Heat wave: Energy tips, and a blackout hits

The country is moving through a heatwave. 100-degree temperatures. People darting between air-conditioned cars and office buildings. Kids running through sprinklers. Air con and fans on all night. Eggs frying on sidewalks.

But there are some opportunities to save money, especially when it comes to energy costs. Timing air conditioning on/off times is an obvious choice. Using the cooler basement rec room to relax or sleep is another.

Less obvious: Adjusting water heater standby temperatures. We switch from 140 degrees to 120 degrees in July, because hot showers are out of the question in the summer, and our boiler will use a lot less energy trying to maintain hot water at 120 degrees, compared to 140 degrees.

In the car, I open the windows in town, rather than using A/C to cool off. But when I hit the highway, I close the windows and turn on the A/C -- the increase in aerodynamic efficiency outweighs the energy loss from using A/C. I also carpool two days a week, and try to coast as much as possible, which entails using both the gas and brake pedals less. If I had cruise control, I would use that as well, but that's not a feature on our Ford Escort wagon.

What about when there's no power? We lost power four times in the past 24 hours. During the day, there's not much we could do -- head to the basement maybe, or out to the backyard, where there's some shade and the kiddie pool. The fridge and freezer can't be opened, so we have some canned juice in a cupboard. At night, we tried to keep the kiddies calm (all under five, and anxious when the lights failed). We have candles ready, and a hand-cranked flashlight in the cupboard as well (incidentally, this a great item to have in the vacation home, if you have one).

What are your energy-saving tips? Do you have a blackout emergency drawer, or do you just wing it when one hits?



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