The video is a comical experiment introducing the idea to “heat the person, not the house”.  At the beginning of the video, the narrator conducting the experiment shows a young lady in a room ….make sure to watch the big thermometer in the corner, because as you watch the video, you realize that its only around 50° degrees Fahrenheit  in that room! BRRR….that’s cold! The experiment is thirty minutes. No heater is on and the only devices that are projecting heat is the mouse, keyboard, dog bed, and the light above her head. After ten minutes from being in the room with the turned on devices. She says she feels comfortable.

From the video, we learn that from those four devices, a person can become comfortable without turning on the heat! Which can save (based on this experiment) up to eighty-seven percent of energy. How awesome is that? Even a space heater which may seem more convenient to make your room nice and toasty can be a money guzzler. In fact, a space heater uses between 800 to 1500 watts as opposed to using those four devices which is only wasting 80 watts. That’s a huge difference, isn’t it?!

So the next time that you’re spending a night in, on a chilly fall or early winter night, I know that I’ll be in my snuggie with my side table by me and my lamp with a fluorescent light bulb, and a heated dog bed to warm my feet instead of those energy consuming space heaters and save me some money for some extra holiday shopping for myself.

For more information, check out this website: Heat the Person Not the House

1. No Need to Pre-heat: So, while cooking for your holiday dinner, keep in mind that while cooking a turkey, or your big holiday ham that you don’t have to pre-heat. Why? Because it is a slow cooking process, so you can skip the pre-heat and get to cooking.
2. No Peaking: I know it’s hard to go and take a peak at the turkey or ham, especially when you are hungry, but if there really is no need for it, don’t’ do it! Just opening that over door can lower the heat in your oven and prolong the cooking time.
3. Use Your Microwave!: Using your microwave uses up to 40% less than your oven or stove. So instead of bearing your stove to steam some veggies, do it in your microwave.
4. Use Ceramic and glass pans: You can reduce the heat if you use the ceramic and glass pans! I assure you that your meal will cook just as evenly and with the same amount of cooking time.
5. Use your dishwasher: If you have a dishwasher, use it! Only in full amounts though. A dishwasher uses 37% less than washing dishes by hand. But if you don’t have a dishwasher, be sure to not let the hot water running for long periods of time.
6. Switch to new bulbs: So, those old holiday lights that you have been using for like 5 years now, don’t you think it’s time for a new set of lights? New technology equals more efficient. Newer lights are really more efficient. If you want to go the extra mile, ask your lighting supplier about LED holiday bulbs. They can also be found on the internet, so browse around.
7. Edible Ornaments!: This one is my favorite! Instead of lights decorate your tree with edible ornaments such as little gingerbread men.

So if you are looking to save or you’re just really excited for green energy, consider one or two of these seven holiday energy saving tips! And Remember, Save Wave Energy wishes everyone a Happy Holiday!

            Okay, so this goes along with my previous blog about American energy consumption going to the dumps. In fact, this article argues the very fact that even though we have technology to save energy, be eco friendly, and save money, Americans are not reacting. A survey done by the Shelton Group, analyzed the energy efficiency progress from around 1500 U.S . residents.  The steps include installing high efficiency windows, installing extra insulations, upgrading their heating or cooling and installing high- efficiency water heaters. The survey revealed that about 42 percent of people surveyed have installed high efficiency windows, 39 percent have installed extra insulation, 37 percent have upgraded their heating or cooling system, and about 24 percent have installed high-efficiency water heaters. I’m going to be positive and say that these are actually a pretty high number considering that these percentages indicate that almost half of the people surveyed have upgraded their energy efficiency.  Let’s be honest, these are not cheap upgrades to undertake. 

There is also the notion that maybe Americans truly believe that they ARE in fact great energy savers because they have made these minor additions or upgrades to their homes. Are Americans even aware that they really are not notable energy savers? Do they know  how much they are saving because of these upgrades?  Probably not. The article reveals that ONLY 15 percent of homeowners have gotten an energy audit done. 33 percent of homeowners THINK they need one, and around half of people surveyed say they are LIKELY to get one. I don’t know about the ‘Likely’ statistic.  That number seems alittle high.  I’d be surprised if half of the homeowners in the U.S. have even considered an energy audit for their home.

