Water Meters Are Grimy, But Simple Things

February was quite busy, but since more people than I imagined actually read my blog last month, I decided to write a little more before I sent out the March Sustainability Coaching issue. Besides,  I am sincere about wanting to walk my talk. BUT ... I have lots of empathy for anyone who wants to be sustainable in this day and age. It is difficult finding the time.

Yesterday I decided to turn off all our water, take a picture of the water meter to record the exact reading, and then read it again exactly two hours later. That's how to find out whether you have a hidden leak. I'm really hoping we don't one because that sounds expensive.

You'll notice I said "hoping" ... as in the present tense. That's because it's harder than you might think to break your household's water habits. Two hours doesn't seem like a long time, but apparently it is. I decided I'd have to wait until the evening and go out there with a flashlight, but then I forgot. So I'm still working on this one; but I do have a few comments I can make now.

First, a word of warning. Be sure to turn off the automatic ice maker in your freezer.

Second, I'm finding during my quest to be energy efficient that it isn't often a clean job. My husband would probably take offense at my complaint. Somehow he always gets involved in my outdoor tasks. I doubt he would call it free will. But hey, I AM very grateful.

I probably would not have discovered how to open the water meter encasement without breaking all my nails were it not for "my husband." (He's not sure how we feels about me spreading his name around the Web.) There's a very small knob that you must turn first to unlock it. I also found it wise when my husband used a flathead screwdriver to leverage the heavy metal top open.

I'll have to finish this later!

The Leaking Toilet Was An Easy Fix

Thank goodness our leaking toilet was an easy fix. The floating ball and the rusty lever it was attached to wasn't the problem my husband thought might be. He tightened the screws until the lever wasn't so flimsy, but the toilet still leaked. Actually, the leak was caused by what usually causes toilet leaks. The seal had crud on it and had to be cleaned. Now, no more leak! Without calling a plumber!! I think we skirted buying a new seal, though, so that may not be a long-term fix.

The Leaking Toilet Was An Easy Fix

Thank goodness our leaking toilet was an easy fix. The floating ball and the rusty lever it was attached to wasn't the problem my husband thought might be. He tightened the screws until the lever wasn't so flimsy, but the toilet still leaked. Actually, the leak was caused by what usually causes toilet leaks. The seal had crud on it and had to be cleaned. Now, no more leak! Without calling a plumber!! I think we skirted buying a new seal, though, so that may not be a long-term fix.

Checking Toilets for Leaks

Two moderately leaky faucets, say a drip every 2 seconds, wastes 5 gallons a day or the equivalent of 41 baths a year. Play around with this calculator from the U.S. Geological Survey. You may be surprised how much water your leaks are wasting.

This month's Sustainability Coaching issue suggested 12 Easy Ways to Conserve Water. Fixing your leaky toilet is one easy and fast solution. A leaking toilet can waste 22 gallons a day. Checking whether or not you have a problem is easy ... as long as you don't have an aversion to playing around with your toilet. Just put a few drops of food coloring in the tank. Wait 30 minutes. Then check to see if you can see colored water in the toilet bowl. If you do, you have a leak.

We are a two-bathroom house. I wasn't surprised that we have a leak. But I was surprised where it was found! ... in our second, spare bathroom. The main bathroom toilet sticks from time to time. I actually felt silly putting the blue dye in our second toilet. It is rarely used, and seemed so tranquil I couldn't imagine there would be a leak. But THAT is where the problem is. Perhaps I should have known better. It is an older model.

It looks like there may be an issue with the lever with the ball (Sorry, I'm not a plumber. You'll have to look at the picture to see what I mean.), rather than the seal that keeps the water in the tank. My husband propped it up with some wire to see if that keeps the colored dye from leaking. He suspects that mechanism may be the problem because it's rusty. He's probably right. There's no blue dye yet in the toilet bowl. 

