You're probably ahead of 90% of Americans.

I would have planted deciduous trees rather than use the awnings- was that not an option?

Any way you can use the solar gain from the windows in the winter?

Do you use a clothesline instead of a dryer? IMHO, the delicious smell of clothes dried on the line is one of the real pleasures of life.

Hi annebert,

Planting a tree too close to a home results in a lot of problems once the tree matures which is something most to nearly all people don't think about (including landscapers, ugh). There is a tree in the middle of the front lawn, yes, but it is nowhere near large enough yet to act as an effective leaf umbrella. Awnings look really nice and I think we'd be one of the only homes in the neighborhood that had them (no "rules" against them thankfully). The wife is ok with them, we're contacting the company and having them send us swatches to ensure that we pick the right color to match the house.

The windows are in fact used to help heat the house in winter, kind of by default. While they're weather stripped they are still solar heaters of a sort. My son and I are going to make some actual solar heaters for this winter and try them out in the downstairs window since it has a sizable ledge to put them on. Just for fun of course, unless they work well, in which case we'll make some bigger ones for upstairs and downstairs both.

Clothesline sounds good, but it will require checking the HOA "rules", I have a feeling they may have something against them, nobody around here seems to use them at all. Or not, again need to check, it may be that the neighbors just don't use them out of habit.

There was no HOA when we built, they snuck it in a few years later once everybody had bought a house. We're going to inherit 40 acres out in the country in a few years (it's in a will, in a family with no strife) so HOA's may soon be a thing of the past for us.

At that point, solar panels go up on the new home's roof, windmills get installed and I may tap the creek that runs across that property for hydro as well! :)

A guy can dream right?

I learned radiant barriers (i.e., Eagle Shield "=NASA radiant barrier") need to not touch other materials to work best. IOWs they should not be attached to insulation, boards, etc.
The stuff is very expensive tho. Has anyone had this stuff placed in their attic?

I'm all for using less energy as long as it doesn't require me to spend more money, or money I wouldn't otherwise spend anyway. I wish people would talk about this kind of thing with a different title, like "using energy in smarter ways" or something. The whole "green" label is a turn-off to some types, and a lot of people just don't accept concepts like global warming as fact. Please don't jump all over me, I'm not saying that's me, just pointing out that in areas, like where I live now, people will make "anti-green" choices just because of the label put on the choice. It's a fundamental attitude issue that needs to be addressed before comprehensive cultural changes can manifest.

Actively finding things to buy to save energy can be self-defeating when you consider the resources and energy used to make the thing you bought and the energy you used to go get it and cart it home. There's also the old stuff or thing that now needs a new home or space in a landfill. Some of these things are worthy, especially in terms of longevity, some not. You have to think it all the way through.

Anyway, about clotheslines and dryers... I have one in my yard and tried using it a few times for towels & blankets. Yes, they were dried for free, but I had to wash them again to remove the bird poo, and one time there were ants crawling on some things. And it's a huge chore to lug that stuff outside. I can't pick up anything heavy and would end up all wet, lots of lost time. And no way am I going to hang my underwear on a rope in my yard. So what I do now is use the dryer until things are mostly dry, then hang everything up inside. If you are lucky, you have a door near your dryer. Hangers usually will hang on the top jamb of most interior doors. I use the dryer about half as much and don't have bird poo on anything.

This winter I never turned on our furnace. We used 3 electric hot oil heaters for the rooms we actually use and let the rest go cold. I ended up spending about the same money but when we used the furnace in previous years and set it around 68, we were frozen all the time. With the heaters, we kept our occupied spaces at about 75 for the same money and were so much more comfortable. So we didn't really save or conserve but the same money and energy allowed us to be comfortable instead of miserable for those 3 months.

Make sure your freezer is packed full of something, freeze water in plastic bottles or jugs if you don't stock that much food, especially in the summer time.

I'm also a big fan of turning everything off & leaving the house whenever possible. I love the CFL bulbs! I started buying only these about 15 years ago and although I've left a few in previous residences, I've only ever had to replace 2 of these.

Not convinced buying a Prius is truly beneficial. First, your old car will still be out there, so you've only added a car to the total out there. Say you drive 400 miles per month and your car...

Hi all

I must say I was very impressed with all the creative ideas you have come up with in regard to reducing energy consumption, and like primemover wrote, I too would love to know how the original poster is getting on with the carbon reduction plan. I know the majority of this thread focuses on free or cheap ways to reduce energy consumption but there is only so much energy you can reduce free of charge. With all the tried and tested methods of reducing energy consumption, it might now be the right time to invest in an energy reducing technology that guarantees savings and has an acceptable pay back scheme (given that gas and electricity prices are continuing to rise).

There are now some great products on the market that will guarantee energy savings, perhaps the most popular one being PV solar panels, though these can be somewhat expensive if purchased privately. Another cost effective way to tackle electricity consumption and also reduce your carbon emissions is through voltage optimisation. A unique device that lowers the incoming voltage to your property to more accordingly match the electrical start up of your appliances. Is this something you guys have heard of before?

If you can get over your concerns about roots (and you can find some that this is not a concern), you can espalier a tree to the south facing wall of your house. That way you get the full sun in the winter and shade plus evaporative cooling from the leaves in the summer.