In This Issue
Subscribe
Receive your own copy of The Energy Miser
Handy Links
  Forward to a Friend
Dear Mark,

The Energy Miser #8, March 14, 2007

Things are hopping here at New England Breeze. Our first turbine install will happen in May pending zoning approval, we are quoting both solar photovoltaic and solar water heater systems and a very interesting off-grid battery system including both solar and wind. Best of all, a new potential customer calls every day.

FYI, You can read all past issues of The Energy Miser here.

We've added two energy saving devices to the household.

Do you often travel to destinations unknown? In my business, I do. That's why I love my new Garmin Streetpilot i2 GPS navigation tool. Since I've started using it, I've wasted no gas trying to find a customer's home. As far as I'm concerned it is better than Google maps, Mapquest and all the other mapping services combined. For about $180 you'll never need to print directions again, you can navigate from destination to destination, and you are unlikely to make a wrong turn again. Enter the destination, let it calculate the route, then it will talk you there. Learn more here.

You may recall (from a previous newsletter) me calculating the carbon cost of making coffee with my electric coffee maker. I determined that my Braun was responsible for 70 lbs of Carbon Dioxide per year. This seemed like a lot for coffee, so I went looking for an alternative.

I checked out the coffee makers at all the big box stores but found that nearly every one of them required filters (In my humble opinion (IMHO) an unnecessary disposable item) and/or had a digital clock that consumed a bit of electricity (also known as a phantom load). Disgusting.

Well I found an alternative: A Coffee Press. I first had coffee from a coffee press on a business trip to England. I liked it.

A press is simple. Put coffee in the bottom, pour boiling water over the coffee, then press a stainless steel filter down to separate the grounds from the coffee and voila - low(er) carbon coffee. Natural gas, puts out 25% less carbon dioxide per unit energy than oil, and 50% less than coal. My coffee now costs about 50 lbs of carbon dioxide per year.
Last Friday, I officially completed my obligation to The Climate Project by delivering my 10th presentation. But don't worry, I'm having so much fun, that I already have 10 more scheduled. My goal is to present to 1000 people. So far I've done a bit over 500 and the upcoming talks should be well attended.

I'm doing two presentations at the town hall in Hudson, MA. The talks, on March 29th and 31st, are sponsored by the Hudson Area Climate Action Network. HACAN under the leadership of Denise Frizzle, is doing a great job publicizing the events. Thanks!
Starting today, the Building Energy Show takes place in Boston. This show is a huge event sponsored by the North East Sustainable Energy Association

The event features seminars and a large trade show. Hundreds of vendors will be displaying their renewable energy solutions to architects, builders, developers, and installers like me.

I'll be spending part of my time in the Southwest Windpower booth. If you make it to the show, stop by and say hello.
Just the other day, I went into my sons room. To my surprise, it was quite warm. It took only a second to find out why. He was heating his room with a space heater.

I have trained the kids to close their bedroom doors when they leave for school in the morning. This cuts down on the upstairs heating requirements. Unfortunately, it makes their bedrooms cold.

When my son works on his lego robots in his room he, naturally, likes it warm. So rather than open the door, he employed a 1200 watt "ceramic" space heater. When I found it, I nearly flipped.

Consider how hard it is to change yourself and you'll understand what little chance you have in trying to change others. - Jacob M. Braude

Turn off the lights, turn down the heat, unplug unnecessary appliances, add insulation, take shorter showers, walk instead of drive, group your errands, inflate your tires, grow your own food, eat locally-produced food, recycle, install a renewable energy system...

Thanks for Reading the Energy Miser,
Mark Durrenberger
New England Breeze, LLC

phone: 978-212-2665