Swamp Cooling!

An evaporative cooler uses a combination of a water source and a fan to blow air that has moisture (water that has evaporated) in it  into an area.  In order for water to evaporate, it needs a heat source.  An evaporative cooler uses warm air as the heat source to evaporate the water.  When the water … continue reading

Current Cost Envi better than TED 5000?

Recently there has been a commenter adding comments to our TED 5000 posts promoting a competing product: the Envi by Current Cost.  The commenter links to a company that sells the Envi, so even though I assumed he works for the company that sells a product which he was promoting (and not disclosing … continue reading

How much Energy does AC consume?

Stop that AC unit!

***Update – 8/20/2010 – The post below was originally posted in June of 2009 and has been incredibly popular.  In that original post, I included a calculator to help people analyze how much electricity their AC unit consumes, but I’m not including it in this re-post because of some … continue reading

Belkin Conserve Surge Strip: Tackle Vampires Wirelessly

We’ve written a few blogs now on Energy Vampire Loads, including The Biggest Vampire in Your Home – The Cable Box and How to use an Electronic Timer to control Vampire Loads.  But one  of the best products I’ve seen to control vampire loads in your home is the Belkin Conserve Energy Saving … continue reading

Sniff out Energy Savings

If you live in Georgia chances are you’ve seen the Georgia Power energy hunting dogs “sniffing out energy savings”.  The ad campaign includes billboards and TV ads and is executed very well.  From the Georgia Power website you can click on “Sniff out Energy Savings” for their Home Energy Calculator that gives customized … continue reading

What is HERS rating?

HERS (Home Energy Rating System) is a rating system developed by RESNET in order to measure how efficient a home performs.  From the RESNET About Us page:

In April 1995, the National Association of State Energy Officials and Energy Rated Homes of America founded the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) to develop a national market for … continue reading

Save Energy in Car or Home : Replace Air Filter!

If you live in a home that has central heat/AC or if you have a car, then you have air filters.  And if you haven’t changed them for awhile, then chances are your systems are using more energy than they need to and hurting their performance.  For most homes and cars, changing your air filters … continue reading

Scam or Misleading Energy Saving Products

Everyone wants cheap, clean energy.  This means that there are many unscrupulous individuals out there who want to sell everyone products that claim to “save 40% on your energy bill” or “produce energy for free!”.  The biggest energy scam out there is the Magniwork free energy scam, but there are many other similar scams (or Magniwork … continue reading