I’ve been intrigued for a few years with the concept of running diesel powered cars with used vegetable oil recycled from restaurants. It works like this:
The car starts up using normal diesel fuel from the regular tank. After warming up, the system switches to 100% vegetable oil. After reaching its destination, the car must purge the [...]
Most strategies for decreasing fuel consumption focus on the automobile. While there’s no mistaking that there are many things you can do to increase your car’s miles per gallon, just as importantly is driver behavior. The way we drive has a tremendous impact on the amount of fuel we consume.
Hypermiling is the term given to [...]
So far at ETD, we have focused exclusively on saving energy in our homes. While that will continue to be the primary topic, I’ve decided to take a week off from home energy savings and focus on another area of energy savings — our automobiles.
Savings at the gas pump are very similar to home [...]
I’m sure most of you, like me, have climbed into your attic on a hot day. Here in Arkansas on a hot August day, temperatures in a normal attic can reach 130 degrees. I know — several years ago, we had our HVAC system replaced in August. The workers were understandably miserable in the stagnant [...]
I’ve previously discussed “phantom” power loads - those electrical devices that draw power even when we think they are turned “off”. I found that my computer and its peripherals were costing me $5 per month even when they were turned off. I solved the problem by installing a power strip, plugging everything into the power [...]
Continuing our discussion on the energy-saving features we put into our house, today I’ll talk about the windows we used.
In the first installment of this series, I discussed the framing techniques we used. For a full list of the energy saving techniques we used, read the overview post.
Windows
For all the windows in our home, we [...]
Here’s one of those little things that may not save a lot of energy each day, but combine 4 -5 of these types of tips and you can make a sizable dent in your energy bill over the course of a year. One of the things we have done is turn off the [...]
From EnergySavers.gov:
“Insulating your hot water pipes reduces heat loss and can raise water temperature 2ºF–4ºF hotter than uninsulated pipes can deliver, allowing for a lower water temperature setting. You also won’t have to wait as long for hot water when you turn on a faucet or showerhead, which helps conserve water.
Insulate all accessible hot water pipes, [...]
An often overlooked area of potential energy savings is something that happens in places you can’t normally see — in your attic or below the floor. The ductwork that carries conditioned air to the interior of your home is usually very underinsulated.
Even if your ductwork is sealed properly, if it’s not properly insulated you are [...]
A few years ago, our air conditioner was out during the summer. We had to wait a couple of days for the HVAC contractor to make it to our house. With two small kids and a drafty older home, it was imperative that we keep the home as cool as possible. Plus, I get really [...]