PickensPlan

What YOU did this week to conserve?

I, and others, have started threads concerning WHAT we can do to conserve. This thread is for those that DO. So tell us what YOU DID THIS WEEK. Tell us what worked and what didn't.

Thanks

Tags: conservation, conserve, home, savings

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Permalink Reply by neil cox on January 16, 2009 at 4:54pm
I got the hydro idea from an article in Analog many years ago called "Defeating the Son of Andrew" Andrew was a very destructive hurricane the previous fall. The author gave lots of design details for a huge 6 kilometer tall chimney made of steel. Six kilometer is tall enough to reach above the the thermopause = a permanent temperature inversion. The author theorized that once the draft was initiated, it would continue for about 7 month with no added energy except the warm humid air of the Gulf Coast. Better, several million dollars worth of electricity could be extracted from the up draft and several million dollars worth of water would collect on the inside of the chimney (annually) making the long term hurricane abatement free. Hurricane would steer away from the chimney as it reduced the humidity and temperature and mosquitoes for 50 miles up wind. It seems hurricanes steer toward hot humid air, as that is how a hurricane gets its energy. Neil
Permalink Reply by Sonia England on January 15, 2009 at 10:14pm
Hello everyone,

I am new to The Pickens Plan, I do recycle, have been for years, but I recently bought an on demand water heater, and we switched our ac unit to a water cooled unit, the water comes from our pool, the water stays in year round we dont refill it every year, so the ac unit heats the water in our pool. I dont know if that is very conservative but it has cut our propane consumption by 75% and cut our electric by 25%.
Permalink Reply by neil cox on January 16, 2009 at 12:06am
Your reduced electric and propane bills are all but proof positive that you are conserving. Neil
Permalink Reply by American in the D.R. on January 16, 2009 at 6:53am
Good Morning,

I'm thinking that this is one of our reasons for moving South. From my old home paper. www.seacoastonline.com

Use caution in extreme cold weather
January 16, 2009 6:00 AM
By now it's no secret to anyone that we are experiencing the coldest temperatures in years.

Other than complaining about it — and being cold — there's not much we can do except deal with it intelligently and wait for it to warm up.

In the meantime, here (as reported Thursday) are some of the precautions and actions we can take:


Stay inside as much as possible, and dress in multiple layers when going outside to avoid frostbite and hypothermia. A meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine, said, "Skin can freeze pretty quickly in these kinds of temperatures." Indications of frostbite are a loss of sensation and a pale appearance in body extremities. Warning signs of hypothermia are incontrollable shivering, slurred speech, disorientation and exhaustion.
If there is a need to go outside, limit the amount of time, especially for the elderly and very young.
Maintain heat inside at a minimum of 55 degrees. But use extreme care if using space heaters. And don't try to heat with an oven or outdoor cooking or heating devices.
Watch for frozen pipes. To avoid them, let the hot and cold faucets drip overnight and open cabinet doors to allow heat to get in to pipes under sinks. If pipes freeze, do not use an open flame to thaw them. Use a hair dryer or other non-flame heat source.
Check on neighbors who are elderly to make sure they are OK.

And, hang in there. It will warm up (we hope) before long.

Stay well and safe, ADR

Another article;

Oh snap! Cold to worsen over weekend


By Dave Choate
dchoate@seacoastonline.com
January 15, 2009 6:43 PM

PORTSMOUTH — A potent cold snap hit the region Thursday, keeping many residents indoors with even colder temperatures expected Friday into Saturday.

The streets of Portsmouth were more sparsely populated than usual on Thursday, and those who braved temperatures in the low teens and below wore layers to ward off the frigid air.

Matt Chagnon, a spokesman for Public Service of New Hampshire, said the utility company had not received any reports of lines damaged by the extreme cold Thursday evening. He said the bigger concern might be heavy demand which puts a strain on power infrastructure; the last time that happened was during January of 2004 during a similarly cold period.

“We have had days of record demand in the past,” Chagnon said, who noted that PSNH has received no reports of such demand thus far.

Portsmouth Regional Hospital spokeswoman Nancy Notis said staff there had not seen an increase in the number of patients coming in with weather-related ailments or injuries. She said she hopes that means that people are bundling up and staying out of the cold.

“I hope (people) continue to heed the warnings,” Notis said. “Just keep warm.”

Those who were out and about shrugged off the cold. Phil Geraci, who works in parking enforcement for the city and was easy to spot in his bright green jacket, walked on Market Square starting at 2 p.m.

“I’m just getting warmed up,” he said Thursday afternoon. “At least it’s not quite as windy.”

Ryan Tirrell said he just couldn’t stand being cooped up indoors any longer, though he admitted he was mostly walking from point to point downtown.

“I was just driving myself crazy inside,” he said.

Those like Tirrell may find it a little more difficult to make excursions outside on Friday, when temperatures with wind chill factored in will likely dip below zero. The National Weather Service indicated Thursday that the low could be -10 degrees by Friday night.
Permalink Reply by Greg. Schwab on February 22, 2009 at 12:47pm
The wind turbine on my property should go online the week of Feb. 22, 2009. I have also installed the required wiring to install solar panels at a later date, as budget allows.

