A New Year is approaching, another opportunity for anyone to step back and conceive that we are all part of a full spectrum image. Life on our Earth is forever connected and for someone to think themselves better than any other or believe that they know more or all, is a sad and foolish proposition.

To start this New Year I would like to share an event that occurred at the start of this year. On January 11, 2013 a chasm between two different life forms on this Earth was closed. With almost 3 million views on YouTube this is truly amazing footage:

Humankind has entered the realm of our oceans in many ways. We have caused numerous problems and wild animals have little trust in us humans. Yet, a bottlenose dolphin saw humans during a night dive off the coast of Kona and knew enough to communicate with them for assistance. One of the instructors realized the dolphin had a serious problem due to a fish line entangled around its mouth and left pectoral fin. Attempts to help the dolphin took time and the dolphin had to go back up for air before returning to the humans so they may complete the task of cutting away the entangled fish line.

God's green and blue earth with all things living is truly amazing. A happy, healthy and safe New Year everyone.

Bill Lauto, GTG

P.S. You may wish to revisit my Blog posting called Food Labels Decoded, Dolphin Safe on 12/03/2013 and purchase accordingly. Thank you.

Yes! Don't wait another year to change your Christmas lights to all LED bulbs!

One of my largest clients as an Energy Consultant was MACY*S Department Stores. Around 1990, I introduced LED conversion kits for EXIT Sign Boxes to Macy*s Operation Managers and the conversion began almost instantly. Those same reasons for Macy*s to switch to LEDs stand true for everyone's Christmas lights today.

SAVINGS: Number One reason. Those Exit signs used two 20 watt incandescent bulbs that were on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year. The electric bill for one Exit sign in the Northeast was just under $42.00 per year. With an average of 250 signs per store, the yearly electric bill was over $10,400.00!
Switching to LEDs had a consumption of 4 watts per Exit sign. That is just $2.10 per sign and a total cost per year of only $525.60. A savings of $9,873.00!
The LED light level (output) was the same and the payback to change over to LEDs was less than 6 months! The two 20 watt bulbs would burnout around every four months and the LEDs made back in the early 1990s were rated at 60 plus years. The Exit signs with those LEDs are still working twenty plus years later, but you have to look for the old Exit signs still found in the back stock rooms. New modern looking Exit signs have replaced many of the ones on the sales floor, but that wasn't because the LEDs burned out.

FAST PAYBACK: Second reason. Today the cost for LED Christmas lights has come down and the price is even a better deal when placed on sale at the end of the season. How much can you save?
A house decorated outside and with a tree inside will use a minimum of 400 bulbs. That will be about 160 watts with the incandescent mini lights. If you have a timer running the lights from Dusk to Dawn between Thanksgiving and January 7th, your electric bill with a 14 cent Kilowatt rate will be: $94.00.
If you use LEDs consuming about 4.8 watts per 70 bulbs (total LED bulbs used 420) you will consume a total of 28.8 watts for a total electric cost of only $2.54! A savings of $91.46 in one season.
So no matter how many bulbs you are using, the savings is around 90% when comparing LEDs to Incandescent bulbs. Buying the LEDs on sale can offer you a payback on your investment in one season.

LONG LIFE: Third reason. We all had those times where the last row of lights are up, you come down the ladder and plug in the lights to only see half or none of them light up. Then that conversation starts, "Did you test the bulbs?"
"Nooo, I thought you tested the bulbs!"
"Are these the lights where if one goes out they all go out?"
"I don't know, didn't you buy them?"
"That was three years ago! I don't remember."
"Just buy those new LED lights, they last decades, not years."

So put the "JOLLY" back into the holidays and keep most of your money in your pocket by using LED Christmas lights. Your electric power company will still send you a bill, but in this case, less is much better than more. Merry Christmas.

Bill Lauto, GTG

Christmas and the holidays are here and everyone is cooking up something. The electric and gas bills will also be going up between all the lights and all the cooking. (My next Going True Green Blog posting will be on LED Christmas lights.)

An excellent comment and question was posted on my December 9th 2013 Blog posting called:
What Professional Chefs Prefer

The query was about counter top electric roasters. Based on the numbers for a more efficient way to cook, here is information on using that appliance:

If you are cooking a feast for many family and friends, your oven may not be able to handle all the food you have to cook and all the pies you may wish to bake. So using a counter top electric roaster will help save time. Lower energy bills will also be the outcome if the following is true.

If you have an electric oven, that will use more electricity to roast your food due to its larger size and additional space that must be heated to temperature. The smaller counter top electric roaster will cook faster and use less electricity due to its smaller size. The same stands true for an electric Toaster Oven vs an Electric Oven. When you are cooking or reheating food for just one or two people, the Toaster Oven will be faster and cheaper than your larger electric oven. However, if you still have to put your electric oven on for roasted potatoes and a pie or two, then the lower electric bill will stand true for cooking everything in your one large electric oven.

Now if you have a Gas oven, especially a convection gas oven, the electric counter top roaster will cost more in electricity compared to the cost of the gas consumed by your oven. So despite some of those holiday ads presenting counter top electric roasters as an alternative to cooking in your oven, that is not the complete story as discussed above.

Bill Lauto, GTG

The holidays are here and I trust we are spending time with family and friends to celebrate and honor what is really important in life. To help with saving money on the cost for the "energy side" of the holidays, this blog posting deals with cooking.

