Welcome back to Standard Time. Are you used to 5:00 darkness yet? Not me. Yuch!

Recently my son Curtis informed me that Ben Franklin invented Daylight Savings Time. While Ben did not intend it to be an energy saver, he discovered and calculated enormous potential savings in candles. You can read the whole story here.

Daylight Savings Time Tidbit: In 2007 Daylight Savings Time will begin about three weeks earlier than this year (March 11) and end about one week later than this year (November 4). Just think, it might actually be light out when you start trick-or-treating but even better, you'll use less energy for lighting.

In the previous issue of The Energy Miser, I introduced you to my new job of turning lights off after my kids. A month ago, I instituted a new incentive to engage the kids in saving energy. Here's how it works...

Find your most recent electricity bill. Circle or highlight the total money you spent. Post the bill on the refrigerator or other obvious place. Then tell the kids that if the energy bill goes down, you’ll give them the savings.

In my house that savings will be split among three kids but you might be able to implement this plan with just the youngest or the oldest. You judge what will work in your house. (an older teen might scoff at it, an elementary or middle schooler will see dollar signs.)

When the next electricity bill comes in, make a big deal about comparing the new bill to the previous month’s bill and counting out the money. If the bill goes up or is a small amount, encourage the kids to try harder. If it’s a large amount, remind them what they are doing for their planet.

Unfortunately, I started our program before the heating season, so once the furnace started running, our electricity bill went up. Yet even with this setback, the kids are still trying and the month was not a total loss.

Through the month, the kids urged me to change dozens of light bulbs to the low-energy fluorescent type (at my expense). For example, in our heavily used hallway fixtures, we reduced the lighting from eight 40-watt incandescent bulbs (total of 320 watts) to eight 8-watt (40 watt equivalent) bulbs - an 80% reduction in energy requirements to light our hallways. The kids are still trying so I'll report results next month.

Are you considering a renewable energy system? Currently there Is a 30% federal income tax credit (up to $2,000 for homeowners, unlimited for businesses) on solar systems. (Since, I'm not an accountant, please confirm with your tax expert.)

Unfortunately, there are no federal wind tax credits yet. But you can help by pushing your legislators.

Technically, hot air rises. Actually, hot air is less dense than cold air and lower density air floats on higher density air.

So why is this bit of physics important? In a two story house, warm air from the first floor goes up the staircase to the bedrooms. If you have a two zone heating system (upstairs and downstairs), your furnace still ends up heating both zones.

One way to stem the flow of hot air is to close your upstairs rooms' doors. This will cut down on the updraft and the work your furnace must do.

This technique can be advantageous in single level homes too. If possible close bedroom doors or close off the end of the house you don’t use during the day.