In the past 2 years, I have added insulation to my home, replaced an old ineffieient gas furnace with a modern efficient system, and have added an insulating blanket to my electric hot water heater.

I have also rebuilt my well water system with a more efficient design.

http://www.SonoitaValleyRealEstate.info
Permalink Reply by moomesa on April 8, 2009 at 10:27am
hello all,

i see that people are still goin back and forth about who is to blame about the economic mess we are in and it has been preventing me from posting these past weeks so i decided i'll just share with you what i have been doin thes past weeks to save money and energy.

i have and indoor garden that is doin quite well and to over come the low temp issue i keep my starts in plastic zipper bags that blankets come in, in direct sunlight it raise the temp in the bag by about 15 degrees. i'm fairly limited on funds so for extra heat retention i placed shrink film on my windows. i have powerstrips in every room so when that room is not in use i can shut off all the electronics in said room and i also shut every door and vent in those rooms. i have also quit using my dish washer, well i do use it for a drainer. when a light bulb burns out i replace it with an energy efficient bulb.

they are little things but they do make a difference in your bill and your impact on energy consumption.

your java drinkin' friend Moo :)
Permalink Reply by Aaron on May 25, 2009 at 8:23am
There are some great little, easy ideas here that EVERYONE can partake in... if only everyone did. We can only keep spreading the word. I cam across a great ebook on other ways to save energy and ideas on how people can change the way they live -http://af8aaiq1fv58mgu9skkbqyh9od.hop.clickbank.net/

This is a great example and collection of ways we should all be moving forward.
Permalink Reply by Mike Tiller on June 11, 2009 at 2:20pm
I bought SYNJ.
All the Pickens Plan members should buy some SYNJ stock.
It's cheap and lining up to roll out energy alternative products.
Like biodiesel blend for example.
Check it out.Symbol SYNJ
Permalink Reply by Sean Allen on June 26, 2009 at 3:47pm
I live in a two story, 3600 sq ft home and have the 2nd story HVAC unit installed in the attic. The upstairs has always been uncomfortably warm in the summer and the unit could never keep up. We wrapped the condenser with insulation a couple of years ago, and got by. We always have set our thermostat on 78 degrees to save energy.

This spring, I installed a Radiant Barrier in the attic to block the solar radiation from entering the house. This radiant barrier is essentially made up of a perforated thick aluminum sheet, like massive aluminum foil roll that is 48" long roll, and blocks out 98% of the radiation. I purchased 2 x 1000sq ft rolls from the radiantguard website for $ 260.00:and I installed this in my attic, stapling it to the roof Joists. I will receive a 30% discount on my taxes for the cost of materials.

After installing the product my air conditioner would no longer turn on because the temperature upstairs would not go higher than 78 degrees. We had to adjust the thermostat to 77 degrees just to get the unit to come on and get the humidity out of the rooms. We since had to adjust our thermostat to 76 degrees, to get it the AC unit to run enough to just get the humidity level down. We have been running on the new lower temperatures for several months, and our A/C bill is $30 less per month in May, than the same month the previous years, and we are having unseasonably warmer temperatures.

We also replaced the flexible ducts, with solid metal duct which we wrapped with insulation. The remaining insulation was used to wrap our hot water heater. This duct replacement dramatically increased the velocity of the air moving through the system by decreasing friction. The new insulated duct and cooler temperatures in the attic, make the air coming out of the vents much cooler, and it now blows much harder. We are considering installation of a whole house dehumidifier installed on the 2nd story AC unit, so that we can return to our energy saving 78 degree thermostat program for the Summer, and possibly see a very signifigant improvement.

I have attached three documents to help others do this:
Instructions on how to install
Tax Credit Guide
Tax Credit Form
Attachments:
Permalink Reply by Sandie Abel on June 26, 2009 at 5:03pm
I'm expanding my garden--the only hauling of all those tomatoes and cucumbers and seedless Concord grapes will be done by me, on foot. I've never driven a car in my life, so that's an ongoing thing. Keep up the good work, y'all! Sandie Abel
Permalink Reply by Jack Holeman on November 20, 2009 at 5:52pm
We used public transportatiion instead of privately owned cars and trucks. Until we can afford to build an energy effecient home, we rent. We converted our light bulbs where we rent to save energy. We watch the thermometer in stead of the thermostat, and we open windows whenever it's possible instead of control the interior environment using grid power, only. We use the microwave instead of the conventional electric oven. We have battery assisted computers, radios, telephones, clocks, personal technologies. We also work on new ways to convert to less energy use, which includes all new energy technology mentioned by T. Boone Pickens in his studies and the NAT GAS of 2009 Act before congress.
Permalink Reply by neil cox on January 23, 2010 at 1:35pm
Hi Jerry: You can aim your solar array South East any time after sun set; about 11 am, change to South, 2 pm to South West. In May June and July (use standard time not daylight time) you will gain about 5% by adding about 80 degrees East of North about Sun rise or before and 80 degrees West of North about 4 pm = 5 pm daylight time, so 5 changes per day in late spring and early summer. The tilt can be optimised about the same times.
Easier is just point it where the sun will be in about one hour when ever you make a change and you may get better than 95% of the energy you can harvest with an automatic pointing system. This will work at mid latitudes anywhere in the USA (except Northern Alaska) Neil

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