We’re Going Green !!

Last week we had a power surge and the electricity was out for 12 hours. Turns out Detroit Edison cut into some wires chopping down tree limbs.

It was HOT !

We lost our air conditioner, 2 TV’s, the refrigerator, microwave, my new 8 day old washing machine, Select Comfort air pump, Bose Speakers, my Dell power source, CD’ counter mount player, water cooler, electric garage door opener, H2O heater and shall I go on ?????????

What a big hassle. Since, I had to replace so many items, we decided to “go green” where possible. Making a home more energy efficient can’t take place over-night but in shopping for a refrigerator we bought one with the “Energy Star”. The U.S. Enviromental Protection Agency suggests replacing appliances over 10 years old with the “Energy Star” logo and using 10 to 50% less energy.

The Dept.of Energy also has raised the standard on air conditioners, so we increased from 10 seers to the mandated requirement of 13 seers. (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio) This change of raising the SEER represents a savings of 30 % energy during normal annual usage period. I’m sure it is shorter in Michigan than in many Southern States.

 Having just bought a new washer and only having it for 8 days, we had already bought one with the “Energy Star”. We are now using only 18-24 gallons of water per wash instead of the older model of 40 gallons. Living on a septic system, we will be also prolonging the life of the septic field.

A few other ways to save energy is to replace all your light bulbs, putting an aerator on all household faucets, ( which cuts water consumption by 50% ) installing low-flow toilet to save up to 2.5 gallons per flush.

Granted………this was a big hassle and we are still negotiating with our insurance company on the settlement. I found out through all this that if we had a H 15 rider on our insurance policy this would have covered everything even the T.V.’s, CD players, 2 line phones that will not be covered. Thanks for telling me AFTER the fact. Did you all know about this ?

We are also having a whole house power surge protector installed on our electrical box to hopefully prevent this in the future.

So in the spirit of making lemonade out of lemons, we are doing what we can to take the opportunity to make our house more energy efficient.

P.S. Did I mention my 13 year old freezer that I paid 75.00 for in a garage sale in fine ? (Plugged into the same outlet as my new garage door opener.) Go figure………