A Blog by WARM Training Center
appliances
Watt Meters for Libraries
Jan 6th
I attended the Friends of Michigan Libraries fall workshop at which you spoke in October. During your very informative presentation, you suggested that libraries consider purchasing Kill-o-Meters (I think this is what they were called!) for library patrons to borrow. Our Friends group is considering following up on your suggestion and I am hopeful you can provide information as to where these meters can be purchased.
Thank you in advance for your time and advice.
Joanna
Yes, ever sense I first heard that either Plymouth or Canton Library had started doing this, I’ve been telling other libraries all about it. It’s a great idea. South Lyon’s library now carries one as well (as do both Plymouth and Canton).
A variety of power measuring devices are available on the market. The cheapest which does just fine for most people’s needs retails around $25 and is called the Kill-a-Watt.
I haven’t yet found a specific Michigan retailer that carries these (though I’m sure someone does). Right now, I can just point you to some online spots to buy these. Two of my faves: Energy Federation Incorporated (good for a great many energy saving tools) and ThinkGeek. Also, note that the manufacturer’s site has the Kill-a-Watt manual which is a really good idea to include with the check-out.
Residents everywhere — tell your libraries to get and promote these!
Buying a new home…
Jun 24th
My spouse and I are probably going to buy a loft in Midtown over the next few weeks. The first step was making a reservation to hold the unit, which we did. Then we’ll meet with the architect to design the space and pick out the floors, counter tops, etc. Then we’ll put a deposit down to start construction. Then we’ll close. I’m writing you because we’re meeting with the architect on Thursday, and I want to know if you could suggest any questions we should ask, options we should explore or requests we should make around making our home the most environmentally friendly and energy efficient it can be. Also, we’ll have to purchase things like a washing machine, dryer, fridge, etc. so advice there would be helpful too.
– Brittany, Detroit
Congratulations! There’s lots of specifics we could get into, depending on the exact details you’re interested in, but here’s the essentials:
1) Energy Star certification — ask what the rating is for these units on the HERS index, which is the measuring system underneath the Energy Star certification process. If they don’t know, then ask them to find out. Try to push them to hire an Energy Star consultant to be able to answer these questions – put it as a consumer rights issue: you should be able to know what to expect out of the energy usage. But know that they probably won’t know and might not agree to find out for you. In which case, you should hire one yourself. You can hire WARM (but there are lots of other great folks too, see this list: http://resnet.us/directory/raters.aspx) to work with you and the architect to figure out how to make this really energy efficient most inexpensively and get real data on what that energy efficiency will cost you, etc. This also becomes useful for possible eventual resale for you. It’s a buyer’s market these days, so hopefully you should be able to get them to run the Energy Star numbers for you. Continue reading “Buying a new home…” »
Refrigerators – keep them working for you this summer
May 12th
There is a lot we can do to keep our refrigerators running properly, and because our refrigerators are the biggest energy users in our home (unless you have a spa or pool pump), it’s beneficial to keep it in tip top shape and save some money. According to the Dept. of Energy, refrigerators cost around $100 to operate over the course of a year. Making them more efficient and using more efficient models can cut down on those costs.
First, the easy stuff. Clean out around your refrigerators condenser coils and make sure air can flow freely around them. Dust, animal hair, etc. collects around these coils and makes it more difficult for the refrigerator to operate, so it runs more and eats up more electricity, costing us more money. Here’s a step by step guide on how to clean them safely. Continue reading “Refrigerators – keep them working for you this summer” »