It's beginning to look a lot like ...

On Friday, many of us will queue up before dawn to get the bargains. Some of us will try to sleep off the feast of the day before. Still others will head into the office for a day of coffee breaks.

And then there are those who will put up the Christmas lights. So much is hanging on your decisions. Should they flash, or do that lights-in-motion thing? Just on the roofline, or around every window? What about the bushes? And what color? What color?

Another big decision these days is whether to stick with traditional bulbs, or switch to strings of LED bulbs. According to a 2008 report prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy, a complete shift from traditional incandescent/mini holiday lights to LED strings would be equivalent to the annual electricity consumed by nearly half-a-million homes. Wow. That shift is not going to happen overnight, but it's worth noting that strings of LED holiday lights:

1. consume 80-90% less energy than traditional strings of incandescent/mini lights
2. could last 20-30 times longer, by some estimates
3. burn cooler, radiate less heat and pose less of a fire hazard
4. don't overload the electrical circuits
5. stay lit when an individual bulb burns out, and allow for easy replacement

By one estimate, traditional incandescent Christmas bulbs can cost over $120/month for 10 strings lit 8 hours a day. In comparison, LED strings could run for less than $1 for the same time frame. The LED holiday lights do cost more initially, but depending on your own use of them, these bulbs could survive to be handed down to your children and their children. And so on.

One final question lingers: What about what to do with the old lights?

Here's where I struggle a bit; I want to do the right thing and consume less energy, and the LEDs accomplish that. But I can't stand to just get rid of perfectly good lights that still work. I could always donate them -- but then someone else is still using the electricity and has to deal with disposing of the lights later. I could throw them in the garbage, since my city won't take them for recycling -- but I can't bring myself to do that. So if I replace my Christmas lights with LED strings, the old lights will sit in the front closet until I can figure out what to do with them.

Lucky for me, the Recycling Association of Minnesota, Clean Energy Resource Teams and several corporate sponsors have teamed up to provide an option: I can take my old lights to drop-off sites around the state, where they will be collected and recycled. This video clip from last year explains the program, which seeks to reduce waste and create jobs. This year's goal is to collect 200,000 strands of old lights. In addition to recycling the copper and glass in the lights, taking the traditional lights out of circulation and replacing with LEDs will reduce the kilowatt hours used, and help to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the power stations.

The holidays are all about traditions, and lighting up our houses is one that many of us hold dear; by making a switch to LED lights, we can keep tradition burning bright for years to come.

"Brave Helios wake up your steeds/bring the warmth the countryside needs"

While volunteering at the Minnesota State Fair's solar energy exhibit this summer I fell hard for solar thermal energy. I mean, we always hung out and stuff, but during those two weeks I realized it could be so much more.

With solar thermal technologies, the energy in the sun's rays is harnessed as heat, which can be used to heat a swimming pool,heat water for home and industrial uses, heat interior spaces, and even create electricity for the grid. I was not really aware before my volunteer stint how practical and easy-to-implement solar thermal technologies are.

I had not really given much thought to using the sun for space heating a home, but it the "solar furnace" idea is actually very old, going back to the Roman times. It has been experimented with in various "hot box" forms since the 1800s that would be recognizable today. The Victorian greenhouse and solarium are passive solar collectors themselves, albeit room-sized.

Today's solar thermal furnace is, most simply, an insulated metal frame with a glass surface on one side and another plate of metal inside the box, to concentrate the heat. The box (or boxes) are installed on the south-facing wall of the house, and the air in the box is heated by the sun. Fans circulate air from the home's interior into the box to be heated, then push the air back into the home when warm. A thermostat/controller keep the air flowing when needed, and a system of ducts and fans bring heat to the entire home

One installer I spoke to this summer said under the most optimal conditions, a solar furnace could provide up to 30% percent of a home's space heating before the "backup" furnace would have to kick in, be it a furnace burning conventional fuels like natural gas or oil, or a non-traditional system. Of course, the 30% number depends on a lot of things, including how large your home is and particularly how weatherized and well-insulated it is. Also, the solar furnace will not heat the air when it is dark or gloomy out, hence the backup furnace.

To me, the solar furnace is an attractive solution to cold-weather heating needs:

1. Very simple technology and few moving parts mean less maintenance.
2. The fuel source is free; the fans and controller can be run using the sun's power as well, with a small photovoltaic panel.
3. Thoughtful weatherization/insulation can reduce the baseline heating need, and boost the contribution from the solar furnace.
4. A high conversion efficiency coupled with a first-year installed per-kWh cost lower than solar hot water and solar photovoltaics make it one of the most cost-effective entries into renewable energy for individual homeowners.
5. Solar thermal installations qualify for federal and state incentives, speeding up the return on investment.

Adding solar thermal space heat isn't a simple decision, and a lot of homeowners may find the barriers to doing it are more than they want to deal with. One significant concern I heard from fair goers was that the utilitarian boxes don't really blend in with the architecture of their homes or neighborhoods. And dependent on each home's location, there may not even enough solar exposure to make the systems cost-effective.

Still, if I could do one thing involving renewable technologies, adding solar space heating would be the first on my list. For now, solar thermal energy and I are holding hands and making plans for a sustainable future together that I hope comes soon.

Put on a sweater, you're making me cold.

The U.S. government says the average household spends over $2,200 per year in energy costs, with almost half of that going toward heating and cooling. There's not a lot you can do about cold weather if you live in the Upper Midwest, but there are a lot of things you can do to take the edge off winter heating bills.