Plugging the Leaks

February's coaching newsletter focuses on plugging the leaks. Doing an energy audit first will tell you where the leaks in your home and wallet are. This should be done before replacement of your HVAC or new insulation or any renovations. Of course, doing an audit is not as fun as buying a new Energy Star refrigerator, or washer and dryer ... which I did five years ago when I was first learning to live sustainably. Now I know better. How much energy and money can you save? Hundreds of dollars, easily.

PHOTO: This is NOT a picture of our insulation and pipes. It's a photo I use on our website to illustrate what pipes and insulation would look like in a perfect world.

Perhaps it's the word "audit" that people get hung up on. It sounds scary and expensive, and intrusive. I suspect that's why savvy  businesses are now calling energy audits "home performance assessments." It's much friendlier sounding. Helpful even. Actually, that term does cover the bases a little better than "energy audit," since a good auditor will take a comprehensive view.

Unlike me, you will probably conduct only one energy audit every 5 to 10 years. So, you should probably do it right. I'm planning on Renewal System Solutions in Decatur doing an assessment on our Leave-It-to-Beaver home this month. Actually, another one. (My husband doesn't know this yet.) I'm hoping the $200 rebate from Georgia Power, as well as the credit RSS offers toward any recommendations done, will ease my husband into the idea. In all fairness to him, it will be our SECOND audit in five years. And he really likes our HVAC company, which did the first audit. I can't wait for him to read All Audits Aren't Equal.

Get Rid of Spare Fridge Can Save AND Earn You Money

I cannot speak to this personally, because I've never owned a second refrigerator ... but if you do, getting rid of your spare is a great way to save about $120 annually.

Perhaps that fact hasn't motivated you yet, eh? Maybe your spare fridge is like the old car my neighbor was reluctant to sell, even though he never used it. After all, it held such fine memories! Or maybe the extra refrigerated space provides a sense of security. What in the world will you do should family and friends visit, or you host a party with hundreds of beer drinkers who love your guacamole?! Adding 10% to your power bill is an expensive way to keep drinks cold, but ...

I'll try another persuasive tactic. Did you know most power utilities in the U.S. offer a financial incentive for hauling if off for you, usually somewhere between $35 and $65. If you're buying a new refrigerator, some utilities will pay an additional rebate if you replace it with a new Energy Star model. Here in the South, Georgia Power will give customers $35 to recycle refrigerators ... but only in pilot ZIP Codes. All the ZIP Codes I checked in the Atlanta area qualify. There are other conditions, too. It must be in working order, empty and a full size 10 cu. ft. by 30 cu. ft. model. Call 866-466-9250 for pick up. Also, call to see if you qualify or click here and enter your ZIP code. (Let ZiptoGreen coach you, and we'll figure this out for you.)

If you just can't live without the extra fridge, DO NOT put it in your garage. During the summer, the refrigerator will have to work extra hard to keep food cold. That will cost you even more money.

Toasty Water Even at 130°

My thrifty Dutch husband already had turned down our water tank's thermostat, so I expected it to be set at 130°. The tank is apparently designed for people who are mechanically challenged. It features only A, B, C settings, with C being the hottest. The thermostat was set to B. I set it to A, and crossed my fingers that I wouldn't have to start taking cold showers.

The first shower I took was about 30 minutes after Henk took a shower. It was very toasty! I love a hot shower!! I have since found whether it is hot or just very warm depends on whether someone used the hot water recently. Even if I'm the first, though, turning on the hot water only makes it warm enough. Since we have a low flow-shower head, I've yet to run out of hot water.

Fridge Colder Than Necessary

My nifty $3.25 refrigerator thermometer came in the mail. I followed ZiptoGreen's directions and stuck it into a glass of water, then put it in the center of my refrigerator. I took this picture after leaving it overnight. What do you know? The fridge was about 4° too cold. I'll admit to being a little surprised. I adjusted the temperature and tested it again after eight hours to make sure it was at 38°. As they say, every little bit helps. 

Great Engagement!

