how wasteful are you?

[nageov3t]

right now I have lights on in 2 unoccupied rooms and the hallway outside my bedroom. I don't mind paying the extra few pennies/month for the convenience.

also, my heat is turned up higher than it probably needs to be but beyond that, I'm pretty good about the big stuff. I turn my computer off when I leave the house unless I'm downloading something, don't let the AC run unnecessarily in the summer, etc.

 

[Colt45]

Having the lights on in winter isn't really waste.
Electricity is more expensive than natural gas here, so it's not as cheap...

If you have electric heating, you might as well leave all the lights on, though.

 

[IronWing]

I throw tootsie pops away after just two licks.

 

[nonameo]

Having the lights on in winter isn't really waste.
Electricity is more expensive than natural gas here, so it's not as cheap...

If you have electric heating, you might as well leave all the lights on, though.

not to mention that if you have CFLs, cutting them on and off will hurt their life more than just leaving them on. More CFLs made = more waste and more energy going into making them.

 

[lxskllr]

My heat's set at 55F, I'm folding on overclocked computers for added warmth, I recycle everything possible in my area, and reuse all the trash that's practical. I'd say my biggest waste is when I take an occasional bath. I'll sleep in the tub all night, waking occasionally to add more hot water.

 

[xanis]

I throw tootsie pops away after just two licks.

You bastard. Every time you do that, a kitten dies. THINK OF THE KITTENS! D:

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

I spend too much time on the internet. How that?

 

[HamburgerBoy]

I wash my hands for five minutes at a time, and often when I don't even have any reason to clean them. I take really long showers (one to two hours) as well.

 

[xanis]

I wash my hands for five minutes at a time, and often when I don't even have any reason to clean them. I take really long showers (one to two hours) as well.

I hope you're being sarcastic, because I don't think any human being could possibly take a 1-2 hour shower.

 

[lxskllr]

I hope you're being sarcastic, because I don't think any human being could possibly take a 1-2 hour shower.

I could easily take a 2 hour shower if my hot water didn't run out after 15 minutes or so :^D

 

[HamburgerBoy]

I hope you're being sarcastic, because I don't think any human being could possibly take a 1-2 hour shower.

Why not? I like the feeling of water running over me and as such prefer long showers to long baths, although I would do the latter as well should Greenpeace have me arrested for killing all the little fishies in their lakes via water depletion.

EDIT: And I think my record is four hours, although that time I took a nap to be woken up by entirely unheated water.

 

[spidey07]

Very. I paid for it, I'm going to use it no matter what it is.

 

[waffleironhead]

I could easily take a 2 hour shower if my hot water didn't run out after 15 minutes or so :^D

my bosch instantaneous water heater fixed that problem. The energy savings from going tankless were never realized as the lenght of shower has gone waaaaaay up. 😱

 

[lxskllr]

my bosch instantaneous water heater fixed that problem. The energy savings from going tankless were never realized as the lenght of shower has gone waaaaaay up. 😱

So you get unlimited hot water with that? How are you liking the system, and how do the costs compare with conventional heaters?

 

[Red Squirrel]

I set my heat at 17C when I'm home, and 15C when I'm not home, and have a small electric heater in my office to componsate if I find I'm cold, cheaper to heat one room then the whole house, even if it's electric.

I leave 3 lights on all the time, the one in my hallway as it actually lights up the room a bit, the one in the room I'm in, obviously, and the one in the living room, just so I'm not walking in the dark if I go down to get a drink or something. They are CFLs so it's best to leave them on then to turn them on/off all the time.

 

[Tiamat]

I shower until the hot water tank is empty. Usually 15-18 minutes.

 

[Leros]

I leave my A/C on when I'm not at home so I won't have to wait an hour for my apartment to cool down. I could save a bit of money there.

I'm not allowed to install a new thermostat🙁

 

[lxskllr]

I leave my A/C on when I'm not at home so I won't have to wait an hour for my apartment to cool down. I could save a bit of money there.

They say turning on and off uses more electricity than leaving it on. I adjust mine by 2-3 degrees, but don't turn it off.

 

[nageov3t]

my bosch instantaneous water heater fixed that problem. The energy savings from going tankless were never realized as the lenght of shower has gone waaaaaay up. 😱

I really want to own a house just so I can install my own tankless hot water heater. lol.

I get about 7-10 minutes in the shower with my current apartment's hot water heater. some mornings it's luke-warm from the get-go and I'll get like 3-5 before it goes cold.

and yet, unlimited piping hot water out of my kitchen sink :twisted:

 

[lxskllr]

I really want to own a house just so I can install my own tankless hot water heater. lol.

I get about 7-10 minutes in the shower with my current apartment's hot water heater. some mornings it's luke-warm from the get-go and I'll get like 3-5 before it goes cold.

and yet, unlimited piping hot water out of my kitchen sink :twisted:

A trick to get the water to come out hotter is to let it run for awhile before getting in. Run water for a little bit, then shut it off and wait about 30 minutes. It'll then come out as hot as is possible for it's setting. My water's all connected, so I do dishes or something like that before getting in the shower to charge the system.

 

[Leros]

I really want to own a house just so I can install my own tankless hot water heater. lol.

I get about 7-10 minutes in the shower with my current apartment's hot water heater. some mornings it's luke-warm from the get-go and I'll get like 3-5 before it goes cold.

and yet, unlimited piping hot water out of my kitchen sink :twisted:

Have you tried turning the temperature up on the hot water heater?

When I moved in mine was set to about medium and I only got about 10 minute of hot water. I turned it up higher and now I can take about 30 minute shower. I just have to be careful because the pure hot water is hot enough to burn me.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I really want to own a house just so I can install my own tankless hot water heater. lol.

I get about 7-10 minutes in the shower with my current apartment's hot water heater. some mornings it's luke-warm from the get-go and I'll get like 3-5 before it goes cold.

and yet, unlimited piping hot water out of my kitchen sink :twisted:

Ouch that sucks. I like to take long showers too, and I find my tank only lasts about 15 minutes as well. I've thought of installing a tankless but not sure how well they work up here in the north. The incoming water temp is probably just a few degrees above freezing. Suppose I could install two tankless units in series, but those arn't cheap, and if I go with a gas one it's not really a DIY friendly project. If I go electric, then I'd have to upgrade to like 320 amp service, those things use lot of juice. 😱 I do want to upgrade my service eventually though so maybe at that point I can consider it.

 

[lxskllr]

Have you tried turning the temperature up on the hot water heater?

When I moved in mine was set to about medium and I only got about 10 minute of hot water. I turned it up higher and now I can take about 30 minute shower. I just have to be careful because the pure hot water is hot enough to burn me.

I purposely keep mine set lower. It saves a bit of money, and when I do dishes, I can keep my hands in pure hot water without scalding. Using my technique above, I get the best of both worlds.

 

[Leros]

I purposely keep mine set lower. It saves a bit of money, and when I do dishes, I can keep my hands in pure hot water without scalding. Using my technique above, I get the best of both worlds.

My heater uses gas, which I pay a flat fee for. $10 a month for unlimited gas for my water heater, stove/oven , clothes dryer, and air heater.

 

[Bignate603]

They say turning on and off uses more electricity than leaving it on. I adjust mine by 2-3 degrees, but don't turn it off.

That's a myth. I spent some time doing energy analysis for a company that did full up computer modeling of buildings and their AC systems. The most efficient way to run your AC is to keep it off whenever you aren't there. If you've got a schedule that's relatively regular you can get get a programmable thermostat and set it to turn the AC on a little bit ahead of when you get home.