegraph – in Devon, so hopefully we will be able to enjoy a home-grown tree at some point – even if it is in 20 years' time. THE LIGHTS Leaving the Christmas tree lights on for 10 hours generates enough CO? to inflate 12 balloons, so buying energy-efficient

what is YOUR DEFINITION?
Hartford Courant – environment-friendly attributes, but fails to mention its drawbacks, "such as an appliance that is said to be energy-efficient, but Home > Business

Geothermal pump is efficient, clean
Detroit Free Press – Upfront costs for their 3,400-square-foot home were nearly $30,000. "Taking heat from the Earth is a very neat concept Efficiency: Geothermal heat pumps — considered by the EPA as the most energy-efficient and environmentally clean temperature

RP can develop her oleochem industry with proper incentives
Manila Bulleting Online – NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) — Former Vice President Al Gore, who was criticized for high electric bills at his Tennessee mansion, has completed a host of improvements to make the home more energy efficient, and a building-industry group has praised

Nine Brooklyn families get new homes
New York Daily News – Nine Brooklyn families enjoying their first real home for the holidays will be having a very green Christmas this year. Habitat for Humanity gave them the keys Saturday to their new eco-friendly houses, which were constructed with energy-efficient

Rating helps home owners make smarter choices
Scoop – Ms Fitzsimons says research shows 86 percent of homeowners are interested in information about how they can make their home more energy efficient, and 91 percent of people thought it would be useful to know how energy efficient a home was before they

Happy Reunion
Hartford Courant – With final exams completed, practice was upbeat and efficient. UConn is clearly to them, about 'I'll meet you guys halfway if you give us the kind of energy we Show Off Your Home Town Share your favorite town photo on this reader photogallery

Future looks dim for incandescent bulb as new bill backs energy
AZCentral.com – It also saves about $5 a year in electricity costs, paying for itself in as little as four months, says the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy. Other bulbs are emerging. Home Depot has started selling a $5 Philips halogen that's 30

The Reality Behind Home Energy Consumption

“Expensive” is just one of the words that people today use to describe electricity bills. It seems that every day, the cost of electricity keeps getting higher and higher. Because of this, we all tend to look towards alternative energy sources.

However, as governments will tell you, the search for alternative energy sources does not come cheaply. Sometimes, the cost of developing one type of alternative energy source is just not feasible enough to be explored by the government.

There is also the problem of transition from conventional energy sources to the alternative energy sources. Many people are suspicious of any new methods and would prefer to stick with their conventional electricity.

However, these people are gradually being persuaded to the alternative side mainly because of the high cost of home energy consumption. New energy technology, of course, takes some time to perfect. In the meantime, there are a lot of things you can do to minimize your home energy consumption.

The energy of information administration of the US department of energy has recently concluded a survey on the home energy consumption of US households during the year 2001. Through this data, we can at least gain an insight of which appliances are costing us.

At the top of the list, of course, is climate control. Would you believe that American households consume 355.7 billion kWh just to keep themselves cool or hot? That’s 31.2 percent of the total home energy consumption! Do you really need to consume so much energy just to feel hot or cold?

When you use the air-conditioning system or the furnace, maybe you shouldn’t turn the thermostat up so high. It’s not like you are living in the equator or the North Pole, for crying out loud. And when you go out of the house, you do not really need to keep your air-conditioning on, do you?

Think of how much you will be able to eliminate from your home energy consumption by just turning these appliances off when you are not using them.

Next, we come to the kitchen. Kitchen appliances count for 26.7 percent of home energy consumption. Of course, you can’t really turn off your refrigerator when you are not home, could you? Don’t panic, however, there are a lot of alternatives in order to help you reduce your electricity bill.

Did you know that leaving the refrigerator door open increases your home energy consumption? It’s true! When you open your refrigerator door, heat rushes inside the refrigerator. This means that the fridge has to consume more electricity in order to maintain its internal temperature. If you leave the door open, you are wasting electricity!

Water heating cost US households 104.1 billion kWh in electricity. Now let me ask you: is it really necessary that you use hot water when you take a bath? After all, millions of people all over the world take cold showers everyday.

Hot baths are a luxury. If people treated them as such, then they wouldn’t have any problem saving on their home energy consumption. If you do not agree with this, you have to understand that there are alternatives to using electricity to heat your water.

As a matter of fact, there are solar heaters out there which not only save electricity by using solar power to heat your water, but these can also be connected to power small appliances. If everyone just invested in these ideas, people would be able to lessen their home energy consumption considerably.

Now, we come to lighting. Did you know that lighting counts for 8.8 percent of home energy consumption? Now, people would agree that you need light in order to see your way around the house. However, there’s just one question: do you really need to have the lights on 24 hours? When you think about it, the sun still exists, doesn’t it? Why do some people pull down their window shades and then turn on the lights? Doesn’t that seem like a very futile gesture?

So, as you may have observed, there are a lot of easy ways by which we can cut back our home energy consumption. Just by exerting a little effort, we can save a lot of our money. Did you realize how much energy our homes consume just because of wastefulness?

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Simple steps toward energy efficiency for your home
Orange County Register – Some call it winterproofing the home, but eco-friendly enthusiasts call it water and energy-efficient pragmatism. And they're right. Greenies have discovered how only a few minor home upgrades this winter can benefit the planet, while saving a little

Looking at eco-friendly options for homes
Economic Times – Is your home green enough? It better be if you want to be “in”. More people are fast adopting an ecological way It also has energy efficient windows, building materials and fittings which contribute towards energy efficiency year-round in

HOW NEW RULES WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE
Sunday People – that will mean less commuting and an increase in the number of people working from home. Q Will the climate change commitment affect housing? A New housing will be carbon-free, with triple glazing and other things that make them as energy efficient