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Contractormag 1861 Energy Save
Contractormag 1861 Energy Save
Contractormag 1861 Energy Save
Contractormag 1861 Energy Save
Contractormag 1861 Energy Save

Top 10 Stupid Energy Saving Tips

Feb. 24, 2014
Evidently, there is a secret stupid tips network. Look at any list of energy-saving tips and you'll inevitably find some bad advice. A lot of these tips live in the realm of myth.

Consumer magazines, newspapers, websites, public utilities, non-profits and many other entities have offered up dozens of energy saving tips and many of the most popular ones have never been quantitatively proven to save any energy. Some of them cost so much money that you probably will never save the difference. And some are downright bizarre.

Author Martin Holladay, a contributor to GreenBuildingAdvisor.com Googled energy saving tips and came up with an exhaustive list of hokum. (We knew we liked Holladay when we saw that his bio says that he once worked for a plumbing wholesaler and built his own passive solar house).

Holladay came up with bad advice from a long list of public utilities, the California Energy Commission, CNN, the University of Illinois at Chicago, U.S. News & World Report, The City of Tallahassee and pretty much anybody else who's ever offered energy saving advice.

"Evidently, there is a secret stupid tips network (or stupid tips underground) that shares bad advice. Every now and then, some utility executive or government employee comes up with a new stupid tip, and (worried that the idea might not get the recognition it deserves) immediately sends out a mass e-mail to every member of the stupid tips network, so that the tip can be published widely."

Holladay also offers a list of real, genuine energy saving tips, such as insulating your attic and, "if your refrigerator, furnace, or air conditioner is old, swap it for a new, high-efficiency appliance."

He also has a list of really bizarre tips, such as using your dogs and children to find hot and cold spots.

Check it out. We particularly like the tip that involves Schnapps.

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