September 1, 2022 • 15 mins
Heather Dietiker, from Black River Electric Cooperative, helps us find some no-cost energy savings throughout the house! Some of these solutions only take a few minutes to check or perform and can save your household big bucks annually! Take a listen!
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
I've had to hide the toilet of paper roll for my son
for, so that's why.
Oh man, there's no tip for that.
Is there
Speaker 2 (00:09):
No
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Welcome back to the power for your life podcast.
I'm your host Harrison waters.
And this is an awesome episode.
If you're looking for savingsome money.
Well look no further.
These are no cost solutions tosaving some, uh, money on your
energy bill.
Take a listen.
We are live with Heather DeakKerr from black river electric
(00:34):
cooperative, and she's gonnatell us about no cost energy
savings.
Thank you for coming.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Yes.
Thank you for inviting me.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Welcome.
Well, and I do not wanna forgetto mention, I have Ashley Wood
here, a co-host of the power foryour life podcast that, uh, you
know, we really like to focus onthese topics.
This is a fun one.
Do you like this topic?
Speaker 2 (00:51):
I do.
I love this topic.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
You know, we'd really do a great job of telling our
members about all these, youknow, you can hire someone to do
this big change in your home andall of that.
And here's some quick tips andall of that, but really who
could beat a no-cost energysavings idea, right?
Speaker 2 (01:08):
That's right.
Yeah.
So all of our members arelooking for ways, easy ways to
save a little bit on theirenergy bills.
And, um, you know, I think it'sall about thinking differently,
making small changes and thosesmall changes over time can
really add up to big savings.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
So how do you, how do you start, like, is there the
easiest, smallest one to go, goahead and do that.
Everyone should just go run andpause a podcast right now and
yeah.
And get done.
What would that be?
What's the easiest quick one.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
So I think, um, you know, heating and, and air
conditioning are usually thelargest loads in our home.
They make up about 40 to 50% ofour monthly energy, uh, bills
are on that.
So probably the easiest thingthat we can do is to adjust our
thermostats.
Now that's not easy foreveryone, but it does probably
(02:04):
make the most difference.
Um, there's a most efficienttemperature depending on the
season.
Uh, we like to say in thesummertime, if you can set it at
78 degrees or as close to that,as you can get, um, that's gonna
be the most efficienttemperature.
And in the winter that magictemperature is 68 degrees.
(02:25):
So that might mean that you puton an extra sweatshirt or pair
of socks, um, to be comfortable,but you're gonna be more
efficient when you're close tothat temperature.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
I like that.
Okay.
For my wife, that would probablybe two pairs of socks and two,
two, uh, two hoodies and Ashleywould be wearing her parka
indoors.
I would be.
So yes, I would be.
But no, I like that.
I think that's a, that's a goodone.
Now we, I know we put out theseenergy efficiency take control
and save things and there'scertainly all sorts of great
tips.
Mm-hmm, there's onein here says a five to seven
(02:58):
minute shower
Speaker 2 (02:59):
That, yes, that is really hard for some of us to
do.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
I'll say if you've got longer hair, I think my
wife, I think that's fiveminutes for the hair alone.
So that's
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yes.
Maybe the guys can get away withthat.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
We can make up for the,
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Okay.
Yes.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
You get a two minute shower to make up for.
Yeah, exactly.
Okay.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
And I have a, I have a husband and three little boys
at home, so I'm trying to trainthem now to take shorter
showers.
They don't understand why, butthey will, when they're older
that it's actually saving theirparents money.
So yes, five to seven minutes.
If we can do that or get closeto that,
Speaker 1 (03:31):
And that could be a lifetime of savings, if you can
get convince them at that age,that could be well until they're
old enough to move out and haveto pay their own bills.
That could certainly make a
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Difference.
Yeah.
They'll understand that morewhen they're paying their own
bills.
