So, there is a lot of talk these days about “Being Green”. You know, trying to be a little more earth friendly, reducing our carbon footprint, leaving the planet a little better than we found it, that sort of thing.I don’t really know all that much about what it means, but I know we will eventually run out of coal, oil, gas, whatever, and there seems to be plenty of wind, sun, etc. As I ride my lawn tractor (which still burns gas, I’m sorry to say), I look up at the sunny southern slope of my roof line, and thin about how wasteful it is that I am not capitalizing on the free energy that is just bouncing around up there.
With each statement about being “green”, there is often some snide remark uttered somewhere about how difficult it is, or how impractical, or how much it costs. It reminds me of Kermit the Frog’s favorite song, which inspired the title of today’s blog. True, if you want to buy enough Solar Panels to power your house, you’re probably looking at a 15 year pay off. With current incentives from the US Government (and some State Governments) that can get down to 6 or 7 years, maybe less. Yet, it’s still a chunk of change up front.
We hear about replacing burnt out light bulbs with Compact Fluorescent light bulbs, and how much energy they save, but then we see the cheaper “standard” light bulbs at the store, and we just do the same old thing. They can’t be as bright, right?
For every person who is gung ho about recycling, you hear another who says that it is completely counteracted by the amount of diesel that is burned by the recycling trucks driving around to pick it up.
So, why is this so difficult to be green? In reality, it’s not. Now, it should be noted that I am not some raging environmentalist. In fact, I am definitely more to the right than the left. However, I don’t know that there is anybody on either side of the political spectrum that would stand on the argument that we need to waste more. that being said, I want to give three quick hits that I have made personally in my house, that will have had a positive financial impact on my bank account, and are definitely greener…. something I’d like to teach to my kids.
1) I have replaced every lightbulb in my house with Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs. I did not wait until my lights burned out. I saw them on sale at Home Depot, and had already done my research, and made my move. It took me about 3 hours to change all of these bulbs, including recessed lighting, can lights, regular lights, pantry lights, closet lights, everything.
My research had shown that, of your electric bill, approximately 25% is attributable to lights. So, I’m looking at my $350 monthly electric bill, and I see about $90 in lighting there. If I look and see that, of all the 60, 75, 80 and 100 watt bulbs that I changed, and replaced with 6, 9, 11 and 14 watt bulbs (that, due to their shape, produce the same ambient light), I was swapping, on average, an 85 watt bulb for an 11 watt bulb. , or about an 85% reduction. 85% of $90 is $76.50 I would stand to save every month. A 3 month payback isn’t bad. Turned out it was better than that.
Number of Fixtures: 96. Average Cost Per Bulb: $2.10. Investment: $201.60
Average Actual Monthly Electric Bill Drop: $90/month over 12 Months
2) Turn down your water heater 2 degrees. You don’t need it THAT hot. My wife said that you shouldn’t have to have the shower on MAX to get it the way you want it. True, but if it’s at the middle of the setting when you are showering, then that means you are mixing hot and cold, and your water is working and burning fuel to keep the water so hot that you have to mix it with cold to get it the way you like it. What sort of cockamamie logic is that?
3) Go Solar. By June 1, our house will be producing between 1/2 and 2/3 of our own electricity via solar panels. No up front cost. No investment. We found a company that would lease us the panels, with an option to buy at Fiar Market Value in 10 years. We will pay $125 a month, and the reduction in our electric bill, in today’s prices, will be about $140 on average. Even though those savings will grow as electric rates rise (never mind what happens with Cap and Trad and other taxes that are sure to be coming). It’s not a LOSS of money, and it certainly makes us the greenest ones on our block. If I wanted to buy the panels now, the ROI is within a few years, but I didn’t really want to ake out a big loan, even short term, so the lease was right for me. I’m happy to share the name of the company with anyone who is interested.
I’ve done a few other things, too, like teaching my kids (and my wife) to turn lights off, to adjust the thermostat, and to cool the room with ceiling fans. It’s really about being smarter. These steps, and a few lightbulbs, are already saving us about $100 a month…and that’s significant.
Oh, and I think I can pretty comfortably say, I’ve taken a big step in reducing my carbon footprint. Whatever that is.
