# The Best Book I Have Seen On Saving Energy



## SolarGary (Sep 8, 2005)

Hi,
I ran across this book recently:

"The Carbon Buster's Home Energy Handbook, Godo Stoyke, 2007
170 pages, $13, New Society Publishers
http://www.newsociety.com/bookid/3935

It is the best all around book on reducing energy use, reducing carbon
emissions, and saving money that I have seen (and I have looked at a
ton of such books  ).

It provides detailed descriptions of several dozens of projects, and
provides energy saving, carbon saving, initial cost, cost saving, and
return on investment for each. The projects cover all types of home
energy use as well as transportation.

It is also the first book I have seen that accurately describes the
large impact that electric power plants have on carbon emissions, and
the importance of reducing electricity use.

I got mine and Barnes, but I suspect its available at all the usual
places.

Gary


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

Thanks, I keep looking. Taking into consideration my age, and pay back time, many upgrades are not worth it for me.


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

WOW . . . I want to jump all over you for that statement. 
+++++Taking into consideration my age"++++++++

And what pray tell does age have to do with "reducing energy use"

But of course the teenieboppers need to get into it BIG TIME.

But guess what, those of us who are longer of tooth need to be standing tall showing THE WAY for all to follow.

Read the book . . . . . . . . . and all the others.


my $ 0.03


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## SolarGary (Sep 8, 2005)

Wolf mom said:


> Thanks, I keep looking. Taking into consideration my age, and pay back time, many upgrades are not worth it for me.


Hi,
The book has some nice short payback projects -- looking through his summary table:

4 projects with a 0 year payback 
14 more projects with a 2 year or less payback
17 more projects with a 5 year or less payback

The 0 year ones are basically cases where the energy saving idea does not cost anything. For example, going from a hot wash, hot rinse to a cold wash, cold rinse on a regular cloths washing machine can save 7+ KWH of electricity for water heating -- thats 70 cents a load at our electric rates.

There are also some short payback energy saving projects on my site:
http://www.builditsolar.com/TopTen/tenoneyearpb.htm

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/frugal.htm

http://www.builditsolar.com/References/Half/Projects.htm

For example, setting up our two computers and peripherals to go into hibernate when not active, and putting them on power strips so they can be turned completely off at night is saving us $160 per year in electricity -- I would never have believed it was that much, but I have measured it carefully with a KillAWatt and the saving is real.
Or, the bubble wrap window insulation that pays off in a few months.

I'm well into the Old Fart age group, but I figure that I will still be here long enough to see energy prices go up a lot, and I would rather spend some money now on conservation and solar to keep my energy prices from going out of control later. I also like the idea that all the projects also reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Gary


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## tamilee (Apr 13, 2005)

Hi All;
THANK YOU Gary!!! I LOVE the links you posted here. I have them in my favorites and I intend to read them, study them and implement as many tips as possible.  
tamilee


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## vallyfarm (Oct 24, 2006)

Jim-Mi, an example of "not at my age" would be buying a new fridge to save on ele., but the energy and materials used end up consuming more than the fridge would save. Those nasty foam filled things use some very toxic materials. If I'm 90 yrs old, then by the time I would realize a savings (or offset the cost of manufacturing the fridge ) Bob Hope would look like a yungin' next to me. Many of those CFL's are butning out in less than a year. NO savings due to initial cost, but now have mercury vapor. I try to use as little energy as possible...my ele bill is normally under $25, but some times people step over the dollar to pick up a penny. Mike


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## OntarioMan (Feb 11, 2007)

Hello - I'd be interested in seeing your data if you have it handy. We actually have three desktop systems and one laptop running fairly frequently. I recently purchased a KillAWatt meter as well and will be measuring various devices to try to save a few bucks here and there. Thanks,



> For example, setting up our two computers and peripherals to go into hibernate when not active, and putting them on power strips so they can be turned completely off at night is saving us $160 per year in electricity -- I would never have believed it was that much, but I have measured it carefully with a KillAWatt and the saving is real.


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## SolarGary (Sep 8, 2005)

OntarioMan said:


> Hello - I'd be interested in seeing your data if you have it handy. We actually have three desktop systems and one laptop running fairly frequently. I recently purchased a KillAWatt meter as well and will be measuring various devices to try to save a few bucks here and there. Thanks,


Hi,
Its the first one on this page:
http://www.builditsolar.com/References/Half/ProjectsConservation.htm

It gives all the measured power levels, KWH savings, and greenhouse gas savings. This is going to be in the next issue of Home Power Magazine, so just to be sure I did not screw up somewhere, I went back and measured everything again, and got the same results. Its kind of amazing how large the saving is, but I believe it is correct.

Gary


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## strider3700 (Feb 2, 2007)

I'm going to cut and past this from a different site I posted it on. I was trying to track down my electric usage with a kilowatt meter and here are my PC measurements. The pc is an Athlon 3500+, 6 HD's, 19" CRT and cable modem. 



> Initial measurements of the PC are interesting
> 
> the monitor draws 3 watts when turned off.
> it draws 60 watts when turned on and in text mode
> ...


As an asside I'd like to thank Gary for his solar site. I've learned a ton and tinkered with a bunch of projects thanks to the info on that site.


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

Interesting figures Strider.

You also have shown why putting all this stuff on *plug strips* is the way to go to get rid of all those phantom loads.

For an off gridder those 3's and 10's etc. add up in a big hurry.


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## strider3700 (Feb 2, 2007)

I did a breakdown of everything I could measure in the house. Phantom loads where accounting for something like 15% of my summer usage which is really quite low. 

Little things like the doorbell transformer and hardwired smoke detectors add up. Power usage can easily cost more then original product did over it's life span.

I'd happily pay more for products that will save me over the long run but it's impossible to tell looking at them. Big appliances like fridge/stove/washers and dryers have their energy star ratings but small things don't.

I've made a bunch of changes recently and should redo the entire house measuring wise.


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## highplains (Oct 5, 2006)

There is one other thing to save on as well, a large CRT monitor compared to the LCD screens - the savings while running is pretty incredible, the monitors I had compared looked to save at least 30% while running. It is definitely something to check on as well for energy savings.

I need to get one of the kill a watt meters too, it would be interesting to do some studies with the meter on computer equipment I own.


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

Yes those kill a watt meters really work.

Put one in your pocket and the next time your at "a friends house" ask if their tv is off. When they say "Shure it is off - -you can see that" . . . .Your reply could be "Ya wanna bet".
Then you procede to show them that it isn't . . . . .lol


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