So anything we can do to helptrain them a little bit on,
again, these just small changes.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Now, what about, I know when I had a home energy
audit, I, I had a, uh, had agentleman come by that we, we
paid for and, and he, hedefinitely checked the
temperature of my like kitchenfaucet to see how warm the water
was coming out of there mm-hmm is there anything
with, uh, water heater that wecan do to be efficient?
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Yes.
Yes.
So your water heater, again,that's an area where you, um,
it's, it's a chunk of yourenergy bill.
So the magic temperature forthat is 120 degrees.
If you can get close to that,um, then you're going to see
savings.
Really.
It doesn't have to be scaldinghot.
You know, doesn't have to behigher than that.
If you can get it close to one20, and then for households with
(04:29):
one to two members, you canreally get by with like 115
degrees for that setting.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
So this is taking any of your ordinary thermometers,
putting it under the sink,whenever you believe it's at its
hardest, seeing what it'sreading.
Now you see that it's maybe 130degrees.
Most people probably don't knowmuch about their water heater.
Can they go out straight outsideto their wherever their
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Water, water?
I believe their water heater hasthe temperature in terms
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Set
Speaker 3 (04:51):
On it.
It should, it should have atemperature.
It should say on the water here,
Speaker 1 (04:55):
See
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Harrison, you learn something today every
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Day, no more.
You
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Know, I always say, if you don't know, you know,
maybe Google it and you can, youcan figure out exactly where
that's at on your,
Speaker 1 (05:03):
I am speaking on behalf of the members.
I wanna make sure that, um, Imean, I definitely, you know,
usually don't know about allthis, but I'm learning along the
way.
That's
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Good.
And as far as, uh, water goes,you know, just little things
like turning the water off whenyou're brushing your teeth.
Um, you know, that can make adifference too.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
I'm already a stickler of my son, cuz yeah.
He'll first thing.
First step he'll choose the hotwater side and then just full
blast wa and he hasn't even gotsoap on his hands.
And so yeah, we've, we've cutdown on that, but um, yeah,
those are great tips.
See, this is, you know, whoknows what you could save in a
year if you do right.
Just a simple ones we've alreadybeen talking about.
And yet we still haven't spent apenny.
(05:43):
That's right.
Fantastic.
What else, what El, what aresome other ones we're missing?
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Well, let's move on to the kitchen because, uh, when
we're talking about water, youknow, we rinse our dishes.
We can do that in cold water.
Mm-hmm, save alittle bit because we're not
using that hot water that we'repaying to heat, right?
So, and then in the kitchen, youknow, you can use your microwave
or a slow cooker instead of, youknow, firing up the oven or
using the stove, burners, justlittle things like that.
(06:07):
Especially if you're cooking fora smaller group, um, using
different appliances can reallysave.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Now, Nick saner tried to tell me to turn off the
heating element on the dryingfor my dishwasher.
And I thought I was gonna get inthe doghouse with my wife, cuz
there's no way she's gonna handdry the, the dishes.
But I bet that I bet that couldbe a good cost saver for sure.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
You're gonna get in the doghouse for just saying
stuff like that.
Oh no, you better hope she's notlistening to the podcast.
Sorry Brie.
we have, uh, one ofthose ninja air fryer things
too.
Yes.
We use those.
We use that for a lot of mealsinstead of turning down the oven
too.
I,
Speaker 2 (06:43):
I use my air fryer and mm-hmm the
instant pots.
Um, yeah, a lot, especially inthe winter time.
Mm-hmm yeah.
Uh, you know, those types ofmeals just feel a little cozier.
Um, but yeah, our members arereally saving money when they
choose to use those types ofsmaller appliances, then they're
larger.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Well, and if you're not cooking a meal for a lot and
that you don't need the, I meanan oven is pretty large and a
lot of things you can get awaywith, if you've got a little
toaster oven or a mm-hmm or a little small
Insa pot or something.
So I could certainly see howheating up that section versus
an entire oven.
Right.
Would be beneficial for sure.
Mm-hmm well, great.
Great.
I'm trying to look at, oh, thereis right.
(07:21):
Tip number six.
