Many ways to conserve in a household

I installed several timers to mitigate phantom loads. For example, the microwave has a clock which is a phantom load, which we don’t want to run 24/7. Therefore, in order to power the microwaves, the dial must be turned on. Once turned on, everything works as normal until the timer runs out. Other timers are used to turn on our bathroom ventilation and kitchen exhaust fans and also the power bars to the TV/DVD/satellite receiver.   The thermostat shown does not draw power from the grid like most thermostats do. This one actually has four small batteries to power it so there is no phantom load drawing power from the main system. The thermostat is also programmable and can do a number of functions. Firstly, it lets us know the temperature in the house. It will also be able to control the heating and cooling once the geothermal is installed. Currently it is being set to turn on the furnace blower to recirculate the heated air from the woodstoves in the winter and the cooler air from the lower levels in the summer. The showerheads we chose for the washrooms use 1.5 gallons per minute flowrate, whereas typical showerheads use about 3 gallons per minute. We enjoy our showers every bit as much with the lower flow. Also, there are many low-flush toilets on the market to choose from. There are about 170 properties that share our water system and currently ony about 60% of these properties are developed. Our house was one of the first to get a meter on the water supply. As more properties are developed and more people using the system, it will likely become necessary to conserve the water. So, I guess we’re good to go.

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