This week's CTTW has us looking at our houses and how we can be more eco-friendly for the weekend.
WEEK-LONG CHALLENGE: This week, prepare your home for winter. Do at least one thing which will ensure that your winter is Eco-friendly. Need some ideas? Click HERE. If you are moving into spring/summer, prepare your home for the warm months ... you'll find some ideas HERE.
Or ...
If you've already prepared your home for the cold (or warm) months ahead, we'd like to know what you've done. Please include tips, ideas and any do-it-yourself advice.
If you've already prepared your home for the cold (or warm) months ahead, we'd like to know what you've done. Please include tips, ideas and any do-it-yourself advice.
I can't say that we have deliberately set out to winterize our home however we have done several things that are on the list. One thing I can say we definitely do is keep the thermostat pretty low. I'm pretty much always cold in our house. haha! I learned early on just to layer up and keep blankets on the couch.
One thing the husband does this time of year, and I have no idea if it helps or not so would like your opinion on it, is that if he uses the oven he will leave the door open after he turns it off. I suppose he feels this helps to heat the kitchen/house a bit? I have no idea if this makes a difference or not, but I don't say anything. I figure that since the oven is off, it can't hurt.
I think I feel we do need to do is clean behind the fridge. I know I haven't done that in a year, which means it hasn't been done.
Ok, so not a lot to share with this one this time around. I'll do better next time. :)
I haven't mentioned the month long challenge yet, which is to reduce energy use by 10%. You know, we actually do really well with our electricity. So I've been trying to think of ways to reduce our usage. I haven't come up with anything yet. Unfortunately, I think it might actually be a bit higher. Due to my insomnia I will often get up once I've awaken and head into the family room to watch tv. Sometimes I actually watch tv and sometimes I just turn it on for the noise and try to sleep. While I feel this is a waste, especially on those days that I turn it on and then immediately turn my back to it and try to sleep, I also feel that if I can get even an hour more of sleep it's worth it.
We keep our heat very low, too ... actually, we rarely turn it on. We layer up and cuddle with blankets in the evening. I think leaving the oven door open after it's been used is a great idea ... the heat warms up the room instead of being wasted inside the oven. I do think it makes a difference ... before we switched to a toaster oven, we'd do that and the house felt warmer (of course we live in an apartment). We still do it with the toaster oven but the amount of heat is minimal (so is our energy use).
ReplyDeleteWhen it's a choice between health and electricity, I think health has to win. Not getting enough sleep is a problem so, if turning the TV on helps you rest, I say go for it ... there are other ways to reduce energy use. :-)
I'm with you...have to think health out-weighs conserving electricity. The good thing is that my reading light runs off batteries, so I dont' feel bad about that since I use re-usable ones.
ReplyDeleteWe leave the oven door open after we've used it, too. I think the overall amount of heat coming out is exactly the same whether it's open or closed, but if it's closed, the heat comes out so slowly that you don't notice it.
ReplyDeleteJust wondering about turning the TV on to sleep by - do you have a radio? Maybe you could get the same effect from a much lower-powered device.
Rachel - Oh..even more who leave the oven door open. haha! Hmm..the only radio is in the alarm in the bedroom, so that wouldn't work. It's a good idea though. Or I suppose I could stream from the laptop, but don't really want to do that.
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