Use the air dry cycle instead ofthe heat dry cycle on your
dishwasher.
Ashley, what do you got?
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Well, I was gonna ask Heather, you've got another
room.
Should we move on to the nextroom?
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Well, at my house, the laundry room is off of the
kitchen.
So let's move there.
Um, there's a few things you cando in the laundry room.
Like, um, only do full loads inyour washer and use cold water.
Now I have boys.
So for those really dirty loads,hot water, warm water is
probably best.
(07:53):
Um, but if it's just kind of atypical load use, cold water,
whatever you can, you're gonnareally see the savings there.
And then with when you're dryer,um, you always wanna empty that
lent trap after every load thatyou do for efficiency, but also
for safety.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Yeah.
Is that something, do theyrecommend yearly disconnecting
the dryer, pulling it out fromthe wall and even cleaning out
the, the back vent?
Cuz I've heard that that issomething mm-hmm
I'm, I'm sure that that one'squickly forgotten by a lot.
I know I'm due.
I probably haven't done that intwo years.
So mm-hmm um,that's, that's a safety thing
too.
I don't know about efficiency asmuch as that's a safety cuz that
(08:29):
could probably be a fire hazard
Speaker 2 (08:30):
On I'm sure's efficiency as well.
But yes, that is a, a safetyconcern.
You don't want, um, the lintbuilt up in there and then make
sure that all those connectionsare tight because you're gonna,
you're gonna lose heat that way,which makes it run harder and
longer.
So yeah, that's a great point.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
So if you pull that out and you're cleaning that
out, make sure when you put itback, you put
Speaker 1 (08:51):
It back, right.
See that thing back on for sure.
Absolutely.
Okay.
So we've done the laundry roomto kitchen.
What's the next room?
What should we, anything else weshould tackle?
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Yeah.
Um, so the living spaces, um,you know, fans, ceiling fans,
you always want to, um, run yourin the summertime.
You want them blowing down, um,and then blowing up in the
winter and then if you leave theroom, you know, you wanna make
sure that ceiling fan is off orany other fans that you have
because fans are designed tocool people, move air around,
(09:23):
not cool, the rooms.
And then, uh, some of us havefireplace, um, that enjoy
fireplaces.
And so we always want to, um,turn down your heating system
when you've got your fireplacegoing, when it you're not using
it, make sure that flu damper isclosed.
Um, and it it's basically likehaving a, a window open if that
damper is open.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Yeah.
It's always, it's nice to enjoythe fireplace, but I definitely
could see, you know, that is thefirst place to get cold or when
you, when it's windy outside,you can certainly tell when that
thing mm-hmm andthat the metal on the front of
there certainly gets cold prettyquickly.
So mm-hmm yeah, Ilike that one.
Um, I'm definitely a fireplaceuser, so yeah.
Um, that's the first thing Ineed to check and see if there's
(10:06):
a mm-hmm um, I, Isaw that they sell plugs for the
flu as well.
So like if you don't even haveanything that, or if it's just
like a metal flap that closesthat off, I saw that you could
actually buy an insulated plugto kind of help with that.
Mm-hmm granted,that's still spending money.
We're sticking with no costhere.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Yeah.
No cost
Speaker 1 (10:24):
yeah, no cost
don't even have to buy
Speaker 2 (10:25):
That.
Well, I've got another tip forthe living room.
Okay.
And really any room in yourhouse, your shades, you know,
pulling the shades to, um, atnight to keep the heat in during
the winter and then, um, keepingyour shades and blinds, um, open
during the day to catch thatsolar heat in the wintertime is
really helpful.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Mm-hmm
take advantage of the windows.
Yes.
Awesome.
All right.
Do we need to go to another,another room?
Speaker 2 (10:50):
I do have a tip that you could probably use in any
room of your home is just turnit off.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
turn it off.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
So I go behind my boys all the time, turning
lights off in the room, but whenyou leave a room, you should
turn the light off mm-hmm.
