I, like millions of others, saw the 60 Minutes piece on the Bloom Box. Wow. A small box less than one square foot can power a home continuous for years with little energy input, which would replace the big power plants and transmission line grids. Did I mention that it is wireless? Fed Ex, Google, eBay and Wal-Mart are already testing the Bloom Box with success. Hmmmm … could this really be what every energy consumer in the world has been waiting for, well, forever?
This is the claim anyway of K.R. Sridhar, CEO of Bloom Energy, who came up with the Bloom Box after developing a similar device for NASA. The Bloom Box is made up of ceramic squares which are made from baked sand. The ceramic squares are coated with green and black “inks.” Bloom makes the ceramic discs which it stacks together with metal plates of “a cheap metal alloy.” The more power the Bloom Box makes, the bigger the stack. Bloom Energy is making their official big announcement this Wednesday, February 24.
We shall see if the Bloom Box will deliver as advertised. Only time will tell if we will have Bloom Boxes in our yards in ten years or sooner with no major glitches. Honestly, it all seems pretty much ‘too good to be true’ for millions of consumers, but I am open to be greatly surprised.
So how did Bloom Energy get its name?
So, what do you think of the Bloom Box?
We are pleased to announce that we have partnered with SEES (Solar Energy & Efficiency Solutions, Inc.). One of their many services is a Free Online Energy Audit delivered to your email. You will also receive a Free Energy Guide and Free Green Energy Talk Magazine, all designed to help homeowners lower their energy bills and help the planet go green.
Simply click on the image below or here to signup for your Free Online Energy Audit. You will be presented with a 10-20 page detailed analysis of ways you can make your home more energy efficient. You will also receive a list of all of the incentives, rebates and grants available for your ZIP Code.
There is no cost or obligation and you can opt out of future emailings at any time. Your own Free online energy audit and comprehensive report will show you FACTS for simple improvements to your home or business — save money, save energy, and improve the environment. We hope you take advantage of this service from SEES. Have a great green day.
I've seen many articles and blogs which contain eco-friendly holiday gift ideas. I wanted to place some of them here to be of little help to some of the late shoppers who are trying to get something nice for themselves or their green friend. These suggestions are better than giving fruitcakes. However, I do hear that many fruitcakes have been reused and regifted, so I guess that is pretty eco-friendly.
Go Green this Christmas - gift ideas
Green holiday gifts can bring joy, save money
Joy of green giving: High-tech, environmentally friendly gifts
Inexpensive Christmas Gift Ideas: Save Money and Go Green with Cheap, Earth-Friendly Gifts
Christmas Gifts 2009: Do It Yourself!
Last minute Christmas gift ideas {green products and services}
Happy shopping and have a great holiday season!
I created a CFL bulb testimonial 6 months ago and now I'm updating the status on my orginal claim. I replaced an incandescent bulb with a CFL bulb the week of Thanksgiving in 2008. The previous incandescent bulbs needed to be replaced every month.
I'm happy to report that the CFL bulb is still going after 12 months on the job. I am very happy with these results. The light bulb is in the outside lamp post and is on for a few hours each night.
Orginal CFL testimonial blog post:
For the last few years I’d used incandescent light bulbs in my outside lamp post. They would burn out every month, like clockwork. The light was on about eight hours every day. It was highly annoying to replace a bulb every month. I have since gone to the wonderful world of CFL bulbs.
I replaced an old incandescent bulb with a CFL bulb during the last week of November in 2008. As I’m typing this on May 27, 2009 the CFL bulb is still working. That is six months, which is six times longer than any of the incandescent light bulbs I used. That’s pretty cool, but I haven’t even gotten into the energy I’ve saved. EnergyStar.gov claims that CFLs “will save about $30 over its lifetime and pay for itself in about 6 months. It uses 75 percent less energy and lasts about 10 times longer than an incandescent bulb.” I’m a believer.
I’ve replaced all of my old incandescent bulbs in the house with CFLs now. If you haven’t already replaced your old bulbs with CFL bulbs, I would urge you to do so. You will be conserving energy, saving money and saving time of having to replace bulbs.
So, if you still haven't started to use CFL bulbs, I would urge you to do so. At least try out one and put it in one of your most used lights. I bet you'll be happy with your new investment as well. You'll be saving energy and saving money.
I'll post again on this CFL testimonial topic again when the bulb burns out. If that happens.