1. Because I am my mother's daughter, I keep the thermostat at 58 degrees overnight and when we aren't home, and bump it back up to 65 or so when we are home. That's just the how it was done when I was growing up, and I continued the tradition without considering not everyone else does. In fact, some people tell me it's nuts. But our natural gas utility validates dialing down to save on energy costs, even advocating 55 degrees if you plan to be gone for several days. Minnesota's Office of Energy Security explains that for every 1 degree you adjust the thermostat down, you can save 2% of your fuel bill.
2. In The New York Times one energy industry player estimated that 80% of Americans who have programmable thermostats simply do not bother to program them because it's difficult. The Energy Star program says you can save up to $180 per year by properly programming your thermostat, and points you in the right direction on its website. Set it and forget it!
3. Let the sun shine in:  Maximize the winter sunlight and boost your indoor heat by keeping curtains or blinds open during daylight hours, then keep the heat indoors by keeping the windows covered when it's night. South-facing windows will get the best solar exposure and help brighten the house as well as warm it.

 
I think we may already be at the threshold for keeping the thermostat low in our house, but how low can you go? Who's with me at 58?

Another bright idea ...

I can't remember the last time I changed a light bulb in our house. I think I may have changed the porch light three or four years ago, but that's it -- and it's all because we switched 100% to CFLs.

Compact Fluorescent Lamps are often maligned for the color of the light they produce, the way they look, their price and their disposal requirements. Early bulbs seemed to lend a gloomy cast to a room, and the spiral shape looked awkward in exposed settings. But if you have decided that CFLs aren't for you, take another look.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, CFLs use up to 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs of similar light level, last up to 10 times longer and produce up to 90% less heat. One bulb won't make much of a difference in your electricity bill. But think about all the lights you use in your house. Over the 10-year life expectancy of one 25-watt CFL (replacing a 100-watt incandescent), you could save up to $105. That's per bulb. And if your electricity is coal-generated, using fewer watts over time means less carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Enough numbers, here's why I love CFLs:

1. I can't remember the last time I changed a light bulb in the house. For real.
2. With a little experimenting, we found the right color balance, and we like it better than incandescent. Two "daylight" and one warm equal the perfect balance for reading, crafting and hanging out in the living room. We like the bluer CFLs for reading, yellower CFLs in the foyer and bedrooms. The kitchen is still a work in progress.
3. The bulbs give off little heat. In a house with no central air, this makes a huge difference in the summer.
4. CFLs come in different styles, not just the spiral, like tubes, circles, and even with casings that resemble incandescent bulbs -- and they work with our '50s vintage lamps and '30s vintage sconces.

The one downside to CFLs is getting rid of them. You cannot put them in the trash or regular recycling because they contain mercury. The lighting industry and utilities promoting CFL adoption could have done a more aggressive job of educating us on how to dispose of the bulbs, especially when they break, when the bulbs first came on the market. I made the mistake of cheerfully vacuuming up the one that broke, not realizing that is the wrong move entirely. Very detailed steps are here. They include letting the room air out, keeping people and pets away, picking up the broken pieces (using tape or damp cloth as needed), sealing the debris in a plastic bag, and taking it to the hazardous waste facility.

Using CFLs are just one step to take toward reducing your overall energy use, but it's among the simplest and easiest.

Have you made the switch?

The chill of late autumn settles in over the northern plains,

and I can hear the wild wind whistling.

Oh, wait. That's not the wild wind, that's a draft coming in through the cracks in the slanty shanty we call home. My natural gas utility tells me if I add up all the small cracks and gaps in our house, they could equal a 2-by-2 foot hole in the wall. Even worse, it could cost me up to 40% more to heat this winter.

The U.S. Department of Energy estimates 10% of heat losses are from poorly-sealed windows, and another 2% is lost from uninsulated wall outlets. Sealing my home from the winter's chill is one of the simplest and most cost-effective things I can do to keep the heat where I want it, keep the bills lower, and reduce consumption of a non-renewable fuel source.

1. Take a little patience, an extra set of hands (or two), and a hair dryer to seal the deal with plastic window kits. We did this last year in the rooms we use the least, and it made a noticeable difference. Before you decide the plastic-covered windows are ugly, consider how ugly your winter heating bills can be. The living room, dining room and foyer are on the docket for this year.
2. 
   For the double-hung windows I am not using plastic on -- like the kitchen and bathroom windows -- I can use rope caulk to seal up small leaks. It's easy to press around the window edges by hand, it's easy to remove again, and it can be stored and reused if clean and flexible.
3. Foam insulating gaskets for your electrical outlets and light switch plates and safety caps to stop the air leaks. You'll want to turn off the power at the breaker box before starting this one.

It looks like my weekend is booked. More energy-saving suggestions can be found at:
http://www.mnenergychallenge.org/
http://www.energysavers.gov/

Energy Efficiency Rules!

For the next several days, I will be posting daily energy-efficiency tips and suggestions, as part of a seminar on sustainability I am taking. Please respond to any of the posts, offer suggestions, etc. All feedback will be incorporated into the final paper for this class.

Thanks for participating!

He's tippin', I'm sippin'

I think I have finally taken a step into the current century by creating a blog. A girl's first blog is a precious time in her life, and not to be made light of.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhMh3DcrTk4