Energy Savers

What Will You be Buying for an Energy Tax Credit?

On Tuesday, Allison talked about her experience shopping for a patio door that met the requirements for a federal tax credit for energy efficiency. She found that it's important to make sure the manufacturer can provide a certification statement verifying that the product meets all requirements for a federal tax credit.

What will you be buying for an energy tax credit?

Each Thursday, you have the chance to share your thoughts on a question about energy efficiency or renewable energy for consumers. Please comment with your answers, and also feel free to respond to other comments.

Give Me My Tax Credit! (Or, How I Almost Bought the Wrong Patio Door)

Over the past few weeks, my husband and I have been shopping for a new patio door. We currently have a sliding glass door that we have always hated—full exposure to winds from the west and to open fields behind our house mean that we always have dirt and dust getting in through that door, not to mention cold air in the winter and heat in the summer. The final straw was a warped and squeaky track, no doubt aggravated by our dog's constant indecision over whether he wants to be inside or outside (oh, the dilemma!).

Since sliding glass doors are known to be inefficient (and ours was already driving us crazy), we decided that a door that swings, rather than slides, is our best bet. Here are the other features we want in a door:

Induction Lighting: An Old Lighting Technology Made New Again

Induction lighting is one of the best kept secrets in energy-efficient lighting. Simply stated, induction lighting is essentially a fluorescent light without electrodes or filaments, the items that frequently cause other bulbs to burn out quickly. Thus, many induction lighting units have an extremely long life of up to 100,000 hours. To put this in perspective, an induction lighting system lasting 100,000 hours will last more than 11 years in continuous 24/7 operation, and 25 years if operated 10 hours a day.

The technology, however, is far from new. Nikola Tesla demonstrated induction lighting in the late 1890s around the same time that his rival, Thomas Edison, was working to improve the incandescent light bulb. In the early 1990s, several major lighting manufacturers introduced induction lighting into the marketplace.

How Do You Light Your Home Efficiently?

An average household dedicates 11% of its energy budget to lighting. Installing efficient lighting technologies, using task lighting, flipping the switch, and taking advantage of natural daylight can all help you save on your lighting costs.

How do you light your home efficiently?

Each Thursday, you have the chance to share your thoughts on a question about energy efficiency or renewable energy for consumers. Please comment with your answers, and also feel free to respond to other comments.

A Bright Idea: New Efficiency Standards for Incandescent and Fluorescent Lights

Pretty soon, lighting is going to get a lot more efficient.

New standards for incandescent reflector bulbs, general purpose fluorescent bulbs, and regular incandescent bulbs are going into effect beginning in approximately three years.

We've discussed compact fluorescent lighting on the blog in the past, but you may be curious about how these standards will affect the most popular types of incandescent bulbs we've all used for so long: the common non-reflector 40-watt, 60-watt, 75-watt, and 100-watt bulbs.

Find Alternative Fueling Stations and Learn Something, Too

A couple of weeks ago it was hybrid electric vehicle week and, always one to be fashionably late, I thought I'd jump in and talk about some of the fun vehicle-related tools we have on the EERE Web site.

It's probably pretty obvious from the sorts of posts I've done in the past, but I love interactive tools and applications on the Web. EERE has a number of interesting applications and gadgets, and today I thought I'd talk about a few hiding in the Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center (hereafter referred to as the AFDC.)

Do You Drive a Hybrid Electric Vehicle?

In Tuesday's entry, Francis X. Vogel from the Wisconsin Clean Cities coalition told us about his plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV). He's one of the lucky few in the United States to drive one of these vehicles because factory-made PHEV's are not yet available to the public. Regular hybrid electric vehicles, however, are widely available and seem to be more and more common on the roads.

Do you drive a hybrid electric vehicle? Please share your experience with it in the comments.

Each Thursday, you have the chance to share your thoughts on a topic related to energy efficiency or renewable energy for consumers. Please comment with your answers, and also feel free to respond to other comments.

Honey, Did You Plug in the Prius?

An unexpected snowfall in late March prompted me to take my two daughters, Paloma and Ava, for a memorable afternoon of sledding and hot chocolate. However, before leaving home, I unplugged a cord from the standard 110-volt wall socket in my garage and did likewise from the port on the back of my 2007 Toyota Prius. I rolled up the cord, placed it in my trunk, and smoothly drove off. Nestled in my vehicle's spare tire well, a 200-pound lithium-ion battery pack allowed me to go up to 30 miles on electric power before recharging.

Yes, I’m fortunate to be one of the only private owners of a plug-in hybrid-electric vehicle (PHEV) in the nation, and maybe the only one with toddler and booster seats in the back. PHEVs, of course, are touted by policymakers across the political spectrum as a central near-term solution for kicking our oil jones.

How Will You Save Fuel and Energy this 4th of July?

Independence Day is this Saturday, and July 4th is typically one of the busiest days for auto travel in the United States. All of that traffic could mean lots of idling and stop-and-go driving; plan carefully and follow these tips from fueleconomy.gov to be sure you are getting the best gas mileage possible.

How will you save fuel and energy this 4th of July?

Have a safe (and efficient!) Independence Day!

Each Thursday, you have the chance to share your thoughts on a topic related to energy efficiency or renewable energy for consumers. Please comment with your answers, and also feel free to respond to other comments.