Well the energy crisis continues in the West, and all throughout the country they’re talking about the brownouts, the increase in the cost of power, and ways to cut down. So we here at X10 thought we would do a How2 regarding ways to cut down on the power use. After all, if we all pitch in, it could not only save us a lot of money, but also help out our neighbors at the same time.

Before we begin, let’s break down where your energy use goes. The highest energy use goes to heating and cooling your home. This accounts for forty-four percent of your total use. In second place are the appliances. The dryer and refrigerator are right up there at the top. These account for thirty-three percent of your overall use. And bringing up the rear is your water heater, which accounts for fourteen percent of your energy use. So it’s going to be best if we use the "Whole House" approach to controlling the energy costs and uses.

In most of our homes, we don’t need the lights until we need them. In other words, we don’t need them on if we’re not in the room. So the solution here is very simple. Put your lights on motion sensors.

We did a How2 on setting up indoor motion detectors, but we’ll go over the steps briefly, and you can refer back to the article http://www.x10.com/news/howto/0213_hawkeye.htm for more detailed instructions.

To have the HawkEye turn the lights on at any time, you need only follow the next steps.

Set up the HawkEye Motion Sensor where you want it to see you. For example, if you want it to turn on the lights any time you enter the living room, then set it up near the living room entrance.

Then plug the lamp module into an AC outlet.

Plug the lamp into the lamp module.

This can also work with all of your appliances, just use an appliance module (model AM466 or AM486).

Instead of keeping the porch light on all night, use the EagleEye motion sensor so that the porch light only comes on when it is needed.

When it comes to that refrigerator, don’t keep your refrigerator or your freezer too cold. Recommended temperatures are thirty-seven degrees Fahrenheit to forty degrees Fahrenheit for the refrigerator, and five degrees Fahrenheit for the freezer. If you have a separate freezer for long-term storage, that should be kept at zero degrees. It’s also recommended that you keep the freezer clean, and keep any icy build-up to a minimum. When the freezer is covered with ice, this means that it’s going to take much more energy to keep it at the designated temperature.

When it comes to cooking, use the microwave whenever you can, as that will help you save more energy as opposed to using the oven and the stove, which both can require a fair bit of energy in and of themselves.

One problem that we all face with appliances is forgetting to turn them off. This is not only expensive and a waste of energy, but it’s also dangerous as it could cause a fire. For these appliances, timers work nice, but it’s also good to be able to turn them off the minute you know you’ve left them on. And for that, we recommend using ActiveHome software in conjunction with the appliance modules.

When it comes to heating and cooling your house, the experts ask that you "set your thermostat as low as is comfortable in the winter, and as high as is comfortable in the summer." Keep your heater and cooler vents clean, and make sure that curtains, furniture, or other things that may get in the way do not block them. Some homeowners have the fancy programmable thermostats that can turn the temperature up and down depending on when the homeowner’s going to be home. For most of us though, this can be done using an ActiveHome macro. The macro can be programmed to turn the heat/air-conditioning down as soon as you leave the house, and then up again just before you arrive home. This macro can even allow for weekends, and holidays when the family will be home longer. For information on programming macros, see the How2 article "How to Create a Personal Reminder that’s Smart. But we’ll go over some of the simple steps here first of all. http://www.x10.com/news/howto/0320_reminder.htm

Now to control your thermostat you will need the Thermostat Setback Controller, model TH2807. The Thermostat Setback Controller installs underneath your existing thermostat, and then plugs into an the appliance module.

To set the macro, the first thing you need to do is run the ActiveHome software from your computer.

From there, click on the "M" (macro) button on the far right side of the interface. This will bring up a separate box with options for creating macros. The interface will give you a list of the various appliances that you’re running through your computer.

Click on the icon that says "My appliance" on the right hand side of your screen.

Drag that icon to the left side of your screen. When you do this, you will see a dialog box that will ask you "What type of macro do you want to create?"

Tell it that you wish to create a standard macro.

Now go back to the standard ActiveHome interface.

There you will see a list of the macros you just created.

Click on the empty black box below "My appliance." This will bring up your timer settings.

From there, make your choices. You probably get home between 6:00 pm and 7:00 pm, so let’s set the heat to go up at 6:30. To do this, either drag the green arrow above the "time" bar until you see 6:30 in the black box to your right, or just type in 6:30. Be sure and make sure you have AM or PM set.

Underneath that, set the day or days.

From there, set the dates that you want this macro to run. You can run it January through February, or January through December, or just for a couple of weeks. It’s entirely up to you. (Just a reminder, green is the start date, and red is the end date.)

Now click "Okay."

From there, you will be asked if you want to save changes to the macro. Just say, "Yes."

And the last on our list of energy hogs is that hot water heater. Thirty-seven percent of the hot water use is for the shower. Twenty-six percent is for laundry; fourteen percent is for the dishwasher, twelve percent for the bath, and eleven percent for the sinks and other water use.

There are some obvious steps we can take here to keep that cost down. First of, take faster showers, and don’t heat the water up quite so high. When doing laundry, unless you’re dealing with strong stains, use warm or cool water. When using the dishwasher, make sure that the dishwasher is full, and use the energy saving option. When using the sink, don’t leave the water running, and don’t turn the hot water on if you’re only using it for a couple of minutes. In that case, it’s better to use the cool water spigot. All of these combined, can make a significant dent in your electric bill.

And if you’re looking for more information, then you can check out the following website, and they can give you more specific instructions to keeping those costs down, and helping keep the energy flowing.

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