I am playing devil’s advocate and am saying that even though the survey has provided a rather good analysis on how inefficient Americans are. The survey does not analyze the other sources of energy that we are most known for using such as gasoline. The survey also does not reveal how aware Americans are in regards to their energy use. Have Americans been driving less than previous years or taking different modes of transportation? What about refrigeration, and lighting? Being in a such a big city, as Chicago, we thrive from living the night life, have we switched to energy efficient lighting? According to the article, it would take households making more than $100,000 a year a $113 increase in their energy bill to cause them to invest in efficiency efforts. For households making under $25,000 a year, the monthly increase would be $120 in their bills. People with graduate degrees would have to see a $98 dollar increase in their monthly bills. Lastly, people with a high school graduation or less would have to see a $122 increase in their monthly bills to seek changes in their household efficiency. Why are households who are either the least educated or making the least amount of money willing to wait until they see a higher increase as opposed to those who are the most educated or the ones that are making the most amount of money? I feel that it is because they are not aware of how much energy efficiency can really save them. At SaveWave Energy we want to educate people about these issues and potentially help them save, learn, be efficient on energy.

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“‘Green’ is the new black.” I’ve heard this phrase before and it seems to be appearing everywhere in the news. Companies are now using the term of being “green” as a gimmick to look more attractive to consumers. Small businesses and even schools are becoming ‘green’. We can even be ‘green’ in our own homes. I’d like to think as myself as a pretty responsible citizen and yes, I DO recycle. However, do you know that the U.S. energy consumption per-capita is 98,418 kiloWatt hours per year in comparison to only 21,213 kiloWatt hours used around the world per year? How is that even possible? Recycling is one thing, but when I think of how much I drive back and forth from the suburbs to downtown because it is more comfortable, its insane to think that I have to go fill up my energy efficient Toyota Corolla twice a week! The average American drives 12,000 miles per year and uses 441 gallons of automobile gasoline. Sounds like a lot doesn’t it? Americans are known to have the luxury of being able to buy a car, and be able to use a car as our main system of transportation when the rest of the world relies on public transportation, bikes and the use of their own legs.

In reality the average American disperses more than half of those 98,000 or so kiloWatts hours per year in our very own homes. This includes air conditioning, water heating, space heating, refrigeration, and lighting/appliances. For me this includes, the ten minutes that I leave the water running in the shower to let the water warm up plus the additional twenty minutes I use in the shower, the countless times I leave my hair appliances on carelessly in the morning as I brush my teeth, get ready, and eat breakfast BEFORE I even get to do my hair! That’s more than half an hour on energy wasted. Side note: this may not apply to the boys. Let’s not forget the numerous times I crank up the heat and then forget to change it back when I leave the house. Keep in mind that I only go to my house to sleep. Does this routine sound familiar? If it does, then it’s easy to say that we as Americans are not as energy savvy as we thought.

The U.S. is known to have the best of the best, yet we are not investing enough to reduce the amount of energy we use. As of now, we only use 3.7 percent of solar, wind, and geothermal energy efficient energy combined and 6 percent of hydroelectric energy compared to the 48 percent of coal and natural gas which is inefficient. Surprisingly enough we use 1 percent of oil. Because of awareness of these statistics, we reduce the use of energy by doing as little as taking public transportation, turning off and unplugging appliances or turning off the heat as much as you can when you are not at home. (Merely turning off an appliance does not always mean that it does not eat up energy) Changing to energy efficient items is also advised such as using CFL bulbs.   At Save Wave Energy, we encourage everyone to go green. Our suppliers use energy efficient power to help our customers go green and cut down on those electricity bills too!

Sources: VisualEconomics.com

Illinois Ranks 17th the most Energy Efficient State

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California ended its 5 year run as the countries most energy-efficient state, according to a report by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economoy (ACEEE). The ACEEE’s Scorecard rated Massachusetts first with 45.5 out of a maximum 50 points and California second with 44 points, followed by New York with 38. Energy efficiency has maintained a priority for states despite budget cuts and a bleak economy, according to ACEEE officials.

Illinois ranks in the Top 20 for energy efficiency at spot #17. Also, Illinois was the second most improved state since the last ACEEE scorecard in 2010. Illinois moved up 8 spots from the 2010 scorecard. The most improved state was Maryland.

Energy efficiency has continued to build momentum despite the sluggish economy. Officials are increasingly reconizing that energy efficiceny is the cheapest and quickest way to obtain long term savings. Fully harnessing America’s untapped, abudant energy efficiency resources will save consumers and businesses money, as well as, allow techonological innovation and new business opportunities that create and sustain jobs.

Overall, States continue to provide leadership in forging an energy-efficient economy, reducing costs, spuring job growth and benefiting the environment.

