1. Unplugging my appliances after turning them off doesn’t really save so much money or energy.

Well guess what? That’s absolutely not true. According to the NRDC, your set top DVR can drain 446 kilowatt-hours per year, your refrigerator 416, and your tv 275. That is just the tip of the iceberg, and that already costs (at a conservative assumption of 12 cents per kilowatt) $136 per year. While realistically you cannot unplug your refrigerator, you can unplug other items in your house to save a lot of money every single year. Practecol makes it easy to unplug appliances with its remote controlled surge strip, so you don’t have to bend over and unplug things- instead just use the remote control for big savings!

2. Air Filters for my HVAC only need to be cleaned when they get REALLY  dirty.

The air filters on your HVAC system guard every outlet of your air conditioner to take out all of the harmful dust in the air before it gets circulated throughout your house. Optimum efficiency for the air conditioner is at the first instant that there is a clean filter, when no dirt is obstructing the airflow. From there on out, the efficiency of the air conditioner trying to blow through all of the clogged dirt steadily decreases. The Department of Energy recommends checking and cleaning your air filter once a month, especially during heavy usage seasons like July or August.

In addition to making your air conditioner less efficient, clogged air filters also can damage your machine. Because they are forcing your machine to overproduce, the lifespan of your air conditioner is actually significantly shortened by not maintaining proper air filter cleanliness. And, the more often you clean it, the easier each cleaning will be. All the signs point to cleaning it early and often, so why not? There is a way to monitor specifically when to change the air filter using Practecol’s air filter whistle. It places a device on the air filter that senses when the air flow is obstructed on the filter itself, and emits a whistling noise so that you know it is time for a change. This is a simple way to avoid the issue of how often to change it objectively, and it simply tells you when your specific machine needs to be cleaned for maximum efficiency.

3. Fans cool down the room- therefore I should leave them on while I’m not in the room.

The short answer is “that’s not true and you shouldn’t.”

The long answer is a more scientific and technical one. The reason fans cool you off is because they create a wind chill effect, just like  wind on a cold day. Essentially the wind or fanned air makes it easier for the sweat on your body to evaporate and cool you off. But, that means that the air itself isn’t getting any colder, it only creates a façade of coolness that exists while you are in the room! In fact, the fan actually makes the room hotter, because the electricity used to power the fan converts into heat and fills the room. So despite making it feel 5 degrees colder while you are under the fan, the fan is technically making the room hotter. Therefore, it doesn’t make sense to leave a fan on while you are out of the room, because it only serves to heat the room while you are gone.

4. Air leaking through air ducts and the attic are the only places you lose heat from in your house. (Also, insulating one area will cause more loss in other areas)

There are actually a lot of places in your house that lose heat. Although one of the big ones is through your roof, another large heat drain are the edges around windows and doors, and even through your windows themselves. You can save $15 a year and save 231lbs of CO2 annually by placing the Practecol Easy-Roll Film Kit over all of your windows to prevent heat escaping through the glass of your window panes. You can also save $13 a year on electric bills by using weather stripping to seal up those holes around your doors and windows. These are two other locations in your house that lose heat or cold air to your backyard besides your roof.

Additionally, sealing up these leaks in your house does not adversely affect other regions of your house that leak air. The pressure to lose heat does not increase in other locations, but rather by sealing up one area, you simply reduce leakage. It therefore just makes sense to seal up all locations that you can to maximize savings on electric bills.

Practecol- save and sustain, simply

There are a couple things that you should do before you go on vacation in order to save money while you are gone. Two main things to focus on are your thermostat and your lights.

Thermostat: During the year, changing the temperature in your house even a single degree can save you about 3% off of your electric bill. Making sure that your temperature is set appropriately can therefore save you lots of money, if you strategize appropriately. While your in the house, you may only be able to stand it at 76 degrees, but your house doesn’t mind if it gets hotter while you are gone. You can go crazy, setting it at levels you personally would never survive. 82, 84, even 85 degrees! Raising the temperature this high can save you more than 25% on your electric bill while you are gone. It is a sure way to save some money and save some energy.

