Computers and other electronics are some of the biggest energy hogs in our homes and offices.  So anything that helps recude your power use is worth taking a look at and maybe giving it a try.

The EcoButton is a handy little power-saving gadget that sits quietly beside the keyboard to help remind you to save electricity when you step away from your computer.And it’s really simple to use.  It plugs into a USB port and then the L-E-D glowing disc sits on the desktop and waits for you to give it a press when you’re taking a break. 

The EcoButton website takes you through the easy install steps and includes a power consumption screen where you input the wattage of your computer, the size of monitor and the price per kw of electricity to help calculate your energy savings.

While most computers have a stand-by mode, the EcoButton takes your computer down to a deeper energy savings without totally shutting down your computer; it’s called S3 sleep state.  The beauty of that is when you’re ready for lunch or to slip away from your computer for awhile, just press the EcoButton and your computer takes a snooze without losing the work that’s open on your screen.  When you return press any key on your keyboard and the computer refreshes - right where you left off and you’re ready to work again in seconds.  Cool. 

The nifty gadget costs about $20 and the maker says it can save you up to $100 a year on your power bill - depending on how often you remember to use it.  The EcoButton works with Windows 2000, XP and Vista programs.  It is not Mac compatible yet, but they’re working on one.  And you must have the hibernate mode available on your computer for the EcoButton to work.  I couldn’t find it readily available at U.S. retailers, but you can get it on-line.  Here are some sites I found - other than EcoButton.  If you find it in stores - let us all know.  It might make a great stocking stuffer for the holidays!

As we head into the hot summer months, who isn’t looking for ways to cut back on their power bill?  It might be that energy leaks in your home are costing you more than you think.  There are ways to find those leaks and tools to keep your energy use low.

ProEnergy Consultants is a local home energy audit company.   They will come into your home with tools like a thermographic scanner to find the abnormally warm or cool spots around windows and doors - even walls where insulation may be too thin - to help you identify where you may have energy leaks and why your bills may be higher than you’d like.  Eillen Ruiz, a ProEnergy consultant will be at the Green Outlet in the Arts Factory on E. Charleston for First Friday, June 5.  She will have solution products like a solar attic fan, which is installed on the roof and uses sunlight to power a fan that pulls warm air out of hot areas of your home - like your garage.  (Eileen likes to call it the “man cave.”  Very fitting.)  Also something simple with a big name - radiant barrier - is simply foil-like material placed over your attic insulation to reflect the heat from the sun.  It helps keep more heat out and ultimately the house cooler.

Find Eileen at First Friday and check out a lot of other neat ideas she’ll have with her at the Green Outlet in the Arts Factory.  Otherwise check out their website if you’re interested in an audit.  By the way, home audits go for about ten cents a square foot.  And after they identify the problem areas of your home - you can take their ideas to improve energy savings and do them yourself, or they put you in touch with the right people who can install energy saving products for you.  If you’re looking to lower your power bills - it’s a cool place to start!

Most of us just open our power bills, grumble a little and then pay it.  But with NV Energy’s new rate hike proposal this week, we might all take a second look at how we can reduce our power consumption and our bills.

NV Energy actually has several programs to help either reduce your energy use around the house and or help pay your bill.  A very successful program called, “Cool Share” - formerly “Cool Credit” - helps reduce your power bill by conserving energy during the hot summer months.  NV Energy will deliver and install a brand new digital thermostat at no charge to you, in exchange you agree to let the power company cycle your air conditioner on hot days above 104.  You can also manage your thermostat remotely from your computer while at the office.  That could help save up to 20% over the long run of the year.  Check out the details of the program and sign up if that sounds like a good deal to you.

Comfort Savings is a free energy assistance program for income-qualified customers, whether you own or rent a home, condo or mobile home.  You will get an in-home evaluation to see where you might need some improvements to help save energy around the house.  It could be simply installing CFL lights, adding insulation, weather stripping or window caulking, etc. 

Another assistance program is NV Energy Connection which is run through the state.  It offers financial assistance and a similar weatherization program. 

And Project REACH helps vulnerable seniors over the age of 65, medically fragile, Reserve and National Guard customers pay their bill, if they meet the income requirements.

Equal Payment allows you to average your bill over a 12-month period.  So instead of paying those huge spikes in the summer, you can make equal payments every month.  How do they know what to charge you?  The past year of energy use is averaged out over the next twelve months.  It doesn’t save you on your energy bill, but it allows you to budget your money by knowing what your power bill will cost every month.

If you don’t qualify for assistance, you can help yourself by evaluating your home with an on-line questionnaire which really analyzes how you use power around your house.  It takes about 5 to 10 minutes to fill out the details of your applicances, habits around the house, etc. and the results really show you where you’re spending your on power bill.  you can even compare your home to your neighbors with similar size homes.  Check our My Account.  It costs nothing to take the test.

And NV Energy offers lots of great energy-saving ideas on their website, too.  Many of them are free, some are low cost and some moderate cost.  All of them can save us money on our power bills and that will definitely come in handy this fall should the proposed rate hike gets passed.

It makes perfect sense to build energy-smart homes in the desert!  And especially ones that could even pay homeowners back during the hot summer months.  In a cooperative effort between the UNLV Center for Energy Research, Pulte Homes and NV Energy, the first-ever green community is going up in Summerlin.    

Villa Trieste will eventually have 185 homes, ranging from about 1500 to 1900 sq. feet and priced in the low $200s.  All will have cutting-edge, energy-saving features like roof-integrated solar power to help create energy for the home, real-time energy meters inside the house that will communicate directly with the utility company when the power demand increases at peak afternoon hours, as well as improved ventilation, thermal systems, HVAC equipment and water conservation features.

The community is actually a research project, funded by a $7 million grant from the Dept. of Energy.  UNLV researchers will monitor home performance once they are occupied.  The goal is to find ways to reduce peak energy consumption by more than 65% compared to a typical new home development.  Hopefully it’s just the beginning of new and smart eco-friendly ways to construct homes in the hot desert southwest.

The grand opening to view the models for Villa Trieste is Saturday, January 10.  The homes are located off the I-215 Beltway west.  The first phase is expected to open in April of this year.

Eventually the colder weather will set in, so now is a good time to think about easy green ways to save on your winter heating bills.  Some of them cost you nothing, but can save you a lot.  Other ideas can cost very little and help you save big.

Have you ever heard of a draft dodger - or draft snake?  It’s a long tube of material, stuffed with rice or something similar, that sits up against the edge of the door or window sill and blocks the cold air from coming in.  It also helps keep the warmer air from escaping the room and your heating dollars from slipping through your fingers.  Draft dodgers are reasonably priced, and even cheaper to make them yourself.  I found several versions - including an adjustable one for doors or windows - in the store at Bed, Bath & Beyond.  If they are out, they tell me they can order them for you.  For other versions of the product, just google “draft dodger” or “draft snake” and you can find a bunch of on-line merchants who sell them.

Here are other Winter Energy Saving Tips. (more…)