Day 31 Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

It has been 31 days and yet we keep finding ways to save electricity. Because it has been so beneficial for me and my family, I'll continue to blog household savings. In January, I'll be blogging ways to cut back on the heating bills. If any of my readers have experience in this area, I would welcome a quest post and link to your regular blog. Contact me at iNails at hotmail dot com.

I saved one of the biggest savers for last. If you heat with electricity, turning the heat back can save a bundle. We heat with a combination of oil and electricity so this has worked well for us. We were gifted a heated mattress pad which we warm up before bed. It costs pennies to use and keeps us toasty. I tend to turn it off once it's warm because I still haven't gotten used to the idea of sleeping on heating coils--that's another post.

I put in a programmable thermostat and programmed it to turn the heat way back starting a couple of hours before bed. Now, we really cut it back. At night the temp is set to 50 degrees. We bought some warm PJs and a sleep cap. I've even found I sleep much better when it is cold in the room. A bonus.

We have also curbed our use of the electric heat.

Don't forget, today is the last day to sign up for the monthly newsletter and get a chance to win.

Don't forget to register for the monthly newsletter. The button is to the right. At the end of December I am giving away a Kill-A-Watt meter and 2 microwave pizza trays. More goodies to come. All you have to do is register for the newsletter during the month of December to be eligible for the fishbowl style drawing.

Day 30 Saving Electricity

Okay, now that the holiday is almost behind me, I'll tackle the issue of holiday lights.

The lights are fun. Every year I look forward to going and looking at them. Once upon a time we would even put up quite a display of our own.

This year we did not put up lights outside. We set put to enjoy the most fantastic lights around. In fact, the light display we found ourselves going back to over and over again was on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. If you are familiar with the area just go south on the bypass road and hang a right at Pigman's BBQ and go straight. You can't miss it. But hurry, they come down on the 1st.

For me it's a better deal to let someone else put up the lights and pay the electric bill. I'll drive by and enjoy the scenery... and yes, throw a tip in the jar if provided. Or, the fish tank as the case would be here.



Don't forget to register for the monthly newsletter. The button is to the right. At the end of December I am giving away a Kill-A-Watt meter and 2 microwave pizza trays. More goodies to come. All you have to do is register for the newsletter during the month of December to be eligible for the fishbowl style drawing.

Day 29 As the Year Comes to Close

As the year comes to a close, I look back on accomplishments and look forward to new feats.

It's been very cold and I am pleased that we have learned to pull on a sweater instead of turning up the heat. We have learned to close doors and turn off lights.

I went back today to check my carbon footprint. What I found made me feel good about our efforts over the past year. Our previous reading was 11.8 CO2/yr and our new reading... Drum roll please..... Ta Dah...5.4 CO2/yr. We more than cut it in half! Wow.

That survey didn't include all of the little things we did such as giving ecofriendly gifts and sharing rides. It didn't include switching the Rv to solar.

So, go ahead, set a benchmark and see what your carbon footprint is. Then come back at the end of next year to see what a difference you have made.

Now, if diets were just that easy. I'll leave that for www.twitter.com/girlwithnoname A better body would be her area of expertise.

Don't forget to register for the monthly newsletter. The button is to the right. At the end of December I am giving away a Kill-A-Watt meter and 2 microwave pizza trays. More goodies to come. All you have to do is register for the newsletter during the month of December to be eligible for the fishbowl style drawing.