Solar powered anything is sexy

Another long work week gone. There were a few days this week where the weather was absolutely gorgeous during the day and at night we've had unbelievably clear evenings where the moon just seemed 3 times as large and 5 times as close and all the stars were twice as bright.

Gorgeous days and vivid nights: and what was I doing during? Inside a building working.

Regardless, I am thankful for all that I have. But I'm working on something bigger.
I have a couple of days off so I'm using it to my advantage by getting as much done as possible on my to-do list. I'm dedicating a significant amount of that time to work on my side projects.

Speaking of projects, we've been working on significantly reducing the amount of electricity we use around our little lake house. It's that time of the year where I go full-force on home improvement/home repairs.

But anyway, last fall I installed a storm door. This was my first major DIY effort and I'm pretty proud of it. We shopped around for one that had the sliding glass that we could open or shut. Between that and our sliding glass door (with a second screen door) by the dining area we're able to have a pretty good air flow in the main living area of the first floor.

Our winters here aren't that bad but heating bills can definitely add up. We have a pretty drafty older home with floor to ceiling windows in certain areas so we put up heavy paneled curtains to keep some of the draft away.

Our outdoor lighting is solar powered. We have a modest sized yard and a decent sized patio so I've set up the light to mainly focus on our outdoor living area. The deck is the main focus and the stairs leading to the yard is second. We have the standard solar powered stakes for our landscaping. We have a couple of solar spotlights to highlight certain areas. (I didn't spend a lot of money for any of these either)

A couple of things I'll be getting soon:
A solar powered lantern that I can either hang or mount for the front door entryway area.
A solar powered decorative lights for the deck.

Were also big on candles around here. We have tons of candles and candle sets. We received a couple of candle sets for Christmas (the ones that come with stones and sets up in a big bowl type stand). We have one on the patio table and one on the outdoor bar. And that's just on the outside! It definitely adds a more soothing and zen-like ambience.

We have a covered deck (not fully enclosed) so during the summers it gets pretty toasty. We've added some larger potted plants in the mix and a shoji-type screen for outdoors to help shield us from the sun.

So some ways to save money at home:

1. Install storm doors.
2. Go solar.
3. Use candles (candles are sexy)
4. Use plants and screens (not just a decorative element)

Of course I've done the other energy saving basics such as:

1. Use CFL bulbs
2. Use power strips for appliances - easier to turn everything off and unplug because electronics and appliances continue to eat up electricity even when turned off
3. Use washer/dryer efficiently - I do my laundry in big batches one right after another instead of doing a little now and a little later.

I track my carbon footprint over at EarthLab. I'm not obsessed with it but I do make an effort. You can sign up for a free account and it helps you calculate your carbon footprint and make pledges to reduce it.



I just read this story about a guy who made a solar powered oven for $5

I'm outta here guys, I've got lotsa stuff to do!