Lights: Obviously, making sure you don’t just leave lights on is a sure way to save some money on enegry costs, and also to maximize your bulb life so you wont have to replace it as soon. However, many would argue that some lights must be left on to dissuade burglars from robbing your house. There are ways around this, though- use timers. Using timers appropriately will leave one or two lights on at night so that it will appear as if you are home while still minimizing energy usage. And, there are even timers that will work purposefully anytime within a five minute radius of the time you set, that way no robber will be able to tell that the lights are on a timer (because every night the lights conveniently turn on and off at exactly 9:30pm). If you use the Practecol Motion Socket Switch which automatically turns lights on and off depending on a motion sensor, you wont have to worry about the stray closet bulb or basement light that can accidentally be overlooked, helping you save even more money.

Using these tricks can help you rest easy and well while you are on vacation.

Practecol- save and sustain, simply.

Nixon defined the EPA’s role as establishing environmental protection standards, conducting research on the effects of pollution and how to control it, and recommending policy changes as such. Today, the EPA employs about 18,000 employees and is the governments sole branch dealing with all things environmental. Clean drinking water, proper waste disposal, dealing with radiation, air quality, and many other categories fall under the EPA’s jurisdiction.

In the 1992, the EPA started a program that specifically dealt with energy efficiency. Energy Star began as an effort to reduce energy consumption by consumers and by large factories, and became the international standard for energy efficiency. Its label started being added to computers and printers, but soon spread to essentially all household appliances, as well as buildings and other products. Its certification represents that the item being certified uses 20-30% less (!) than that which is federally required. It has begun to be used internationally, and claims to have helped save about $14 billion in 2006 alone.

The government has decided that it is important to become energy efficient. Why not you? Practecol sells simple products that help make your house more energy efficient. For example, we make weatherstripping that can split into any size and shape that you need, so that you can seal all of the small cracks and leaks around your doors and windows. This alone can save you $13 a year, just for 10 minutes of your time! Just a little bit of time and you can make your home more energy efficient- saving money and energy.

Practecol- Save & Sustain, Simply.

This is a more complicated issue with various factors at play, both the type of light bulb and the cost of your electricity. Every light bulb has a certain amount of operating hours that it remains working, and this is in fact related to and affected by the amount of times it is turned on and off. The more times you turn on and off the power of the light bulb, the shorter the lifespan. That being said, given the amount it actually effects the light bulb it could still be cost-effective to turn it on and off.

Regarding incandescent bulbs, they are fairly inexpensive to produce and also are very inefficient in that only 10% of the energy used by the bulbs are actually used to produce light, whereas the rest of the energy is simply given off as heat. Additionally, turning the light bulbs off in the summer will help keep your room cool. So, despite the shortening of the lifespan of the incandescent bulb, because it is so inexpensive to replace and because of the marginal effect of the flipping power, it actually is worth it to turn the light off even when you are just leaving the room for one minute.

Regarding fluorescent bulb it gets more complicated. Their operating life is more affected by frequent power changes, and a general rule of thumb as told by the Department of Energy is that you should only turn off the light if you will leave it off for 5-15 minutes. Here are the factors at play: the cost of replacing the lamp, and the cost of the extra initial rush of energy to get the fluorescent bulb started. The initial rush of energy only lasts about 1/120th of a second, and uses about as much energy as the bulb does normally in 3-5 seconds. Therefore, it is seemingly worth it to turn off your lightbulb even if you are only leaving the room for 5 seconds. However, because of the high cost of fluorescent bulbs and the greatly shortened life span of each lightbulb as a function of frequent switching on/off, the true economic cost of turning it on or off is about the cost of keeping the light on for 5-15 minutes.

With regards to incandescent bulbs it is always worth it to turn off the lights. However, with respect to fluorescent bulbs it depends more on how long you are going to be leaving the room for. If you are indeed gone for 5 minutes, definitely turn it off and then back on. Even if you are not leaving for a whole five minutes, though, from by a green point of view, it may cost more money for you to turn them off for less than 5 minutes, but you will be saving energy even if they are off for only 5 seconds.

Make sure to check out Practecol’s motion sensor light socket switch to save energy on those closet and basement lights! It will automatically shut off those hard to reach lights that get forgotten about, and therefore save you lots of energy and money.

Practecol- save and sustain, simply.

There is one method that says pretty simply: “only use what you need.” Although this seems pretty intuitive, many people don’t actually listen to this and waste money because of it. For example, when on vacation or merely out at work during the day, some people leave their air conditioning or heat on full blast, using lots of electricity when no one is even at home to benefit from the altered temperature! This simply doesn’t make sense or cents! One tip is to make sure to set the timer on your thermostat so that the system is only working while you are home and getting benefit from it.

