Money saving tips for heating and cooling using Energy Star

Energy Star appliances have become a common place in today's world.  Most people would really have to try to NOT have an energy star appliance or device in their home today. So let's see what makes a device an energy star one!

What is Energy Star?
According to www.energystar.gov, the energy star label is a:

...trusted, government-backed symbol for energy efficiency helping us all save money and protect the environment through energy-efficient products and practices.
The ENERGY STAR label was established to:

• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants caused by the inefficient use of energy; and
• Make it easy for consumers to identify and purchase energy-efficient products that offer savings on energy bills without sacrificing performance, features, and comfort.

One of the best features of the ENERGY STAR label is the fact that once they have the market share of products, meaning once there is 50% or more of an ENERGY STAR device under one category, they revise the specifications and raise the minimum efficiency standards, they impose harder performance and quality standards, etc.  Yes, in a way, that could make your device no longer ENERGY STAR, however, that makes the field grow ever better in terms of efficiency, quality and makes the world a better place. 

Currently some of the biggest bills out there that a person has is from the heating and cooling of a home accounting for approximately 29% and 17% respectively.  Following that is the water heater (14%), appliances like the refrigerator, dishwater, and clothes washer/dryer (13%), lighting (12%), electronics like the TV, DVD player, computer etc (4%) and of course, the 'other' category like the ceiling fans, home audio, vent fans, etc (11%).

The heating and cooling of ones home is by far the most expensive parts of ones budget and there are some simple ways to save a few bucks without buying a new, more efficient device.  However, if your device is more than 12 years old, replacing it could save you 30% off your bill which would result in a pretty quick payback period!  To be an energy star device you need to have a Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (or SEER) and an Energy Efficiency Ratio (or EER) of 14% more efficient than standard models.  Here are some tips to help save money!

1. Change your air filter regularly (preferably every 3 months) a new filter allows the air to flow easier and the system work less, saving you energy. Likewise, a clean filter will help keep the air cleaner in the home because dirty air wont be circulating around. I recommend getting a 3M Filtrete filter, they are capable of filtering out bacteria, pet dander, smog, mold, smoke and just about everything that isn't good! I like 3M because their products are top of the line and if you can filter smoke, then everything else will get filtered as well.
2. Tune-up your HVAC yearly. Your car needs a tune-up, why wouldn't your heating/cooling system? This should be done by a professional.
3. A programable thermostat will save you money. These typically will pay for themselves very quickly as you can tell it to raise/lower the heating/cooling while you are gone and when you return so it's like nothing ever happened, except a lower energy bill.  ;-)
4. Seal & Insulate the heating and cooling ducts.
5. Insulate your home!  Not having a tightly sealed home is like leaving your windows open.  A home energy inspector should be able to tell you where your home is lacking insulation along with many other tips and look at your home as a system instead of individual pieces.

Saving money while traveling Part 1 - Search Engines

This coming winter I'll be going on my usual trip to Europe. As I'm planning my trip to Germany, I'd figure it's a good time to let my readers know what places to search as well to save some money!

First of all timing is the most important. If you're flexible and willing to go off-season then you'll be saving the most right there. It's important that these prices can literally drop hundreds just by offsetting the date by one week or to the weekend. So I ask, are a couple of days worth hundreds to you? It sure is for me!

Here's an example. If you're planning a 4 day - 3 nights trip for 2 adults and 2 kids to Disney's Park Hopper staying at their Paradise Pier Hotel from August 27 to the 30th, you'll be booking it for $1540.06 but push that back not even one weeks to Sept 1 to the 3rd and you'll be looking at $1253.04, a huge savings just because it's no longer the peak season come the 1st.

Similarly for flights, the cheapest time both international and domestic flights are on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Where the most expensive is Saturday for international and Sunday for domestic flights. Also usually early morning or late evenings are the cheapest as well, while afternoons are the most expensive.

There are tons of website search engines out there to look for tickets. But the list below are the best ones I've found for both domestic and internationals with some small comments.

Kayak - A really fantastic website, originally you could only search flights and hotels but they seem to be continually broadening now including vacations, deals, car rentals, etc. They will search hundreds of websites (including other search engines) for the cheapest flights and can show you in a couple of different views with great filtering options. I usually find my cheapest deals here.

Expedia - This website is similar to kayak where they will search about several website and give you the cheapest around, however, from my experience, they'll give you the same or slightly more expensive flights than kayak.

Orbitz - What can I say, we all know orbits.

Travelocity - Dito

Bing - Bing is becoming a lot more popular now, I don't use them too much but they're great for domestic flights because they can show you how the prices have been fluctuating!

Ebookers - Because I mostly travel to Germany, this is a great website, sometimes they'll have flights a tremendous amount cheaper than kayak.

ITA software - ITA software is a little bit unusual, it'll give you flights that are available and prices, but working it is a little bit tricky to get the most out.

Once you have your flight booked, you'll probably want to head over to Seat guru to pick out the best seat around!

Solar Fest in San Antonio

Yesterday was the solar fest in San Antonio.  While I was there I was able to see several very interesting things and learn a fair amount in the short stay.

First of all, this was not the stereotypical hippy "buy solar or die a gas guzzling SUV-driving capitalists" type of place.   As we walked into the park, we were greeting by a row of car that were converted into pure electric and I think there might have even been a hardcore electric-gas hybrid truck.  I have to note that one of the cars was even a DeLorean!  "Back to the Future" Baby!!  Live music was powered completely by the sun, and a solar pump to charge up that electric bike of yours that you rode in on. 

While there I was able to see how easy it is to green up both your home, car, office and everything in between.  There were booths on transporting natural light from outside of the home into your home, solar panels, wind energy, vespa's (for those of you who want great mileage but not the hassle of recharging),  among many other great things.

For those of you with kids, they were able to play catch with all of the different mascots running around, they included a sun, fox, and smoothie (from the smoothie king stand) all of the while the adults listened to the music watching the kids play.  They also had face painting and a Radio Disney stage available. 

The expo showed, I believe, a great insight into all things that were renewable and sustainable living.  They had talks from local companies, HEB, CPS, and others talking about what they were doing to help and show how you can afford to purchase the units.

For example, a 4kW system would cost you around $32,000 to $40,000 but after all of the tax credits and CPS credits it'll end up about half of the cost or about $18,500.  And a nice note is that CPS among other companies is trying to make sure you can add it to your mortgage.  No, this may not be something you do to your house if you plan on moving soon, but for those who have a home and really plan on staying there, this is a great investment into retirement!  Imagine owning your home without any mortgage and having solar on top meaning your bills really would be almost nothing with just your basic phone, water and gas.  Simply Amazing.

From what I read there was expected over 4 thousand people attending and a great success.  And for those of you who live in Texas or other sunshine states and own a home, I can't stress it enough how great an investment solar is, both financially and sustainably, for you.