And I know our lighting is somuch more efficient these days,
but it's still a good habit tohave.
Um, so just turn it off.
And then when, um, you know, our, my kids leave the TVs on a
lot.
when they leave theroom, turn those large, um,
(11:18):
electronics off, or there's alot of settings now for
appliances that allow you to,you know, energy saving modes
and, and things that will turnit off partially to help you
save a little bit there.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
What is it like, you know, being a mom to three boys,
mm-hmm what is itlike for you to try and instill
the energy efficiency in them?
You know, how important is that?
Is that something that you hopethat they learn from you and,
and also, um, yeah, become goodstewards of that.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
I think it's just good.
Like you said, good stewards,just having good habits of, of
saving, uh, energy, savingmoney, you know, our, our kids
are, um, hopefully learningthose little things that make a
big difference in the long run.
So both just as good habits, butalso, you know, saving a little
money for mom and dad.
(12:07):
Right?
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Yeah.
Well, and I think there's athird aspect to it is like we,
we are striving to have acleaner planet mm-hmm
and, and gogreener and all that.
But if we do not have to produceas much, you know, because we're
not wasting as much mm-hmm, if everybody took
these tips and did it, thatwould certainly cut down on, you
know, emissions and everythingthat we're trying to do better
(12:28):
on.
So yeah, the, the more we don'tlet energy just, you know, slip
between the cracks or leave theTV on, that's still being
produced somewhere for us.
So mm-hmm um, Ilike that I'm already pretty
hard on, on my kids are stillvery young mm-hmm
but if you get on'em early, um,mm-hmm, you know,
you'll see the benefits, Iguess, longer down the road.
(12:49):
Mm-hmm if you couldcome up with one to keep the kid
, you know, from using so muchtoilet paper I've had to
hide the toilet paper roll formy son for a little bit
so that's when I full role, Imean a full role.
Come on.
Oh man.
There's no tip for that.
Is there?
No, you know what it isdisconnected toilet paper roll
and put it on his shelf above,and then he has to like request
(13:12):
it and it's taken some time, butwe're getting there.
Mm-hmm okay.
What are we missing, Ashley?
Speaker 3 (13:17):
I mean, you can do a walkthrough and do a no cost
energy audit kind of a on yourown mm-hmm you ever
advise your members of thingsthat they can do in that aspect?
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Well, I, you know, touchstone has a great little
brochure, 101 ways, easy ways tosave energy and money.
We have this on our website.
We have brochures in our officeand it's a great resource.
So I love to give this to ourmembers.
Um, it helps give them someeasy, no cost ways to save
(13:47):
energy in their home.
And then that saves them money.
So,
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
So win-win
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Use your local co-op as a resource mm-hmm
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Yeah.
You know, one that I don't gethere, we haven't touched on
outside and outside.
I have several neighbors thatfeel like they need to light up
like the entire night withsecurity lights and everything
like that.
I mean, we're talking 15 to 20light bulbs on all through the
night.
Yes.
I didn't know if there's anyother outdoor tips that we could
focus on,
Speaker 2 (14:15):
You know, uh, one thing outside the outdoor heat
pump or air conditioning unit,mm-hmm, uh, make
sure that that's clean ofdebris.
You know, sometimes you can getleaves in there keeping that
cleaned out that will make adifference.
Mm.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
That and the lights I tell you what mm-hmm
mm-hmm okay.
So if you go to touchstoneenergy.com, they have their own
home efficiency, uh, analysistool to be able to break down, I
believe, room by room and kindof look for these things.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
A lot of these things you can do today.
Yeah.
You know, it's not somethingthat you have to set up or save
the money to invest in, youknow, these, these different
changes.
You can
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Do them right away.
So, and if you've got kids, thisis the lesson right now mm-hmm,
start'em young.
Yes.
And you could save justtremendous amounts of money in
the future by, by corrallingtheir energy efficiency and, um,
and making a better stewards forour, not only our environment,
but for the energy company too.
Right.
That's right.
Awesome.