What about while you are running the machine? How can it be more effective while you are actually home and benefitting from it? One thing you can focus on fixing is the delivery of the conditioned air from the system to the interior of your house. There are two main weak points in this system that are easily tweaked so that they are more efficient and cost effective.

1. Filter- The air filter on your HVAC system essentially filters dust and dirt molecules out of the air before sending it around the house. As a small strainer of sorts, it collects the dust and slowly clogs up. However, when it does clog up the system needs to strain in order to produce a strong enough airflow merely to force through the barrier that the clogged filter has created! It actually decreases efficency by 10-20%, costing you a lot more energy and money than it should. In order to know when the filter needs to be cleaned or changed, Practecol created the Air Filter Efficiency Whistles. These devices whistle when the filter is clogged (because the air is being forced through the device alone), notifying you that it is time for a changed filter. This can save you over $80 a year just through a five minute installation process.
   1. Ducts- There is a complicated network of different ducts that deliver the conditioned air to the appropriate vents. However, along the way some of the temperature is siphoned off through tiny breaks and leaks in the duct system. It doesn’t leak into the rooms though, but rather into the area between the walls of your house, rendering that air useless. In order to minimize this loss of temperature, Practecol makes a special Professional Duct Sealing Tape. Using this tape (along with its preparation wipes) will seal the duct system so that all of the conditioned air will go towards where it is intended to go.

Practecol sells these two products together conveniently in its Furnace & A/C Energy Savings Kit, which together can bring you a saving of $88. These products will, as always, help you save and sustain, simply.

But in this moment of starting fresh though lies an opportunity. A silver lining of sorts. It gives them the chance to being a new, however they want it.

Through building fresh houses and fresh homes, the people of Joplin can go ahead and do it properly. Knowing what we know about technology and the environment, they can build an optimal set of houses that have very little emissions or carbon footprint. At the same time, they will be making sure that their energy costs are low while they are living in the house. They can ensure low-cost and low-energy living in the wake of this tragedy, where they wouldn’t have been able to before. Here are a couple of our tips for actions they can take to make their houses sustainable and eco-friendly:

Green roofing- these are roofs that are covered in vegetation and plant life that have a dual purpose: they both absorb rain water and can reuse it and they also reflect off heat rays. Building these on the new houses can help lower air conditioning costs and also save water.

Insulation- Upon building the initial walls, there still might be little cracks open to the exterior along the windows and doors of the house. Right away these cracks can be sealed, saving dozens of dollars on heating and energy bills from the get-go. (There are different kinds of weatherstripping sold by Practecol)

Motion sensor lights- From the start, put all those lightbulbs in motion sensors to ensure that light bulbs aren’t left to waste electricity when they aren’t being needed. (Check out Practecol’s handy products that can help with this)

In the light of this tragedy, we need to try and draw out the silver lining. We need to be able to harness the bad times and use them to fuel the good times! Here at Practecol, we believe that from the ashes can emerge greatness, and with a head for the future and appreciation for good planning, we can help rebuild Joplin in an energy efficient and low cost way to pave the way for more responsible and sustainable living!

1. Take Shorter showers (You can use Practecol’s shower timer to help you with this one!)
2. Try to water your garden in the morning, so less water evaporates unnecessarily
3. Don’t run the water from the tap until it cools off, just use ice or leave a pitcher in the fridge!
4. Make sure your toilets comply with efficiency standards! (Use the Perfect Flush on old toilets)
5. Mow your lawn to a higher height, that way the grass will shade the roots and hold soil moisture better
6. Make you sure you pick the appropriate load size on your washing machine so that you don’t use too much water!
7. Use a water efficient showerhead!
8. Turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth!
9. Insulate your hot water pipes (Check Practecol’s Hot Water Heater Kit!)
10. Turn off the water in the shower while you wash your hair- you can save 150 gallons a month!
11. Brush your teeth in the shower- save water and time!

Practecol- save and sustain, simply!

The 70’s are characterized by soaring gas prices and inflation. Since the rise was perhaps caused by the political actions of the Middle East in starting the embargo, the media ate up the complaints of American people that gas prices were too high, while simultaneously critiquing the government. As a contentious issue, gas prices became a symbol for a commodity that the government should ensure the price of is kept low.