Louisville Gas & Electric (LG&E) in their never-ending attempt to educate and help customers to be more eco-friendly and save money has added a CFL Program to their arsenal. Under their CFL Program customers receive a mailer identical to the image above. The customer just needs to mail in the little reply card attached and they will be sent four CFL bulbs. Just like that. I just received my mailer and you know I will be taking advantage of this opportunity.
So if you are not a customer of LG&E are you jealous? Well, contact your electric company and let them know that these programs exist and they too can do more for their customers by providing green programs.
I look forward to receiving my free CFL bulbs. I have many CFL bulbs in my home, but I do believe I have 4 bulbs left which are not. They are the lights in my garage door opener. Wow, my garage is about to get more eco-friendly.
Do other electric companies have similar programs? I would like to hear about them.
Have you seen the guy at your local greeting card aisle standing there forever not able to choose which card to get? That guy is me. I hate looking for greeting cards. It takes me forever to choose between the really sappy cards, the low brow cards and the really low brow cards. It doesn't matter the occasion it is hard for me to find a card for anyone I know in less than ten minutes. With all of this time spent the last time looking for a card I noticed a few cards with a note on the back with 'This card is made from sustainably managed forests'. I, of course, have seen cards which had been printed on 100% recycled paper, but not quite this story. I wanted to find out more about what exactly are sustainably managed forests.
From the Sustainable Forests Products website:
The particular greeting card that had this 'paper from sustainably managed forests' note was a Hallmark card. I wanted to find out a little more about Hallmark and being Green. I found out Hallmark has being making eco-friendly strides for decades.
From the Hallmark corporate website:
Facts
Hallmark began recycling paper in the 1940s.
The company first introduced recycled paper into select greeting card lines and packaging in the 1970s.
Hallmark established corporate-wide energy conservation and waste reduction programs in the 1990s.
Hallmark intends to obtain 50 percent of the paper it buys for greeting cards from recycled stock and 100 percent of the paper it buys for products from sustainable sources.
In 2008, Hallmark developed a “green” icon with four arrows revolving around the Hallmark crown. The arrows represent the four areas of Hallmark’s environmental efforts – water, waste, paper and energy.
In mid-2008, the Hallmark “green” icon started appearing on greeting cards and other product lines. Products made with paper from sustainably managed forests, recycled paper content, or other eco-friendly materials will bear this special icon, along with relevant labeling.
With all of this talk of greeting cards printed on 100% recycled materials and made with paper from sustainably managed forests don't forget about the other eco-alternatives to paper greeting cards. They are hand-made cards from hand-made paper as well as e-cards. Come to think of it, e-cards would probably save me time and get me out of your way as you look for a funny card for your third cousin twice removed. Happy card hunting.
There are ways to make your thermostat be more eco-friendly. Raising and lowering your thermostat temperature can save you money by using less energy. When it is warm and your air conditioning is kicking on raise your thermostat a couple of degrees. Lower your thermostat temperature when your heat is working to warm your home. You can save up to 3% on your bill for every degree you lower or raise the temperature. You will be using less energy without losing comfort. For instance during the summer we have our thermostat set to 73 degrees, while during the cold months our thermostat is set to 69 degrees. We don’t feel any loss in comfort, but we sure see the savings in the monthly utility bill.
If you have an older thermostat you should look into a programmable thermostat because they are very energy-efficient and can save you even more money. From the Energy Star website on programmable thermostats:
Did you know that properly using a programmable thermostat in your home is one of the easiest ways you can save energy, money, and help fight global warming? An ENERGY STAR qualified programmable thermostat helps make it easy for you to save by offering four pre-programmed settings to regulate your home’s temperature in both summer and winter — when you are asleep or away.
The average household spends more than $2,200 a year on energy bills — nearly half of which goes to heating and cooling. Homeowners can save about $180 a year by properly setting their programmable thermostats and maintaining those settings. The pre-programmed settings that come with ENERGY STAR qualified programmable thermostats are intended to deliver savings without sacrificing comfort. Depending on your family’s schedule, you can see significant savings by sticking with those settings or adjust them as appropriate for your family. The key is to establish a program that automatically reduces heating and cooling in your home when you don’t need as much.
Choose the right programmable thermostat — There are three types of programmable thermostats designed to best fit your daily schedule. Learn more about the energy saving features that each model offers.
Do you have a programmable thermostat? How is that working out for you?
