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According to autonews.com , GM has made some changes to the GM Volt electric car to reduce air drag. One change consisted of rounding the front end and another consisted of sealing up the grill area sending air down the sides.

The goal of GM is that the Volt be able to drive 40 miles before needing a recharge and expected costs at about 10 cents per KWhr are projected t be only about 80 cents for a full charge! The Volt, scheduled to be released to the public in 2010, can be recharged via an ordinary household outlet, making recharging even possible at places of employment where outlets are available in parking areas.

The Volt also has a gas backup engine in case your battery runs out. The Volt gets around 50 MPG on this engine. More information on the GM Volt is found at this GM Volt FAQs Page .

If you have hundreds of feet of garden hose like we do, you know that the water gets very warm in the hose, and can run warm or even hot for 5-10 minutes. So why not take advantage of this free hot water?

I did just that by constructing a frame from four 34" scrap 2×2’s, screwed together at the corners. Then, I drilled 3/8" vertical holes in each corner and run cord or clothes line through, tying at the top and knotting at the bottom to the correct lengths. The cord is then attached at the top to a hose clamp secured on a hose. The hose is then connected to valve and then a shower head I picked up for about $2. You then drape the hose over a tree branch. For privacy you can attach a tarp on the inside of the shower as shown.

For a more functional DIY solar shower that I built for about $25, check out my 20 Gallon Solar Shower Plans for a shower that works even in cooler (sunny) weather and retains its heat after the sun goes down.

In the summers of 2005 and 2006, we converted our exterior bedroom walls from 4" (3.5" actual thickness) into 6" (5.5" actual thickness). This is a 57% increase in thickness, but since we also replaced some old compressed rock-wool insulation and added a vapor barrier, the R-value was perhaps doubled. And boy, do we feel a difference when the temps dip below zero! But, we still had our living room, kitchen, and bathroom remaining with 4" walls. So, with the high price of heating oil, I decided to tackle the South wall of our living room. To see a nice overview of the steps involved, go to This Article At NaturalHandyman that I wrote for them. Within the article are details of the projects and step-by-step photos. To see a video overview of this latest project, go to South Wall Insulation Project Video or play the video embedded below.

This is a messy project, but if you clean as you go, it is not bad. Once the painting is done, you are left with the "finishing touches" which consist of shortening trim and replacing other trim and extending window and door frames. This can drag on a bit since it is slow work, but at least it is not messy. I am still plugging away at my trim from our South wall project of late July. But it will get done. Still, this project is well worth the time if you live in a northern climate and you will appreciate the comfort of a well insulated house.

The cost of this South Wall Project was about $200. About $35 in new insulation, $40 in drywall, $80 in 2×4’s, and some more for window and door extenders, Great Stuff insulating foam, plastic, and other odds and ends. Not a lot to pay in my opinion, and money recovered in a few winters.

It was a bit late last night when I got around to taking a shower before bed, but I thought I would see if the solar shower still had warm water. At 10:30PM I took a battery powered camping lantern with me and set it outside the shower. This provided more than enough light, although I would like to rig up a permanent light for after dark in the future.

The water was still warm! So the 20 gallon reservoir holds the heat for a while. It was fairly warm during the day (84), but not extremely hot.

I have plans for improving this shower: Add another layer of plastic over the top to form an insulating barrier as well as adding 2" foam insulation to the back side against the wall – this would insulate the water and help it maintain heat even better. I will post again when I do these updates. Hoping to use this shower into October, even here in cold northern Wisconsin.

Go to Free Solar Shower Plans to see how you can build a shower like this for around $25!

This energy saving light socket, made by First Alert, will turn off your light automatically after 4 minutes if no motion is sensed. Also, it will turn on your light when motion is detected and keep it on as long as motion is detected. Installation is simple: Unscrew your current bulb, screw in this socket, and then screw in your bulb into this socket! We use this in our basement by our freezer where I had a light that would go on at the same time as my office light. The alternative to going this route would have been to wire in a new switch, but we had 3 switches already and I did not want a 4th, nor did I want more wiring. This device works great, but the price is a bit steep – $23! Another drawback is that it will not work with low-wattage bulbs such as a 14-watt florescent bulb but requires at least 25 watts. For the time being, I have to use a 60-watt bulb until I obtain a 25 watt florescent. Note that if you use a 14-watt, the light will flicker. From some reviews I have read of the First Alert Motion Sensing Light Socket at Amazon.com, this socket will flicker with any compact florescent bulb. (That would not be good!) I will test this out myself and provide an update.

The energy saved is calculated as follows: With my old 14 watt florescent bulb, 140 watt-hours per day were used, assuming 10 hours of "on" time. Now, about 10 watt-hours are used for a (future) 25 watt bulb that will go on about 5 or 6 times for 4 minutes. So about 130 watt-hours are saved per day, or 0.130 kw-hrs per day. Using a rate of about $0.10 per kw-hr, this amounts to $0.013 per day, or about $5 per year in electricity alone. Add the savings of perhaps $2 per year in bulb replacement costs, and the annual savings in my application is $7/year, resulting in a payback period of about 4 years. Not the big savings I hoped for, but a step in the right direction!

This blog will serve as a place to post supplemental materials relating to saving money in one’s household. Updates will be provided on energy saving projects going on in our own home as well as discussion of alternative energy technologies such as fuel-cell powered vehicles, solar electric cells, geothermal heat pumps, and more.

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