Well, thank you so much,Heather, for coming in.
(15:12):
Thank you.
Uh, it's been a pleasurespeaking and, uh, that's a wrap.
Thanks.
Well, that's our show.
Thanks so much for tuning in,and if you have any ideas for a
great topic or someone who needsto be on here, uh, just send us
an email.
We'd love to hear from youmembers first@aci.org.
Once again, I'm your hostHarrison waters.
(15:34):
And until next time, thanks forlistening.
I've had to hide the toilet of paper roll for my son
for, so that's why.
Oh man, there's no tip for that.
Is there
Speaker 2 (00:09):
No
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Welcome back to the power for your life podcast.
I'm your host Harrison waters.
And this is an awesome episode.
If you're looking for savingsome money.
Well look no further.
These are no cost solutions tosaving some, uh, money on your
energy bill.
Take a listen.
We are live with Heather DeakKerr from black river electric
(00:34):
cooperative, and she's gonnatell us about no cost energy
savings.
Thank you for coming.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Yes.
Thank you for inviting me.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Welcome.
Well, and I do not wanna forgetto mention, I have Ashley Wood
here, a co-host of the power foryour life podcast that, uh, you
know, we really like to focus onthese topics.
This is a fun one.
Do you like this topic?
Speaker 2 (00:51):
I do.
I love this topic.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
You know, we'd really do a great job of telling our
members about all these, youknow, you can hire someone to do
this big change in your home andall of that.
And here's some quick tips andall of that, but really who
could beat a no-cost energysavings idea, right?
Speaker 2 (01:08):
That's right.
Yeah.
So all of our members arelooking for ways, easy ways to
save a little bit on theirenergy bills.
And, um, you know, I think it'sall about thinking differently,
making small changes and thosesmall changes over time can
really add up to big savings.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
So how do you, how do you start, like, is there the
easiest, smallest one to go, goahead and do that.
Everyone should just go run andpause a podcast right now and
yeah.
And get done.
What would that be?
What's the easiest quick one.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
So I think, um, you know, heating and, and air
conditioning are usually thelargest loads in our home.
They make up about 40 to 50% ofour monthly energy, uh, bills
are on that.
So probably the easiest thingthat we can do is to adjust our
thermostats.
Now that's not easy foreveryone, but it does probably
(02:04):
make the most difference.
Um, there's a most efficienttemperature depending on the
season.
Uh, we like to say in thesummertime, if you can set it at
78 degrees or as close to that,as you can get, um, that's gonna
be the most efficienttemperature.
And in the winter that magictemperature is 68 degrees.
(02:25):
So that might mean that you puton an extra sweatshirt or pair
of socks, um, to be comfortable,but you're gonna be more
efficient when you're close tothat temperature.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
I like that.
Okay.
For my wife, that would probablybe two pairs of socks and two,
two, uh, two hoodies and Ashleywould be wearing her parka
indoors.
I would be.
So yes, I would be.
But no, I like that.
I think that's a, that's a goodone.
Now we, I know we put out theseenergy efficiency take control
and save things and there'scertainly all sorts of great
tips.
Mm-hmm
(02:58):
minute shower
Speaker 2 (02:59):
That, yes, that is really hard for some of us to
do.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
I'll say if you've got longer hair, I think my
wife, I think that's fiveminutes for the hair alone.
So that's
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yes.
Maybe the guys can get away withthat.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
We can make up for the,
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Okay.
Yes.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
You get a two minute shower to make up for.
Yeah, exactly.
Okay.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
And I have a, I have a husband and three little boys
at home, so I'm trying to trainthem now to take shorter
showers.
They don't understand why, butthey will, when they're older
that it's actually saving theirparents money.
So yes, five to seven minutes.
If we can do that or get closeto that,
Speaker 1 (03:31):
And that could be a lifetime of savings, if you can
get convince them at that age,that could be well until they're
old enough to move out and haveto pay their own bills.
That could certainly make a
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Difference.
Yeah.
