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When you are trying to be environmentally conscious to the world, it is amazing how sometimes the smallest things can make the biggest difference. Case in point, this forum passage from Treehugger, which explained how the simplicity of reprogramming your thermostat and using an electric blanket or heating pad, not only saved a lot of energy, but a lot of money too.
Here we see the common frustration many of us have had while trying to heat an older home, which, as told by this fed up home owner, "(had) more leaks than a sinking ship." We are told to reuse old things to cut down on waste, but what do we get when we move into an older home. Well you get hairline cracks, low quality, degraded insulation, and single pane aluminum windows.
The cost of getting all this stuff up to snuff could skyrocket into the thousands if you are not careful, and we are talking about the $15,000, $30,000, on up to $100,000's, to bring an older home up to the efficiency levels of a newer built home. Many of us just don't have that kind of funds to spend on that kind of upgrading, but today we offer this readers free solution to part of the problem... and it all comes down to a simple $100 heating pad.
As described in this forum, this homeowner bought a $100 heating pad, programmed their house thermostat to drop to 55 degrees when they were sleeping, and within two months, they had already made-up the $100 they spent on the pad. This is not even mentioning the amount of savings they had given back to mother nature in the form of natural gas energy.
If you think you are robbing Peter to pay Paul (reducing natural gas usage, but increasing appliance electricity usage), you really aren't, as you are exchanging the mass heating of a 1,000 square foot to 3,000 square foot home, down to a 76 inch by 80 inch area. Not much comparison as to which one is going to take less energy to heat.
Even if you do live in a newer home that is rather efficient, you can still save in the range of 1 to 3 percent on energy for every degree that you turn your thermostat down during the winter. In the case of this homeowner, going down 14 degrees, saved them over 15 percent on energy every single winter night. Imagine if we all would follow this simple rule during the winter months.
Let's all try it and see what happens!
More energy saving ideas
Find Out How Much Electricity You Use, Then Cut Back
Save Energy by Avoiding Phantom Power: Part 1
Save Energy by Avoiding Phantom Power: Part 2
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