Big Saver = Big Winner!

Submitted by Crow Wing Power

Bart Skalsky of Pine River, Minnesota, took home the grand prize by winning Crow Wing Power's "Biggest Saver" contest. The contest was open to all residential cooperative members, with a goal to reduce electric use and bills. The winner was determined by the highest percentage of electricity saved, comparing this summer's usage to last summer's.

Bart reduced his 2009 summer electric usage by 56 percent through a combination of simple changes and some careful investments. Here are some of things he did:
• Bart made a list of everything on his property that uses power. From this, he made a plan to address the “energy hogs” he found. For example, he unplugged the extra refrigerator in the garage and moved its contents to the house refrigerator. He also
disconnected seldom-used appliances, like the computer and the entertainment center, to reduce “stand-by” power.
• Bart put a lot of thought into changing his daily habits to use the least amount of energy whenever possible. He would try to cook more than one meal at a time, since the stove was already hot. When cooking, he kept lids on pots to hold the heat in, and didn’t open the oven too much to check on the food. And, he used the microwave or the barbeque grill whenever possible.
• The cool summer helped everybody lower their air conditioning cost, but Bart did more. He closed the window shades during the day to keep out the sun, and ran ceiling fans instead of the air conditioner. For the few days he needed the AC, he adjusted the thermostat higher so it ran less.
• Bart realized that using water also consumes energy, so he went on a water-saving campaign. He tried to think of each drop of water as precious, to be used as efficiently as possible. He took shorter showers and installed a water-conserving showerhead. He added an insulation blanket to his existing water heater and adjusted its temperature down. He installed a water-conserving toilet and a larger pressure tank so the pump now runs less.

Bart showed us that a common-sense approach of tweaking wasteful energy habits and some targeted upgrades can be a winning combination in dramatically reducing your energy consumption.

Even though Bart was the $200 grand prize winner, all fifty contestants are winners. As a group, they reduced their electric use by over 20,000 kWhs. We encourage all cooperative members to conserve energy. Together we can make a difference, since conserving energy is the best way to avoid added power plants and reduce your ever-increasing costs.

Go to Touchstone Electric for helpful tips on saving energy in your home. You can also read "Save Electricity & Save Money" in Lake Country Journal Magazine, (Sept/Oct 2009, p. 60) and visit the related Web Extra for more useful ideas.