Saving on Gas

Along with cutting my electric useage this month I am also aiming at increasing my fuel efficiency. As I am reading my leadfoot ways are costing me dearly in fuel economy. As I have made it a goal this year to not be in such a hurry and rushing so much, this fits in nicely, as one big way to save money is to slow down. Driving at 55 mph is much more efficient than driving at 65 mph.

My van currently gets 18-22 mpg, last tank it was 18.77. My goal is to increase that to 22 mpg all the time. I would hope perhaps I could get it higher but right now I just want to focus on small improvements, no plans to start turning off the engine while going downhill!

Just a 3-4 mpg increase would be the equivalent of getting an extra gallon out of my 17 gallon tank, which at prices these days would mean almost $4. That also means one free trip to town and twice a month that equals a trip to and from town.

Goal Increase MPG from 18 to 22 mpg:
1) Reduce speed on 4 lane from 65-70 to 55 mph
2) Reduce idle time
3) Tires properly inflated- these were just checked and aired
4) Minimize stops when at all possible, slowing down when I can naturally without the use of brakes
5) Take off my roof rack(which is never used)
6) Pull off slowly from stop lights

There are so many ways to increase efficiency but I am picking basic and easy things to do, which will in fact make me a better and more attune driver.

Here is a list of 100:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/EM-hypermiling-driving-tips-ecodriving.php

Electricity useage update:
This month prior to starting conservation measures my usage was at 29 kwH a day*. I have tracked the past 2 days and my usage was at 14kwH one day and 16 kwH. I am floored, that is a 50% reduction! Yesterday I ran the dishwasher and washing machine(cold wash cycle) where as the day prior I did not, which accounts for the difference between the days. I am not certain it will be that low all of the month but knowing I can get it that low is very exciting. I anticipate higher needs when Brian is home on the weekends as well.

On my list this month is making a solar cooker and looking into a homemade smoker as well. Having an outside cook source would save even more energy and with summer coming up I would like to not be cooking inside heating up the house while we are trying to keep it cool.


*I had started to use my clothesline for most of my clothes at this point however. My average kwH usage for the month of May based on the past 3 yrs useage is 33kwH.

I found this handy chart that shows the electricity useage of all manner of things, now of course there are variances based on appliances and this is based as well on electricity that is 8.1c kwH whereas ours is about 1c more as of current rates. It really shows a huge difference between washing with hot water versus cold, I know it was supposed to be more but didn't know how much more.

http://www.nppd.com/My_Home/Product_Brochures/Additional_Files/electric_usage.asp


Clothes Dryer 47¢ / load
Clothes Washer (cold/cold) 2.8¢ / load
Clothes Washer (warm/cold) 12.8¢ / load
Clothes Washer (hot/warm) 34.2¢ / load
Iron 9.2¢ / hour