Swept under the rug, though, are the prices of electricity. People became so focused on their automobiles that they didn’t notice the costs of simply heating their home. Additionally, there is a delayed cost effect to electricity, as you simply pay at the end of each month and not immdiately. Therefore it is easy to forget that turning on that air conditioner does, in fact, cost you money. And just like people  try and avoid driving in order to save that gas money, it is also important for people to take the appropriate actions to make sure they don’t waste electricity unnecessarily.

At Practecol, we try and engineer products that simply help you save electricity and money in your house. For example, the Practecol Air Filter Efficiency Whistles. It is a simple appliance that you attach to your air filter in your air conditioner, and when the filter is clogged around it, the air is forced through the device, making a whistling noise to alert you that it is time to change your filter. The clooged old filter can actually decrease HVAC efficiency by 10-20%, and because of the amount of electiricty this appliance uses, that could actually waste over $80 a year! Using this simple appliance helps you save all of that money, with just the simple 5 minute installation.

Practecol- helping you save money and energy simply.

The time it takes to check your email, facebook, twitter, foursquare, etc etc.

The time it takes to set the table properly.

The time it takes to run around the block.

The time it takes to snooze your alarm in the morning.

The time it takes to actually get out the door once you say you are leaving the house.

The time it takes to play a good game of hangman.

The time it takes to cook pasta to a perfect al dante.

The time it takes to make one of those super quick cake recipes.

The time it takes to brush your teeth and floss.

The time it takes to repeat a word enough times that it loses its meaning.

The time it takes to water the lawn.

The time it takes to walk across an entire department store.

The time it takes to make some toast.

The time it takes to read the sports section of the paper.

So why shouldn’t it be the amount of time it takes for you to take a shower?  Shortening one’s shower to just the time that is needed can save many gallons of water each time you shower and the energy required to heat those extra gallons! Every minute that you cut from your shower can save over 1,000 gallons of water per year and up to $22 per year in water and water heating expenses.

Practecol wants to help make it easy to be conscious of your water and energy consumption in the shower, as it is easy to lose track of time. In order to fix this problem, we engineered a 5 minute shower timer which you simply tap when you climb into the shower and it lets you know when it is time to get out. This can save you money and help to preserve water.

Practecol- save and sustain, simply.

Steam power, though, was the first power source that could be used to operate machinery on land or water effectively. Yet, steam power requires fire, which in turn demands fuel for the fire. This is the first place in history that fuel costs emerged as a dominant factor in the production of energy. In response to this, efficiency became a critical issue in the industrial sector. In order to maximize productivity, it made sense to try and minimize energy costs, especially on a large scale. This was in fact how mechanical engineering was born- to investigate the way things worked in order to make them work better and more efficiently. Steam machinery helped coal mining more efficient, which led to the discovery and greater ease of access to coal and petroleum.

Later on, electric grids became much more prevalent due to the invention of the incandescent lightbulb. Once Nikola Tesla made the electric motor, he freed individuals from relying on the inefficient steam powered power plants. It allowed small machines to have their own power generator without wasting lots of energy.

By the early 20th century, per capita energy consumption was growing very quickly, as more and more people were added to the electrical grid. Fuel consumers grew by using air travel and automobile travel. The amazing thing was that the energy supply was always outpacing the energy demand, with constantly evolving technologies like hydroelectric plants and nuclear plants that were increasingly efficient.

The oil embargo of 1973 was the signal that decreasing energy prices would not remain that way. Oil prices began to soar, and the supply of energy began to actually fall behind the demand for it. Whereas before energy efficiency was about creating a new way to manufacture the energy, now it had turned into a quest of conserve the energy that we were making.

Energy conservation is the latest development in the quest for pure, free energy. It is merely the latest adaptation that humans have taken on to create a perfect system of unlimited energy for pubic use. Ultimately, although completely free energy does not seem to be feasible, there are steps that we can all take to save energy, in some ways that don’t even negatively affect the way we live.

Practecol makes products that help us save money and energy without changing our lifestyle at all. For example, the Practecol dryer ball is a ball that one simply places in the dryer along with his or her clothes which helps to aerate the clothing and circulate heat better. This reduces drying time and energy costs. On average, the dryer balls  reduce drying time by about 15%, which accounts for $20 of saving a year with a modern dryer. Energy efficiency is not a new idea- we merely need to adapt it for use in our modern lives.

Practecol- Save and sustain, simply.