They'll understand that morewhen they're paying their own
bills.
So anything we can do to helptrain them a little bit on,
again, these just small changes.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Now, what about, I know when I had a home energy
audit, I, I had a, uh, had agentleman come by that we, we
paid for and, and he, hedefinitely checked the
temperature of my like kitchenfaucet to see how warm the water
was coming out of there mm-hmm
with, uh, water heater that wecan do to be efficient?
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Yes.
Yes.
So your water heater, again,that's an area where you, um,
it's, it's a chunk of yourenergy bill.
So the magic temperature forthat is 120 degrees.
If you can get close to that,um, then you're going to see
savings.
Really.
It doesn't have to be scaldinghot.
You know, doesn't have to behigher than that.
If you can get it close to one20, and then for households with
(04:29):
one to two members, you canreally get by with like 115
degrees for that setting.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
So this is taking any of your ordinary thermometers,
putting it under the sink,whenever you believe it's at its
hardest, seeing what it'sreading.
Now you see that it's maybe 130degrees.
Most people probably don't knowmuch about their water heater.
Can they go out straight outsideto their wherever their
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Water, water?
I believe their water heater hasthe temperature in terms
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Set
Speaker 3 (04:51):
On it.
It should, it should have atemperature.
It should say on the water here,
Speaker 1 (04:55):
See
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Harrison, you learn something today every
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Day, no more.
You
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Know, I always say, if you don't know, you know,
maybe Google it and you can, youcan figure out exactly where
that's at on your,
Speaker 1 (05:03):
I am speaking on behalf of the members.
I wanna make sure that, um, Imean, I definitely, you know,
usually don't know about allthis, but I'm learning along the
way.
That's
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Good.
And as far as, uh, water goes,you know, just little things
like turning the water off whenyou're brushing your teeth.
Um, you know, that can make adifference too.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
I'm already a stickler of my son, cuz yeah.
He'll first thing.
First step he'll choose the hotwater side and then just full
blast wa and he hasn't even gotsoap on his hands.
And so yeah, we've, we've cutdown on that, but um, yeah,
those are great tips.
See, this is, you know, whoknows what you could save in a
year if you do right.
Just a simple ones we've alreadybeen talking about.
And yet we still haven't spent apenny.
(05:43):
That's right.
Fantastic.
What else, what El, what aresome other ones we're missing?
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Well, let's move on to the kitchen because, uh, when
we're talking about water, youknow, we rinse our dishes.
We can do that in cold water.
Mm-hmm,
using that hot water that we'repaying to heat, right?
So, and then in the kitchen, youknow, you can use your microwave
or a slow cooker instead of, youknow, firing up the oven or
using the stove, burners, justlittle things like that.
(06:07):
Especially if you're cooking fora smaller group, um, using
different appliances can reallysave.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Now, Nick saner tried to tell me to turn off the
heating element on the dryingfor my dishwasher.
And I thought I was gonna get inthe doghouse with my wife, cuz
there's no way she's gonna handdry the, the dishes.
But I bet that I bet that couldbe a good cost saver for sure.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
You're gonna get in the doghouse for just saying
stuff like that.
Oh no, you better hope she's notlistening to the podcast.
Sorry Brie.
too.
Yes.
We use those.
We use that for a lot of mealsinstead of turning down the oven
too.
I,
Speaker 2 (06:43):
I use my air fryer and mm-hmm
instant pots.
Um, yeah, a lot, especially inthe winter time.
Mm-hmm
Uh, you know, those types ofmeals just feel a little cozier.
Um, but yeah, our members arereally saving money when they
choose to use those types ofsmaller appliances, then they're
larger.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Well, and if you're not cooking a meal for a lot and
that you don't need the, I meanan oven is pretty large and a
lot of things you can get awaywith, if you've got a little
toaster oven or a mm-hmm
Insa pot or something.
So I could certainly see howheating up that section versus
an entire oven.
Right.
Would be beneficial for sure.
Mm-hmm
Great.
