"Green" House = Cost Savings?

I grew up being reminded by my dad he didn't work for the electric company (which was odd, since my cousin did in fact work for it, and he never got electricity for free), and so I've long been accustomed to turning off lights when not needed, etc.

I replaced the 5 decorative bulbs over the master bath vanity with CFLs.

Three of them have burnt out already, after less than 6 months.

If there is an energy savings, it certainly doesn't outweigh the costs involved in buying them (not to mention the added cost in disposing them). With all due respect to the intentions of our legislators and the president who signed the bill into law, outlawing the incandescent bulbs was a pretty stupid idea (in my opinion).

I have done some preliminary research into erecting a turbine, but between the start up costs and the concerns that they cannot operate during heavy wind storms, I've had to let it go.

As for heat, I've used a coal stove for over a dozen years, and am looking into moving to a pellet stove perhaps next year.

http://whatsit2you.blogspot.com

Well, my home was built back in '47 and had minimal updates when I got it. It is a brick 2 floor Georgian (think cube shaped) with a full basement. I replaced all of the faucets and the shower head with aerating heads. There was a minimal difference in water usage. The biggest difference in water usage reduction came when my wife and I bought a new wash machine.

I also replaced all of the light bulbs with those high efficiency bulbs and that made a huge difference in my electrical bill.

The windows were replaced with double layer insulated glass windows and I added ceiling fans. That helped to significantly reduce the cost of both heating and cooling.

What I am looking into next are those solar panel roof tiles. They attach to the roof like normal roof tiles and last 15 years. That is supposed to make a really dramatic reduction in the energy costs of the house. But since I live in Chicago it may not make too much of a difference in the winter because 90% of the time there is cloud cover. If I go through with it I'll post any results.

I have seen a $30 reduction on our electric bill by simply turning off the big TV. Sure my girls fussed about it for about 15 minutes then they were off playing together.

I am also very strict about turning off lights when they are not needed. I also unplug the unnecessary little energy suckers like:

The blinking dusty VHS player we NEVER use.

The LED clocks in the spare room that no one looks at.

The 5-8 little night lights we had all over the house when the girls were infants.