I spent the morning seeing who has "engaged" with our first Sustainability Coaching subscriptions. I'm encouraged! It's been less than three days since the first subscribers were emailed and we have a 46.42% open rate. According to the experts, that's pretty good. Fantastic!

Who Would Have Thought ... An Interesting Utility Bill?

Getting power data from our online Ga Power account was easy. I just downloaded the info, then inserted it into ZiptoGreen's "My Utility Bills" form.

It hasn't been so easy with the gas. But that's probably my fault. Someone (most likely me) already created an account, probably after the summer of 2006 when I began paying attention to energy use. I have no earthly idea what the user name or email is, and I need one or the other to access the account. I'll work on that later. It may be easier to dig up a year's worth of hard copies.

The hard copy Henk gave me is from November. A comparative graph shows a very sharp increase last year during January, February and March, with the highest usage in March. That's strange given that my husband was in the Netherlands for a month during that time. Either they got it wrong ... or I kept the thermostat too high while Henk was away. The bill wasn't particularly high in December, though. That's also strange given the incessant cooking, showers and elevated thermostat that come with Christmas company.

Anyway, the photo here shows what I've input into the form thus far.

Reading the Power Meter

Finding the cable that allowed me to download the image of my power meter took much longer than taking the photo. I was surprised to see that Georgia Power had already switched out my old meter for a Smart Meter. And I was thrilled I didn't have to read dials!
But apparently not everyone is happy with the new Smart Meters. A number of complaints have been leveled against Georgia Power about utility bills that increased dramatically after installation. One post, however, insists that increases simply reflect a malfunction picked up by the new meter ... in the home's HVAC or some other energy-draining problem. Our utility bill seems in line with consumption. Actually, bills since installation are lower than they were a year ago, and more in keeping with where we keep our thermostat. This past summer we challenged a utility bill after finding they were "estimating" our usage ... meaning they weren't actually reading it every month.

Georgia Power is making a north to south sweep of the state. By August 2012, all of Georgia will have new meters. Here's a map that shows installation progress and when you can expect to receive your Smart Meter if you live here.

Busy? A Little Distracted? I'm Right There with You

Since the summer of 2006, I've been in a mad dash to help stop global warming. (Ooops. Make that "climate change." Wouldn't want you to think I'm a nut case.) When ZiptoGreen launched in Oct. 2009, I thought I could finally take a breather. No such luck. Since then I've done everything except stand on my head to get folks to engage in energy-saving solutions. I would have done that, too, if anyone had suggested it might work. That's why I can't tell you exactly how much energy and money my household has saved. I've been very, very busy. Really.

When someone asks about my personal savings, I'll go on and on about the insulation we blew into the attic, the Energy Star appliances we purchased, the CLFs scattered throughout the house and our great low-flow shower head. I'll say the typical household spends 25% of energy costs on heating water—needlessly. I'll tell anyone who cares to listen about the disadvantages of a side-by-side refrigerator with an ice maker and water filter in the door, even if it is an Energy Star model. I'll talk about problems I've encountered with trying to use energy efficient lighting. What I can't say is exactly how much money and energy has been saved. I can't do that because I don't know exactly. The truth is, I trust the wealth of data already out there. In large part, it's the same data from the U.S. Dept. of Energy that ZiptoGreen is based on. Generally speaking, I know I've save a lot.

However, the other part of the truth is I've been so busy and distracted some energy-saving actions have been left undone. There's plenty more I can do to reduce my energy use. Unfortunately, most people are also very busy. Especially anyone who fancies him/herself a leader. Even environmental leaders! That doesn't bode well for global warming.

In late 2010, I was struck by a solution—one that might encourage at least a few people to take the time to reduce their energy consumption. What if I walked my talk, consistently?! Every single month. What if I were a better example? What if I kept track of how much money and energy I'm saving? And what if—since I am first and foremost a writer, and a journalist second—I wrote about walking my talk. You think that might work? Sounds like a plan to me.