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View Full Version : What other changes have you made after hypermiling?


Kevin108
06-02-2008, 05:53 PM
Most of us combine our trips away from home, starting furthest away to give our vehicles time to warm up. I know I've made an active effort there. Additionally Wayne convinced me to try biking to work. I'm far more conscious of electricity usage at home and at work. I'm even doing what I can to hypermile the work van. It's amazing to me that all of this was set in motion just from trying to squeeze a few more MPG out of my car.

What other changes have you made after hypermiling?

kayasbluetaco
06-02-2008, 06:05 PM
Well, hypermiling is part of my overall changes...

I try to reduce electricity at home. I am absolutely anal about turning off lights when not in a room, or even in the room I am in if they are not totally neccessary... I do the same wit my heating and cooling. I have a timer for that, and I keep the settings low for heat and high for a/c... but before resorting ot a/c I go as long as I can without it... Usually by Mid June I just can't take it any more because I can't sleep. I deal during th day alright...

I use all non chemical cleaners in my house (well, sort of... I use vinegar, peroxide, baking soda, teatree oil, and borax for pretty much all my cleaning needs)

I use the reuseable bags for groceries....

those are the main things I do so far...

I am looking into for solar for the house, and I want to buy all new appliances as I still use the ones that came with the house when I bought it.... which date to like 1973 LOL... but unfortunately you have to actually have money to buy the products that save money :(

hazeldazel
06-02-2008, 06:13 PM
I now eat my lunch at work several times a week, I used to go home everyday since I live so close plus my DH works from home.

We stopped using the wall heaters in our apartment and instead use a very efficient electric gas-filled heater that we can roll around to heat whatever room we're in. (Reduced electric bill in winter by 50% - woot!)

We use paper grocery bags which we re-use as kitchen garbage bags. Unfortunately, our complex doesn't offer any recycing options. :(

I wish there were more options for becoming energy-efficient for apartment dwellers.

Bike123
06-02-2008, 11:24 PM
The Jevons Paradox is always quoted on some sites -- if there were more efficient cars, people would use more energy overall, because of how they would spend the saved money. I've always thought that was way overstated. Furthermore, when energy is saved by intentionally changing habbits (such as by hypermiling or bike commuting), I think it leads to other additional energy savings. BailOut comes to mind, along with the posters above.

Kill-A-Watt is the ScanGage for home electrical use. Read BailOut's thread http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4295 if you haven't already!

lamebums
06-03-2008, 01:48 AM
I've converted most of the light bulbs in the house to CFL's (except for the one over the stove that toasts them in a matter of minutes for reasons I don't quite yet understand).

I've always been pretty anal about turning lights off when I'm not actually in the room (I was raised that way. :D)

I get paper bags at the store. They're recycled to begin with, and if you double or triple them up they're decent garbage cans, too. I recycle when possible but my options are pretty limited at home (I would have to pay a fee in order to get the opportunity to recycle!).



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