I'm trying to look at, oh, thereis right.
(07:21):
Tip number six.
Use the air dry cycle instead ofthe heat dry cycle on your
dishwasher.
Ashley, what do you got?
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Well, I was gonna ask Heather, you've got another
room.
Should we move on to the nextroom?
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Well, at my house, the laundry room is off of the
kitchen.
So let's move there.
Um, there's a few things you cando in the laundry room.
Like, um, only do full loads inyour washer and use cold water.
Now I have boys.
So for those really dirty loads,hot water, warm water is
probably best.
(07:53):
Um, but if it's just kind of atypical load use, cold water,
whatever you can, you're gonnareally see the savings there.
And then with when you're dryer,um, you always wanna empty that
lent trap after every load thatyou do for efficiency, but also
for safety.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Yeah.
Is that something, do theyrecommend yearly disconnecting
the dryer, pulling it out fromthe wall and even cleaning out
the, the back vent?
Cuz I've heard that that issomething mm-hmm
I'm, I'm sure that that one'squickly forgotten by a lot.
I know I'm due.
I probably haven't done that intwo years.
So mm-hmm
too.
I don't know about efficiency asmuch as that's a safety cuz that
(08:29):
could probably be a fire hazard
Speaker 2 (08:30):
On I'm sure's efficiency as well.
But yes, that is a, a safetyconcern.
You don't want, um, the lintbuilt up in there and then make
sure that all those connectionsare tight because you're gonna,
you're gonna lose heat that way,which makes it run harder and
longer.
So yeah, that's a great point.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
So if you pull that out and you're cleaning that
out, make sure when you put itback, you put
Speaker 1 (08:51):
It back, right.
See that thing back on for sure.
Absolutely.
Okay.
So we've done the laundry roomto kitchen.
What's the next room?
What should we, anything else weshould tackle?
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Yeah.
Um, so the living spaces, um,you know, fans, ceiling fans,
you always want to, um, run yourin the summertime.
You want them blowing down, um,and then blowing up in the
winter and then if you leave theroom, you know, you wanna make
sure that ceiling fan is off orany other fans that you have
because fans are designed tocool people, move air around,
(09:23):
not cool, the rooms.
And then, uh, some of us havefireplace, um, that enjoy
fireplaces.
And so we always want to, um,turn down your heating system
when you've got your fireplacegoing, when it you're not using
it, make sure that flu damper isclosed.
Um, and it it's basically likehaving a, a window open if that
damper is open.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Yeah.
It's always, it's nice to enjoythe fireplace, but I definitely
could see, you know, that is thefirst place to get cold or when
you, when it's windy outside,you can certainly tell when that
thing mm-hmm
there certainly gets cold prettyquickly.
So mm-hmm
Um, I'm definitely a fireplaceuser, so yeah.
Um, that's the first thing Ineed to check and see if there's
(10:06):
a mm-hmm
flu as well.
So like if you don't even haveanything that, or if it's just
like a metal flap that closesthat off, I saw that you could
actually buy an insulated plugto kind of help with that.
Mm-hmm
We're sticking with no costhere.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Yeah.
No cost
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Speaker 2 (10:25):
That.
Well, I've got another tip forthe living room.
Okay.
And really any room in yourhouse, your shades, you know,
pulling the shades to, um, atnight to keep the heat in during
the winter and then, um, keepingyour shades and blinds, um, open
during the day to catch thatsolar heat in the wintertime is
really helpful.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Mm-hmm
Yes.
Awesome.
All right.
Do we need to go to another,another room?
Speaker 2 (10:50):
I do have a tip that you could probably use in any
room of your home is just turnit off.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Speaker 2 (10:57):
So I go behind my boys all the time, turning
lights off in the room, but whenyou leave a room, you should
turn the light off mm-hmm
And I know our lighting is somuch more efficient these days,
but it's still a good habit tohave.
Um, so just turn it off.
And then when, um, you know, our, my kids leave the TVs on a
lot.
