I found this great article that I thought I should share...1. Build a clothesline
Next to your refrigerator, your dryer is likely the biggest energy-guzzling appliance
in your house. And while we wouldn't ask you to store your food in a vintage icebox, an old-fashioned clothesline is actually a pretty good idea. (If that sounds too retro, think of it as a "solar dryer" instead.)You can buy a pulley kit like the one pictured here at the hardware store. Or you can order the components online. But it's easy to make a traditional clothesline yourself, using 4x4 or 6x6 pressure-treated posts for the uprights and 2x8s for the cross arms (which don't need to be pressure-treated). Simply notch the posts to receive the cross arms, set them in concrete, and run the lines on eye hooks between them. A 4- or 5-foot cross arm should give you enough room for five lengths of line, nicely spaced.
Lumber: $42
Hardware: $10100
Feet of line + 100
Wood clothespins: $17
Total: $69
2. Add a tube-type skylight
There's at least one place in your house — a dark stairwell, a north-facing bathroom, a rear hallway — where you can't see what you're doing without turning on a light, even in the daytime. That's the ideal spot for a light tube, which lets you bring in the sun's rays without the hassle or expense of installing a conventional skylight. These so-called "sun tunnels" capture light through a plastic lens mounted on the roof, bounce it down through the attic inside a reflective tube, and beam it out through a plastic diffuser in the ceiling. From the inside looking up, you see what appears to be a no-frills light fixture. (Some models have bulbs inside, so you can get light day or night from the same spot.) True, you don't get a sky view, but you also don't have the energy loss associated with standard roof windows. Tubular skylights are much easier to install, because the tubing fits between roof rafters and frees you from having to build a shaft to get the light through the attic. If you're handy, it's a half-day project. And if you're not, you can hire a pro and still come in under the $500 cap.
14-inch tube kit with flashing, sealant, and 4 feet of duct: $229Extension tubes: Two 20-inch sections at $40 each
Total: $309
3. Put a recirculating pump under the sink
As you stand around waiting for hot water to arrive at your bathroom sink — or, worse, wander off to do something else while the tap is running — watch what's flowing down the drain: not just water, but all the energy that went into heating it. But let's say you could press a button and have hot water in an instant. That's the work of a clever device called an on-demand recirculating pump. Installed under the sink, the pump captures the not-yet-hot water before it exits the tap and shoots it back to the water heater. The process repeats until the water gets hot enough, at which point the pump shuts off, you turn on the tap, and the steamy stuff flows. Obviously, this setup saves water. Less intuitively, it also saves energy. That's because the water going back to the heater is usually slightly warm, so reheating it takes less energy. And the pump moves water faster than a typical faucet can, which means less heat loss in the pipes — and less waiting time for you.
Metlund D'Mand S50 Recirculating Pump: $268 (includes all fittings for copper pipe)
Total: $268
4. Insulate hot-water pipes
Without insulation, your house's hot-water pipes act as a gigantic radiator, transferring heat to the air so efficiently that any water in the pipes — even if it left the boiler at a toasty 105 degrees — is barely lukewarm 15 minutes later. So if you wash your hands to prep dinner, then need to rinse a pot, you'll have to wait for hot water all over again. The solution: Insulate pipes wherever you can reach them by encasing them in rubber or polyethylene foam tubes. The tubes come with an adhesive-coated slit down the middle, so you just ease them over the pipe and press the ends closed. Seal the seams with duct tape. Tests show that insulation can double the cool-down time in 1/2-inch pipe and triple it in 3/4-inch pipe.
Tubes to cover 45 feet of 3/4-inch pipe: $55Roll of duct tape: $5
Total: $60
How to Insulate Pipes
5. Plant deciduous trees
Plant trees now on the south, east and west sides of your house, and you can picnic under them in a couple of years. In five years, they may provide enough shade to let you run your air conditioner less frequently. And when the trees mature, they could save you as much as 40 percent on your cooling costs. Beyond shading your property, trees also help combat the "heat island" effect that occurs in urban areas, where concrete and asphalt absorb and hold in heat. Two popular varieties are red oak for large lots (it grows to 70 feet) and trident maple for small ones. But before you buy any saplings, check with your city's public works department; some trees have invasive roots that plug water or sewer lines.
Total: $35-$50 per tree
How to Use Trees to Save Energy
6. Install a programmable thermostat
With an estimated annual savings of $100 and an initial outlay of only about $50, few upgrades pay for themselves as quickly as this one can. With a programmable thermostat, you can automatically adjust your heating and air-conditioning systems to match your family's seven-day-a-week schedule. During the winter, for example, you can set it to turn off the heat after everyone's snug in bed, switch it back on in time for a warm wake-up, then putter along at a lower temp until the kids get home from school. The most advanced models let you program up to four settings for each day of the week. For every degree you lower your thermostat for an 8-hour period, you cut energy use by about 1 percent. Set it back 10 degrees overnight, and that's a 10 percent savings right there. And we bet you won't even feel the difference — except when you're paying the bills.
Honeywell T8112 Seven-day Thermostat: $49
click here for the rest of the article
By Jeanne Huber
Photos by Rob Howard This Old House
Nichol
as MunsonCentury21 Home & Investment Center
Office: (406) 755-2100
Email: nickmunson@century21.com
http://www.montanagreenrealestate.com/
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