At Save Wave Energy we have created the most complete and dependable platform upon which end users can exercise the power of choice to save money when meeting all of their energy demands. Save Wave Energy, LLC. is a firm that can come into your business tomorrow and deliver a detailed energy efficiency and cost plan that will save you thousands on energy costs A MONTH.

Save Wave Energy has a three tiered approach to leveraging for your business the wonderful benefits the move to deregulation and consumer choice in Illinois affords you. Quite simply, Save Wave Energy helps you take advantage of the incredible capacity for positive change that comes with being able to implement the power to choose your energy supplier in a free market paradigm. We have also mastered the ability to obtain for you Federal Government subsidized retrofitting credits, in addition to providing you with cutting edge “Green Energy” products in order to create a comprehensive solution to lowering your business’ monthly energy expenditures. Using this system, Save Wave Energy has helped commercial entities in Illinois establish energy prices 10-15% lower through our fixed rate energy brokering,with further reductions in energy costs of an additional 10-15% through our energy engineering and efficient product architecture explained below.

Save Wave Energy TIER #1: Deregulation in Illinois

Under the new deregulated environment here in Illinois companies have the ability to choose their energy supplier. This deregulation has caused multibillion dollar energy firms to enter the US energy markets with competitive pricing that, when implemented, saves the end user/commercial businesses huge amounts on their monthly energy costs. In June 2010, every commercial entity in the State of Illinois will be subject to an hourly rate charge from ComEd. Commercial entities will have increased risk exposure to daily swings of the energy market, and therefore be subject to fluctuating prices with no defined idea of what their end of the month energy utilities will cost their business. We help your business by showing you how to lock in low rates now for the future, so that you don’t have to be exposed to this “excess commodity risk” that is coming as a result of policies on the part of local distribution companies like ComEd

Save Wave Energy Solution #1 – Competing Energy Bids

Save Wave Energy, LLC. seeks competitive bids from multiple energy providers for your business’ energy rate. The firm then analyzes the energy provider’s respective bids and brings back the best fixed rate pricing plan for your business’ individual situation. We will let you know where each major institution stood with their bids and allow you to pick the most cost effective program for your business. When energy companies compete, you win. And your trophy comes in the form oflower fixed rate prices upon which your business can depend.

Save Wave Energy TIER #2: Retrofitting of Energy Consuming Products

Save Wave Energy helps each business become aware of the innovative technologies that are allowing businesses like theirs to run more efficiently and cost effectively through automation and computers. What many do not realize  is that the same technology that causes them to upgrade their CPU’s every few years is also creating better, more cost effective utility-driven machines and fixtures. As an example, we have experienced situations where businesses with relatively new three year old buildings are  able to cut their energy consumption by 30% by using a new, more energy-efficient HVAC system.Your companies’ place of business needs to be on the cutting edge with the energy systems it uses, and Save Wave Energy, LLC. puts you there.

Save Wave Energy Solution #2 – LIME Energy, NASDAQ: (LIME)

Save Wave Energy has created a strategic partnership with Lime Energy, one of the nation’s leading firms in Energy Engineering and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certification. Lime Energy engineers, with the assistance of Save Wave Energy, work with our clients on a consultation basis to show how they can drastically reduce their energy costs by restructuring their utilities, building more energy efficient systems and retrofitting expired technologies with new ones.

Save Wave Energy TIER #3: Rightcycling – Energy Efficiency/Green Energy

Having products to replace aging technology is just as important as identifying the wasted energy of the overall systems themselves. Businesses can benefit tremendously by utilizing industry tested “green products” that can be used in everything from new construction of a hospital’s back up generator to energy efficient light bulbs for parking garages.  Identifying areas where existing products can be upgraded and energy efficiency improved is a detailed process that must be coordinated in order to realize the full benefit of what it means to rightcyle.

Save Wave Energy Solution #3: GEXPRO (formerly GE Supply)

Save Wave Energy sought a partnership with THE best Electrical Products supplier with a strong supply chain to support their mission to save businesses on their energy efficient supplies. By partnering with Gexpro, a company who has been around since 1904 and was formerly a major division of General Electric, Save Wave Energy immediately felt confident in our ability to promise  and deliver an elite level of service to new clients that are looking to lower their energy expenditures through Gexpro’s huge line of energy efficient products.

Save Wave Energy Provides the Entire Package for Maximum Energy Savings

While some firms, like ours, can offer an avenue to savings for your business by establishing strong strategic relationships with large energy firms who can refer a less costly energy rate, Save Wave Energy believes this is only one third of the way towards realizing a comprehensive  energy saving solution. With Save Wave Energy’s three tiered approach our clients can be assured that they will receive a streamlined path to much lower energy costs. Whether the client is a Chicago Skyscraper or a neighborhood coffee shop, Save Wave Energy is committed to becoming the nation’s most well respected Energy Consultant Firm, one business, one client, one state at a time.