(11:18):
electronics off, or there's alot of settings now for
appliances that allow you to,you know, energy saving modes
and, and things that will turnit off partially to help you
save a little bit there.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
What is it like, you know, being a mom to three boys,
mm-hmm
the energy efficiency in them?
You know, how important is that?
Is that something that you hopethat they learn from you and,
and also, um, yeah, become goodstewards of that.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
I think it's just good.
Like you said, good stewards,just having good habits of, of
saving, uh, energy, savingmoney, you know, our, our kids
are, um, hopefully learningthose little things that make a
big difference in the long run.
So both just as good habits, butalso, you know, saving a little
money for mom and dad.
(12:07):
Right?
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Yeah.
Well, and I think there's athird aspect to it is like we,
we are striving to have acleaner planet mm-hmm
But if we do not have to produceas much, you know, because we're
not wasting as much mm-hmm
these tips and did it, thatwould certainly cut down on, you
know, emissions and everythingthat we're trying to do better
(12:28):
on.
So yeah, the, the more we don'tlet energy just, you know, slip
between the cracks or leave theTV on, that's still being
produced somewhere for us.
So mm-hmm
hard on, on my kids are stillvery young mm-hmm
but if you get on'em early, um,mm-hmm
you'll see the benefits, Iguess, longer down the road.
(12:49):
Mm-hmm
, you know, from using so muchtoilet paper
hide the toilet paper roll formy son for a little bit
so that's when I full role, Imean a full role.
Come on.
Oh man.
There's no tip for that.
Is there?
No, you know what it isdisconnected toilet paper roll
and put it on his shelf above,and then he has to like request
(13:12):
it and it's taken some time, butwe're getting there.
Mm-hmm
What are we missing, Ashley?
Speaker 3 (13:17):
I mean, you can do a walkthrough and do a no cost
energy audit kind of a on yourown mm-hmm
advise your members of thingsthat they can do in that aspect?
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Well, I, you know, touchstone has a great little
brochure, 101 ways, easy ways tosave energy and money.
We have this on our website.
We have brochures in our officeand it's a great resource.
So I love to give this to ourmembers.
Um, it helps give them someeasy, no cost ways to save
(13:47):
energy in their home.
And then that saves them money.
So,
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
So win-win
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Use your local co-op as a resource mm-hmm
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Yeah.
You know, one that I don't gethere, we haven't touched on
outside and outside.
I have several neighbors thatfeel like they need to light up
like the entire night withsecurity lights and everything
like that.
I mean, we're talking 15 to 20light bulbs on all through the
night.
Yes.
I didn't know if there's anyother outdoor tips that we could
focus on,
Speaker 2 (14:15):
You know, uh, one thing outside the outdoor heat
pump or air conditioning unit,mm-hmm
sure that that's clean ofdebris.
You know, sometimes you can getleaves in there keeping that
cleaned out that will make adifference.
Mm.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
That and the lights I tell you what mm-hmm
So if you go to touchstoneenergy.com, they have their own
home efficiency, uh, analysistool to be able to break down, I
believe, room by room and kindof look for these things.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
A lot of these things you can do today.
Yeah.
You know, it's not somethingthat you have to set up or save
the money to invest in, youknow, these, these different
changes.
You can
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Do them right away.
So, and if you've got kids, thisis the lesson right now mm-hmm,
Yes.
And you could save justtremendous amounts of money in
the future by, by corrallingtheir energy efficiency and, um,
and making a better stewards forour, not only our environment,
but for the energy company too.
Right.
That's right.
Awesome.
Well, thank you so much,Heather, for coming in.
(15:12):
Thank you.
Uh, it's been a pleasurespeaking and, uh, that's a wrap.
Thanks.
Well, that's our show.
Thanks so much for tuning in,and if you have any ideas for a
great topic or someone who needsto be on here, uh, just send us
an email.
We'd love to hear from youmembers first@aci.org.
Once again, I'm your hostHarrison waters.
(15:34):
And until next time, thanks forlistening.
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