LET’S GET AHEAD! … by neil smith - Make Money, Save Money, Seal the Deal!

12/5/07

First, some focus…

I’m not going to get into the political angles of energy here as that is not the role I wish to take for my writings or this website. My purpose here is to find ways to save money, make money and hopefully learn a few things in the process. Therefore I am keeping this series of articles on saving energy squarely in focus of the financial aspects and am leaving the rest for all you global warming nuts and lazy pollution pigs to fight over. Sound reasonable? I thought not. Let’s get started anyway.

Of course we all know that it would be rather impossible to merely pluck valuable information out of the air, so before I dive in, please note that the bulk of the tips I am writing about in this series are coming from information I have obtained directly from the U.S. Department of Energy’s “Energy, Efficiency and Renewable Energy” website which can be found at http://www.eere.energy.gov and most items can be delved into in much greater detail there. I am merely presenting what I felt I could boil down, pass along quickly in the context of an article such as this and then leave it up to you to explore on your own having hopefully inspired you to do so.

Boiling It All Down

Did you know that heating water can consume as much as 25% of your home’s overall energy consumption level? Some common sense things you can do to reduce this impact are:

* Insulate your hot water pipes and the tank of your water heater

* Lower the temperature on your water heater

* Install such energy saving devices as a drain-water heat recovery system and heat traps for your water heater

* Use less hot water - duh!

You may also want to see if there exists perhaps a more efficient model of water heater out there which will increase efficiency enough to warrant the cost and time it will take to recoup and become a cost-saving device.

Solar Water Heaters (or washing on the sun!)

When my wife and I visited Greece (insert your childish snickers here…), we kept noticing these large panels on the roofs which appeared very similar to solar panels. On our last day’s stay at our hotel, I couldn’t resist any longer, so I actually climbed up to take a closer look, trying not to bust my ass since there had been recent rainfall and everything was wet and slick, and discovered these panels had piping running through them and were actually the method they used to heat water!

I was absolutely amazed that these roof panels were able to provide enough hot water for an entire hotel and because they really weren’t anything too fancy, just some tubes running back and forth through panels with a reflective backing and a plexiglas covering, I can’t imagine them being very expensive at all.

There are also tankless water heaters and methods of using your home’s space heating system to assist in heating water in order to take some of the load off the water heater.

All of the above are great options worth exploring further and the method best for you will depend upon your particular needs, the types of fuel available and local laws and building codes which may limit what you can do on the outside of your home aesthetically and what types of equipment are available legally.

Heating a Swimming Pool (for those so rich, they don’t really need to save the money, but I’ll include it here anyway because it makes my article appear longer and more “in-depth”)

Probably the best ways to control heating costs for a swimming pool are to use a solar pool heater, use a pool cover after use and just plain ol’ not heating the pool at all!

What’s the matter?

You a wuss?

Dive in ya big chicken!

Bok! Bok! Bok! Bok!

Please leave your ideas and thoughts via the comments section below and maybe bok like a chicken while you’re there too…

~letsgetahead

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I started as a guitarist in 1986 at the age of 18 touring and recording with punk and hard rock bands across the USA as well as Canada and Japan. During the tech boom of the 90's, I began working entry-level marketing jobs for various tech-related companies (they were hiring anyone with half an aptitude back then) where I received professional training marketing and various forms of business technology. After the tech crash, I floundered in various office jobs, usually going through about 3 per year all while still performing in bands at night. By about 2003, I had built up my entertainment business enough that when I got laid off from my clerical job at a law firm, I was able to shift to performing as my full-time living. I never lost my taste for technology and starting developing an interest in self-help gurus as well (hey, don't we all want to be rich and successful!?). I discovered brilliant minds such as Suze Orman, Jim Cramer, Tony Robbins (I always thought that guy was a total douche-bag until I found one of his cassette tape courses by a garbage dumpster and decided to give a listen through and see what he's all about. I was very surprised at just how brilliant of a guy he is.) and have most recently discovered John Chow whose methods for making money online I am currently attempting to follow (thus this blog and the chronicling of my journey down this path while trying to build a community where we teach each other how to make better lives for ourselves and one-another). I still perform several nights per week throughout the Southwest and if you would like to come see me, just check out my calendar at http://www.neil-smith.com . Hope to see you soon! Neil Smith