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Subject: |
Breaking Away from Your AC and Heater |
| Date: |
2008-10-26
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Breaking Away from
Your AC and Heater
By Ruth and Bob Haag
www.ManageLiving.com
Discussions of home energy savings usually focus on using less energy
to heat and cool a house, in order to achieve a lower utility
bill. We like that, too, but we also like to think about how many
days each year we can be independent of energy use in our home and
office. We ask ourselves, "How many days each year do we have our
heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system turned off?"
To concentrate on what we can do to increase the number of days without
any HVAC, we use two steps:
1. We increase our range of temperature tolerance
2. We push ourselves to keep the HVAC system turned off
When you insist on having the temperature in your building at 72°F
year-round in Northern Ohio, you have to use supplemental energy for
HVAC most days of the year.
Most folks with whom we talk have begun to live with 65°F in the winter
and 75-80°F in the summer. This increased range of tolerance
greatly decreases the need for running an HVAC system during April,
May, September and October of most years in our area.
Once you have expanded your temperature tolerance, you can increase
your number of days of HVAC independence by increasing your use of
passive or natural methods to regulate temperatures.
Use
your curtains
Often we are all told that we need to get "replacement windows"
in order to save energy. Of course, this message mostly comes
from replacement window salespeople. In fact, purchasing or
making insulated curtains can provide much more benefit, and can cost
MUCH less. A triple pane window will afford an R-factor of 2.8,
while an insulated shade can provide R-4.0.
The temperature on a bright September afternoon on the sill of our
single pane window was 100°F. When we dropped our home-made
insulated shade, the sill temperature came down to 78°F.
So drop your insulated shades to block out the heat in the summer, and
raise them to let in the daytime sun in the winter. Drop them
during winter nights.
As a guide to making these shades, we like "The Shade Book" by Judy
Lindahl (ISBN 0-9603032-2-7). It provides step-by-step
instructions. If you don't want to take the challenge, show the
book to a local sewing person. We are confident that they can
easily make the shades.
Open your windows
Before the widespread use of air conditioning, many buildings,
and the people in them, survived the summer months by just opening the
windows.
You can open your windows and create cross ventilation for your
room. You may need some nice paper weights if you open a window
beside your office desk.
If you have no screens, you don’t need to buy a fancy, ugly
window-screen system. You can buy adjustable window screen
inserts online for about $100 a dozen. (We have found them for
much less at a local WalMart).
Wear different clothes
Most of us have become so used to even temperatures in all
buildings that we tend to wear the same general type of clothing
year-round. During a visit to torrid Phoenix, we were surprised to see
that the clothing being sold was no lighter than what was being sold in
Ohio. It may seem simple-minded for us to have to say this here, but it
is not reasonable to wear a
dark 3-piece suit in the summer. It is not
reasonable to wear a T-shirt and shorts in mid-winter. To make yourself
more comfortable in the summer, find lighter weight shirts and lighter
sport coats. Natural fibers, like silk, are often better for
cooling. In the winter in our area, find some nice wool sweaters
to wear, layered with your usual clothes. Look for heavier weight
trousers.
Use natural light
Re-arrange your rooms to put desks and reading areas closer to
windows so that you can use natural light, not artificial light, during
the days. Resist the urge to just flip on the light switch.
Often it is easier to read your computer when the lights are off.
Dry your clothes outside
Drying clothes outside not only saves energy, but also provides
a wonderful natural fresh scent for your fabrics. Try it!
Be aware that local ordinances or condo rules may oppose this
idea. We think that this opposition was probably based on the
idea that hanging laundry out was once a sign of poverty ("Can't you
afford a dryer, dear?") You'll just need to convince your
neighbors that outdoor laundry drying is a "green building"
practice. Maybe you can change your condo rules to require
everyone to hang out their laundry!
How many days can you be independent of energy?
Our goal for this year is to have 130 days that we are
independent of energy for cooling or heating our buildings.
What’s your goal?
Ruth Haag (www.ManageLiving.com)
is
the President and CEO of Haag Environmental Company, a hazardous waste
consulting firm. Ruth is also a business management consultant.
She trains supervisors to identify their shortcomings and tame them,
while creating management systems that focus on their employees rather
than themselves.She is also the author of several books, including a
four-book series on supervisory management which includes Taming Your Inner Supervisor, Day to Day
Supervising, Hiring and Firing and Why Projects Fail. She and her
partner, Bob Haag, host the weekly radio show Manage Living, which can be heard
on-demand on her site. Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com.
Copyright © 2008 Melissa Stanton
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