Daniel asks…
Should I turn my natural gas furnace off in the summer to save energy or leave it on?
adminsta answers:
Leave it on, doesn’t cost but pennies (OK maybe a buck) a month. It is only the pilot light. Honestly not worth my time when it gets cold and you forgot to light it earlier. Good question though.
Linda asks…
Does Running the furnace fan continuously save energy in the summer?
I’ve heard that it works by cycling cold air from the basement into the house therby keeping the Air Conditioner off. Is this true? Or does running the fan constently burn more energy than it saves?
adminsta answers:
It probably saves a little but the fan is electric and continuously running it uses a bit of electricity but saves more then the A/C.
Donna asks…
Does running your furnace fan continuously save energy in the Summer?
I’ve heard that setting the thermostat to ON will save energy by constently cycling cold air from the basement to the rest of the house, keeping the AC off. Does this work? It would seem that having the Fan run all the time would use more electricity than even just having the Air Conditioning switch on and off.
adminsta answers:
Unless your ductwork is open to the basement, you wont pull any air upstairs. Usually, the return duct is a closed duct. It just pulls air from the rooms upstairs and brings it back to the furnace. If the duct is open to the basement, by the time that air is brought upstairs and circulated through the house, its not going to be very cool. A very common setting for t-stats in summer is to put the fan switch to ON and set the system to COOL and set the t-stat setpoint. The fan will run continuously, and the t-stat will cycle the A/C condenser on and off when it needs to. This will help circulate air through out the house and keep it cool and dehumidified. It also helps with homes with smaller ductwork, or hard to cool rooms. Good luck and hope this helped!
Helen asks…
Saving Energy (T.V’s)?
I was reading this on the comp. (about saving energy) :
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/life/7-easy-ways-to-save-energy-this-summer-without-sacrificing-the-a-c-180272/
And one of the easy steps said to unplug your TVS to save energy. What I have a question on is if you do that, wouldn’t that mean re-programming the t.v’s after every time you unplug it?
Thank you in advance for answering. 
adminsta answers:
Older computers, old TVs, and old appliances in general take more power whether they’re on or “off”. The local power company here in northern calif will pay to take away your really old appliances.
My main computer is 6 years old. In “sleep” it takes 3 watts and when “On” it’s about 100. The article you linked claims computers take 75% of their On power; maybe they mean when the computer is running its screen saver. My 3% figure comes from asking the computer to go into Standby (an HP computer).
Our Samsung 46″ flat screen TV is only a year old. When turned Off (but still able to respond to the Remote), it consumes 1 watt. When On it’s 186 watts. I have turned it completely off many times with no ill effects.
I don’t have a traditional cable box. The more modern TVs just have a “cable card” plugged in (internally).
Our DVR (Digital Video Recorder), a Tivo, is 27 watts all day and all night. It has no sleep mode. It doesn’t even have an Off/On switch. I have a computer turn off a relay which shuts down its source of power at night. Internally Tivo is a computer so yanking power without saying a civilized ‘goodnight’ is generally not a good idea. But it ticked me off that they didn’t even provide a way to shut it off. So far, no ill effects. BTW, when turning Tivo back on, it takes 5-10 minutes to get its TV guide stuff off the internet etc; that is, Tivo’s not immediately usable.
The “router” that brings the internet into the house takes 16 watts. It can be shut off but when it’s started up again, it can take 10 or 15 minutes to get its head straight.
I measured these power values with a Killawatt meter. They’re sold on Ebay, at Fry’s Electronics, etc.
John asks…
Does Summer daylight saving time was the most stupid idea to fool ourself ?
Does Summer daylight saving time was the most stupid idea to fool ourself ?
Why we fool ourself by turning the clock forward and backward twice a year ? I did not see any energy saving because buildings still turned on all the lights day and night. Now it even advancing it happens in March. I feel so badly for the North part of USA and whole Canada where the snow is still on the ground in March,and they want to enjoy the so called Summer saving time ? Many smart countries in the world scrapped this stupid idea long time ago. Why not happen to us ??
Good jokes from all !
I want to hear more. I really hate to adjust 20 clocks and watches for home,car,VCR,TV. etc.
I never change the standard time for my car because I knew it is going to change back within few months.
adminsta answers:
Modern businesses keep Daylight Savings Time because they got tired of all the employees leaving an hour early in the summer to enjoy a long afternoon. Employees griped when the employers asked them to come in an hour early, to make an 8 hour day. So to fool the employees (kidding) and keep all business on the same schedule, we “leap ahead” an hour to allow us to think we are working 9 to 5, when it is really 8 to 4, sun time. {serious points in a joking manner.}
In the winter, when it is dark when we leave for work, and dark when we get off work, and an hour one way or the other makes no difference, we go back to straight sun time, so at least high noon is high noon.
Jenny asks…
How can I save money on energy bills this summer?
Every summer the energy bills kill us. All of our windows face west and we don’t get any breeze. We have an old central air, which does its job but isn’t very energy efficient.
I’m thinking about buying a new air conditioner, window or portable. Which do you think would be better? (We live in a one bed room apartment which is about 650sqft) Does installing some kind of reflective films on the windows work? I also heard that bamboo sheets can keep you cool at night in bed. Has anyone tried that?
adminsta answers:
Keeping the shades drawn in the day to keep out sunlight helps. Open the shades and windows at night to let cool air, it will help keep the house cool during the day. Yes, bamboo sheets do having a cooling effect, even more though is a bamboo mat that lays on top of your mattress. Many Chinese people sleep directly on them but putting a sheet on top will not alter its affect. As for a window a/c, that depends on where you live and what floor you live on.
Carol asks…
Should there be Laws to save energy?
Have you ever driven down the street and almost every business has its lights on even when its closed? Trust me, people trying to break in know is closed and arent fooled by the dim lights. The gym around the coroner leaves every personal tv on all night. That must be 60 tvs! yet they refuse to turn up the AC in the summer to save energy. wtf? In restaurants they have at least 4 light bulbs at each table with 40-60 W each. Why dont they change them to the 13 W energy saving bulbs that are just as bright? If people arent going to take initiative to do it themselves why shouldn’t the government have energy regulations. Its not going to harm or inconvenience anyone really.
Lights are left on at business for advertising reasons and yes for security reasons but thats what alarm systems are for. when it goes off all the lights then blaze on. Theres no reason to dim the lights, and leave them on all night.
adminsta answers:
I agree, it is pretty funny that they tell us to shut of all unnecessary lights and yet right down the road – there’s the blazing McDonald’s sign – even though the store is closed! Same with the grocery store – what – do they really need to remind the neighborhood where the store is at 3 am?
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