Efficient Planet: Bringing hope to homeowners

I live in the south, but I grew up in the north.  It’s strange because one of the reasons I moved was because I couldn’t take the freezing cold winters where my electric bill would shoot sky high.  And I had trouble adjusting to the summers of humidity, where everything was sticky and uncomfortable, yet we didn’t have central air and ran fans most of the time.  That didn’t help the electric bills any. 

So, when I moved south, I imagined much smaller bills.  The climate was far more moderate.  The winters were shorter.  And even though the summers were longer, I figured the cost of cooling would pretty much balance out with the cost of heating. 

And then I started getting the bills.  Ouch.  Really…ouch. 

My husband and I discussed some viable options.  What could we do to diminish the bills?  We installed new exterior doors that were better insulated.  That helped.  We replaced our roof.  And that helped some.  We are working on installing new windows.  That will definitely help.  Our neighbors who have already had windows replaced have verified that.  And we talked at length about harnessing one of our most powerful resources and making it work for us for a change.

The local power company offered to install solar panels on area homes to help combat high electrical bills.  Our home would have been a great candidate, since we had a new roof, but they had already met their quota in our area.  To say that we were disappointed would have been a gross understatement.  So when we discovered that there was a way to build our own solar panels and harness that southern sun, we were excited.  My husband is a contractor; with directions he can build anything.  And I would be able to help.  I love our DIY projects.  This ebook: http://www.efficientplanet.com promised to also teach us other ways to save and improve our life.

We could build a wind turbine to harness further energy.  We could follow some of the fifty tips for ways to save and conserve to spend less and live better.  I am all for that.  We always talk about the fact that it isn’t so much what you make, but what you keep that will determine your wealth.  With Efficient Planet, I am confident that we can improve our life, save money, harness energy, and raise the value of our home.  And when we’re ready to sell, we’ll be able to do this all over again in a new place.  Efficient Planet gave me hope that we wouldn’t have to turn the heat so low that we froze to save money, nor would we have to sweat in the summer.  I can’t wait to put all these practices into play.