When we talk about reducing energy use around the house, it’s frequently in the context of saving money on monthly utility bills. It makes sense — money plays a role in so many decisions that we make, from where we work to what kind of car we drive to where we go shopping. But it turns out that people are actually more motived to save energy because it’s better for the environment and their health than because of money, according to a recent study by the University of California Los Angeles. The result is contrary to the expectations of even the test participants themselves.

Money vs. Pollution, Health

The study broke up households into two categories — one of which received weekly reminders about how much money they could be saving by cutting back on their energy usage, while the other was told about all the air pollution they were creating, and how it could play a role in children contracting asthma and cancer. The researchers gave both groups analytical tools to track how and when they used the most electricity, as well as comparisons to their neighbors to give them benchmarks to shoot for.

In the end, the group that was nagged about money failed to change their habits to include any efficiency measures. The health and environment group, on the other hand, slashed their energy usage by an average of 8 percent — and families with children cut back by 19 percent.

Won’t Somebody Think of the Children?

Before the study, participants were asked what message they thought would be effective in persuading them to cut back on their electricity usage, and most of them said that money would be the prime motivating factor. The results proved otherwise.

“We’re finding that you have to bundle the public good with the private good,” said Magali Delmas, the study’s principal investigator and an environmental economist at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, said in a press release. “Our message about health and the environment reminds people that environmentalism is also about them and their kids.”

Researchers speculated that the amount of money at stake simply wasn’t high enough to prompt people to act, but when homeowners were motived by a combination of benefiting their own families and being good citizens, they did take action.

“The message reminds you that you’re hurting people and the planet,” one of the study participants reported afterward. “It made me more conscious of the energy I was using.”

Go Beyond the Pocketbook

The study can be a lesson for officials and utility companies who seek to encourage people to cut down on their energy consumption. While everybody likes saving money, sometimes you need to appeal to more than just their pocketbooks to get people to act.

Why not take advantage of all three benefits? By taking simple steps to lower your energy usage, you can cut back on your bills, help the environment and protect public health all at once. If you aren’t sure how to get started, call an expert to give your home an energy audit and put you on the path to a cleaner, healthier and more frugal lifestyle.

Interested in generator installation for your Annapolis home? It’s an excellent idea! In areas like ours, where the weather can get out of hand in a hurry, and electricity isn’t always guaranteed to be readily available, a backup plan is nearly necessary. But when you look into generators, suddenly you have options you didn’t know existed! Do you want a standby generator, a manual transfer generator; what size do you need? It can get pretty confusing!

Our Annapolis electricians have all of the necessary skill and expertise needed to ensure you get a generator installation that is sure to have you covered in your time of need!

When you have a generator that suits your home perfectly, you can expect:

There are essentially two types of generator: Manual transfer and standby. Which one you choose is partially up to personal taste, but there are some specific aspects of each you’ll want to consider before choosing:

Are you ready to prepare your Annapolis home for the worst? Contact Kolb today, for the best in peerless service and top quality installation!

There are some real benefits to owning a portable generator. Many people use them during a power outage. This allows the home to have some basic essentials like a few lights and maybe a refrigerator powered during the outage. Portable generators are ideal because they can be taken out when needed and quickly stored away when they are not.

There are plenty of different sizes of generators for you to choose from. Many people find the portable variety a better option over the hard-wired generators that are typically installed by an electrician. Pasadena residents can call The Electric Connection to find out more about the home generators that provide power within seconds of the power going out.

One of the benefits of the portable variety is the ability to take the generator with you on camping trips or on day outings. These tend to be the smaller wattage generators that will only produce enough power to run a couple of small appliances.

Although portable generators have the added mobility benefit, they can be cumbersome and in some cases, quite loud. Typically, the larger generators will have wheels to aid in movement, but they are still quite heavy and not very portable. Another benefit to the hard-wired generators is the fact they are enclosed in a box that muffles the sound. This is ideal when you are in a neighborhood or at night when you are trying to sleep.

Your electrician in Pasadena can help you weigh your options and provide you with the information you need to make the best generator choice. One of the deciding factors will be how much you want to spend. Portable generators are less expensive. If you have more questions and want to get an estimate for a generator installation, give The Electric Connection a call today to schedule an appointment.

With Valentine’s Day edging past and Random Acts of Kindness Day coming up this February 17th, have you given any thought to how helpful your recent actions have been to your bottom line?

Lighting accounts for approximately 5-10 percent of total energy use. Simply turning off the lights in unoccupied rooms can save a great deal. Multiply that savings times thousands of households, and you’re taking part in a huge random act of kindness for planet earth.  

One of the simplest energy savings tips is caring for your water heater by wrapping it up in an insulated blanket, and it can help you save $20 for gas and $50 for electric heaters annually. Setting it to 120 degrees also boosts energy savings and improves safety.

When temperatures are extreme, be thoughtful about your thermostat settings. Adjust accordingly: 68 degrees in the winter, 78 degrees in the summer. Turning your thermostat down 10-15 degrees for 8 hours a day can save you up to 10 percent on heating and cooling costs. Upgrade to a programmable thermostat to make it a simple, automated task.

Another one of the simplest energy saving tips - turn off computers and other devices when not in use. Leaving your PC constantly running could be unkind to your wallet – to the tune of over $100 a year.

Many of the devices we use daily ruthlessly consume electricity, even when they’re switched off. This vampire power consumption can be curtailed with the help of point-of-use surge protection. Rather than unplugging each item individually, with the flip of a button, power to every device plugged into a surge protector is simply and easily terminated. A perfectly humane way to cut off unnecessary power consumption.

Surge protection can also safeguard your checkbook from the hazards of excess energy. Whole house surge protection adds an integral layer of security against budget-busting power surges that can quickly zap your expensive electronics. Be considerate of your wallet. The cost of replacing a single large home appliance such as a TV or hot water heater could cost you twice the expense of an investment in whole house surge protection. Find out how much professionally installed surge protection can save you from getting zapped with a free in-home quote from Mr. Electric®.    

Looking for a few more energy saving tips to protect your pocketbook? Treat your home and your budget to a little kindness with the loving care of Mr. Electric today.