bethzaring
Master Chef
I would like to continue the topic of what we do to conserve energy. A lot of our solutions are meant for the long haul, but some of you are young enough that these things may be practical.
In the 1980’s we built an energy conserving house, by making it super insulated. The walls are stuffed with that pink itchy stuff and are about 12 inches thick; using a set of double spaced studs off set so there is not a direct line of wood through the wall to conduct heat out the wall. We use compact fluorescent light bulbs almost everywhere in the house, these use far less electricity to operate and also generate a lot less heat when they are turned on, (the less heat incandescent light bulbs generate, the cooler it is in the house). We heat the house with a wood fired furnace, but we have our own woods to supply the firewood. But I must confess that as we get older we have bought wood by the ton, the most cost effective way to purchase firewood. It generally is way more expensive to buy firewood by the cord than by the ton. We have an air lock entry for both entrances to the house, so we are never walking directly from the outside into a living space of the house. The living spaces open into a tempered air zone, being the basement and the green house, so we minimize heat (or cooling) loss out the doors when we go outside or inside.
EVERY time you go to get in the car, think, do I really need to make this trip?? I mean, do I really need to make this trip? Can I combine trips? Can I ride my bicycle instead of driving the car? These days, it takes a lot for me to want to get into the car to burn gas that has cost me over $3.00 a gallon. Be conscious of turning off lights and other devices when not in use. Water conservation is a big thing for us right now. We have a spring development and when it does not rain, the spring does not get recharged. In our house, the washing machine is a big water user, so I simple do less laundry. I wash the sheets and towels less often than I used to. Thankfully the dishmachine uses only 7 gallons of water for a complete cycle, so that is the last water using device that gets axed. The toilets get flushed less often and get used less often. We still have an operating out house over by the barn. The shower heads have an off switch so we can turn off the water while lathering up in the shower.
How do you conserve our resources?