Core Values Supporting Our Mission:

1. Belief in the integrity of individual choice within free markets to create long term stability in energy prices.

2. Empowering consumers to take charge of their energy use and save money when doing so by locking in the best rates now.

3. Understanding of the crucial role quality education plays in the institution of a sustainable and renewable green economy.

4. Desire to allow consumers to obtain the capability to reduce their carbon footprints through access to cutting edge green technologies and products.

5. Empowering commercial entities to take advantage of energy rebates and grants currently available

But there can be problems with this kind of fundraising. Doesn’t it send the wrong single when we teach children about childhood obesity but have them sell nutritionally bankrupt foods to people for money? Isn’t there a problem with teach kids about recycling (which we here at SaveWaveEnergy.com have taken a step further, with rightcycling) when they are selling wrapping paper that isn’t made from recyclables in order to raise needed funds?

Enter Greenraising.

Lisa Olson, the founder/inventor of the concept was seeking to combine eco-consciousness with responsible fundraising. So, she began seeking out environmentally friendly “green” products and trade goods like shopping bags, coffee and jewelry and aggregated them into a catalog. Which could then be distributed to schools and organizations for fundraising purposes. And given her background as a teacher, Ms. Olson began developing teachng materials and lesson plans that could be used in the classroom in conjunction with the fundraiser. To date, there are now over 1,000 groups in the US and Canada that participate in Greenraising.

As Lisa Olson says, “Schools are not only raising funds, they’re also raising awareness…tiny actions do add up.” And this is the real genius of the new paradigm for fundraising in schools. Children are learning to develop their ecological intelligence from a very young age. They are learning about the broader impact of their local choices, and how turning off running water or flipping the lightswitch off when they leave a room adds up when it comes to energy savings.

Greenraising is certainly a wonderful new way to practice being green and helping a valued nonprofit organization at the same time. And it is exactly the kind of innovative concept SaveWaveEnergy.com can get behind and fully support. So go out and Greenraise!

When people talk about energy independence in America, reducing our use of foreign oil, not being held hostage to price shocks in energy commodities and things of this ilk, nearly always the conversation focuses on the supply side. We need to build more wind farms a la T. Boone Pickens. We need to drill for more oil. We need to find more natural gas reserves. We need to kick ethanol production into high gear and start using biodiesel more frequently. We need to increase our refining capacity for oil so that more supply of the resource can enter into the pipeline. We need to invest billions and spent untold man hours developing the ability to deep sea drill for energy resources. On and on the conversation goes.

But rarely do we ever hear about the other side of economic equilibrium, the demand side. Reducing demand on a macrocosmic level with everyone doing their part on an individual basis is oftentimes overlooked in contemporary energy discussions. Reducing demand by increasing the efficiency of our collective energy usage is cost-effective, scalable, less time intensive and not nearly as environmentally destructive  as supply side solutions. The process, for example, of figuring out how to create more energy efficient lightbulbs, producing them and then getting them in homes nationwide doubtless carries with it a corresponding carbon footprint. However, the negative environmental impact of this increased carbon footprint is dwarfed by the reduction in total carbon output  that comes with billions of lightbulbs being installed in homes that run longer at higher levels of brightness and use less energy. The same kind of thing is not quite observed when it comes to building new coal plants to satisfy consumers’ energy demands.

Time ingeniously referred to all of this as the drive to save “negawatts” (reducing systemic demand by X amount of megawatts means that we experience negative megawatts demand growth, or negawatts) as opposed to producing more megawatts. In essence, there are two ways to do this: by using things more efficiently or by using things more productively. The former can be seen in the lightbulb example, with the latter’s exemplars evinced in such things as weatherizing our homes by caulking windows and doors and insulating pipes and ducts so that the home itself is using energy more productively. Either way, energy efficiency is not being overlooked anymore.

Barack Obama called efficiency “the cheapest, cleanest, fastest energy source.” And Steven Chu, his Energy Secretary, said to a crowd he was speaking to that “I cannot impress upon you how important energy efficiency is.” But, we can sure try.

America’s power plants waste enough energy to power all of Japan. Only 4% of the energy used to run a lightbulb is actually used for light. The rest is lost as the power travels over transmission lines and or is given off as heat at the plant and by the lightbulb itself. Our consumer electronics, the fastest growing segment of power demand, are incredibly inefficient. There are some gaming consoles that are shipped by manufacturers with the auto power-down disabled, burning up enough energy over the night after the user forgets to manually shut them off to be able to run two refrigerators. Little examples like this, writ large, are we waste such incredible amounts of energy.

