Comments on: Google energy-saving tool

By: Carnival of Personal Finance - Financial Armageddon Edition!

Carnival of Personal Finance - Financial Armageddon Edition! — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 04:26:53 +0000

[...] ChristianPF reviews the new Google energy saving tool. It seems that Google has recently released an application that figures out ways to save you money, and ways to save the atmosphere from Carbon Dioxide. It’s win-win! [...]

By: Joshua

Joshua — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 16:55:02 +0000

Here is one that I have used. It’s pretty neat actually:

http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=home_energy_yardstick.showStep2

By: John

John — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 07:44:31 +0000

Thanks for the tips and link to google. They say 6 billion in savings as a country. Amazing. FYI I think programmable thermostats are the best. They can save around 10% of energy bills. Also, I found another site which gave some ways to save electricity http://www.howtoconserveelectricity.com, many which are free But always looking for more good advice, so any more tips/links appreciated. Thanks

By: bob

bob — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 23:36:01 +0000

Matt,
I saved $1000 by using the tool!! No, not really But it did give me a little bit better understanding of how much certain energy suckers cost…

BTW, I agree about installing geothermal to an existing structure. But, if you have the option before you build, it seems like a no-brainer to me…

Best of luck making it to thanksgiving w/o heat – don’t you live in Wisconsin or something?

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:59:33 +0000

The tool was pretty simplistic, IMO. Not especially useful, at least for me.

Installing a geothermal heat pump on an existing structure is crazy insane expensive. I suppose it’ll save you money in the very long run, but the up front cost is extremely prohibitive. I’m surprised they didn’t have install solar panels on your roof. That’s generally cheaper than a geothermal heat pump…

The way we save energy (money) is by keeping it really cold in our house in the winter. We have a goal of not even turning our heat on until thanksgiving if we can stand it. And then we use the programmable thermostat to have it be around 53 degrees in the house when we’re sleeping or at work and around 58 when we are home (and awake). Most everyone I tell thinks we’re crazy. But burning gas costs money continuously. Buying a sweater and long underwear costs money once. We also didn’t once turn on the AC in our house this summer, though heat can be harder than cold, you can always put more clothes on when you’re cold…