Quite simply, this is neither acceptable nor right. But it is this way because of disincentives to change the status quo. Power companies make more money if they sell more power, so it is not in their interest to help reduce demand. This is a very powerful example of monetary disincentives on the supply side.  But they exist on the demand side as well. Most efficiency investments pay for themselves over a few years, but all of them require up front costs, which can seem daunting to finance. And top of the line efficient appliances can be extremely expensive. Truly, when people and business are living paycheck to paycheck and month to month, a few dollars up front can mean a world of difference. And there is the money donated by entities like the Big Three Automakers to politicians to try to keep fuel-efficiency standards lower. So there are political, as well as economic, disincentives to altering the system. Entrenched interest can be very hard to fight, especially when it is well heeled, with deep pockets.

However, in the long run, it is in ALL of our best interests to have a sustainable and renewable green economy and a healthy planet. And that ultimate logic wins the day. So, Obama and others are doing things to get rid of the current disincentives that are standing in the way of that ultimate goal. Having states legislate the decoupling of profits from sales volume for utilities, providing for a massive expansion of government assistance in paying for the poor’s cost to retrofit their houses with more efficient goods and machinery, mandating better and more efficient fuel and appliance standards, and the like, are all things that are currently in the hopper to build momentum towards becoming a much more energy-conscious nation.

So, this is akin to the next step. First, there is the development of ecological intelligence. And then comes putting that collective knowledge to use through concrete action, like making energy efficiency a national priority. It is true that energy efficiency alone will not save the world, nor rightcycle our economy out of its current doldrums. But, it sure can go a long way towards making our country stronger and our world healthier.

Rightcycling is most fundamentally about bringing a novel and contemporary approach to bear on ideating about the positive effects the green ethic has on our planet and our economy. Notionally, the term is to be thought of as kind of an amalgam of some common precepts. This is the essence of innovation, seeing old things in new ways and thinking of the past as prologue to a bright and wonderful future.

The ‘cycling’ part of “rightcycling” is meant to evoke an ethic of being efficient with our energy usage by playing off of the goal of recycling, which is all about the efficiency of materials usage. It hints at the ultimate meaning behind being ‘green’ in our ways of living, both on a micro and a macrocosmic basis, that is to say, both as an individual consumer and as a societal whole.

But, the term is more than just about being efficient with planetary resources, it’s about invoking Corporate Social Responsibility. CSR, as the term is abbreviated, is essentially a buzzword about companies and how they should exist as good corportate citizens, how they should act and make every decision on the basis of a three-pronged thesis: People, Planet, Profit. Like a three-legged, each part is necesary for a coherent and workable whole. No corporation should operate without taking into account all three, simulateously. And when it comes to the environment and acting sustainably, it is the duty of corportations, as part of their CSR due diligence, to make their carbon footprints smaller, their environmental impact more efficiently streamlined.

And then there is business cycle and everyone knows that we are sitting in an acutely painful trough, a rather pronounced ebb in the flow of the cycle. We can harken back to Adam Smith and his Invisible Hand, which he described like this:

“Every individual is continually exerting himself to find out the most advantageous employment for whatever capital he can command. It is his own advantage indeed, and not that of society, which he has in view, but the study of his advantage naturally or rather necessarily leads him to prefer that employment which is most advantageous to society.”

Being green confers economic advantage. It is most decidedly not in the best very long term interests of a business or nation-state to operate in such a way that they will cause the planet to cease to function properly. But, rightcycling is about more than that, it’s more about the here and now. About how making sustainable decisions today is economically sound. Business is all about efficiency and individuals today are more productive than ever before and being green only makes us all even moreso. With Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand, we see precisely how each person developing ecological intelligence, how each corporation acting in acting in a socially responsible manner is ultimately good for ALL of us. When the rightcycling ethic is implemented in this way, it provides an impetus for getting this economy out of the doldrums. Now, granted, acting sustainably for the long term is not going to get us out of our economic crises all by itself, that is so sure. But, it CAN help. Without sounding too cliche, every little bit DOES help.

Essentially, in sum, Rightcycling is about leveraging the economic power of green living in order to help “right” our economic course onto a more positive, upward sloping part of the “cycle,” in addition to encouraging consumers and business alike to also do their parts in being more efficient in their energy usage and adopting a more ecologically intelligent methodology of consumption.