Yes, the very way we cook and the type of appliances we use to cook, can add to the electric and gas bills. So if you are shopping for a new stove and / or oven this season, I am sure you have several questions as to what is the best stove and oven to buy:

What is the best type of Oven for Energy Savings? That answer usually gets over-ruled by one's personal taste. Nevertheless, before you decide on what to buy based on personal taste, please consider these basic facts and data:

As a general rule Wall Ovens will use more energy than a well made Range with an oven. We have not seen a Wall Oven with an Energy Star Label. However, more expensive wall ovens coming out in the future with NASA technology may change that.

The fuel you use to heat your oven will make a difference in the energy bills. Over-all GAS will be much less than Electricity simply because of the difference in efficiency. How much of a difference? A much as 75% less for a gas stove and oven. So if it cost you $1.00 cooking with an electric stove, the bill would have been as little as 25 cents with gas. So go with gas and range design.

1.) A "Self-Cleaning" oven is more efficient than an oven without this feature, because self-cleaning ovens usually are better insulated.

2.) If you always open your oven door to take a look-see, then buy an oven with a window and light. This will reduce the times you would open the oven door and let heat escape.

3.) With Gas Stoves: An electronic ignition (piezoelectricity) will use up to 40% less gas than an oven and stove top with pilot lights.

Now if you already have Pilot lights then the burner flame on gas stoves should be BLUE, like in the photo above. If your flames are yellow in color, then clean the ports by following the Manufacturer's Instructions.

Of course if you have any questions, feel free to ask us through our comment box or become a member at EnergyHotwire.com to ask for FREE detail answers for your specific questions.

Bill Lauto, GTG

Are you stressed out because you will be cooking this holiday season for all your friends and every family member at your house? Then on top of that there will be the energy cost to cook the food!

Yes, large electric and gas bills can arrive just after the New Year celebration ends when your house is the "Culinary Capitol" to everyone you know.

To make these joyous events less stressful, we all should take note of what professional chefs prefer when they are cooking. With this information, cooking will be: easier, faster, more reliable, and the energy bills will be much lower.

Two main cooking elements are preferred by professional chefs, however, you may not necessarily have them at this current time. Nevertheless, do not worry, my next blog posting will help with that possible issue.

First preference by pro chefs is a gas flame. Especially for the stove top cooking. A gas flame, unlike a burner for an electric stove, is controllable and all chefs want control. Adjusting the gas flame for the size of the pot and the food you are cooking will control the heat distribution. This feature will allow you to cook evenly, faster and embolden the taste of your food. In addition, you will consume less Natural or Propane gas, thus saving energy and keeping your cost to cook much lower.

Convection ovens are professional chefs' preferred oven because of faster and more even baking. They will even go as far as stating that the food has a more delicious taste. In addition, due to the fan circulating the heated air throughout the oven, food will cook faster even when the oven is set at the usual temperature. So no matter where the food is placed in the oven... Top rack or bottom rack, in the front or toward the back - no problem. Your food will cook or bake evenly and faster. End result, Lower Energy Bills!

My next blog posting will be titled: What To Look For When Buying Ovens. This will help if you currently do not have a gas stove or oven. In addition, information about convection ovens will be provided.

Bill Lauto, GTG

As I continue to help decode all the food labels on the market, the next label is about protecting dolphins when fishing for tuna. Even with the consumption of tuna decreasing in this county, mostly due to concern with Mercury levels in tuna fish, today there is much controversy over this label. The concept of a dolphin safe tuna labels originated here in the United States. The goal is to minimize the number of dolphins caught during fishing for tuna and to prevent dolphin fatalities. Nevertheless, like several other labels, Dolphin Safe labels have various requirements and some are stricter than others.

The reasons for this label started in 1990 by the United States Department of Commerce are because dolphins are commonly swimming with schools of Yellowfin Tuna and fishermen used the dolphins as an indicator for the presence of tuna. End result, dolphins get caught in the nets with tuna and the dolphins were not offered a chance to escape. Thus the entire species of dolphin in the Eastern Tropical Pacific was in danger. Dolphin Protection movements by environmental groups helped pass this label law under the Consumer Information Act known as DPCIA. One interesting note is that dolphins do not swim with Skipjack Tuna, thus you can be almost 100% sure this species of tuna is without any dolphin fatalities. Unfortunately, Skipjack Tuna is not always listed on the can or jar we buy.

The issues with the 1990 DPCIA label are many. Only U.S. waters are included, so canneries are free to purchase tuna from other foreign fisheries, thus U.S. regulations can not assure U.S. consumers that the tuna they buy is dolphin-safe tuna. Also verification is neither universal nor independent. Only U.S. tuna fishing boats and U.S. canneries are subject to surprise inspection and observation. In addition, a 2008 report presented by Greenpeace stated that these labels do not mean no other species of fish was caught with the tuna. The report also stated that there was no protection against the environmental impact caused by fishing for tuna.

This Flipper Seal of Approval dolphin-safe label on the left is from the organization EarthTrust. Tuna is not allowed to be caught by driftnets or gillnets. Only the method of hook and line fishing is allowed. EarthTrust must be allowed to observe and monitor all steps of the fishing process. At this time, the Flipper Seal of Approval maybe the most reliable.

Earth Island Institute is behind the work with this label that states the tuna is dolphin-safe. The rules are listed as: No dolphin can be intentionally chased, circled or netted. Driftnets and gillnets cannot be used. At no time can other fish be added to the catch or the canning process that is from a unfriendly source toward dolphins.

Unfortunately, the label has received scrutiny from the World Trade Organization and Environmental groups in the United States. The reason for this is because Earth Island Institute is failing to inspect and ensure that dolphins are not harmed.

Bill Lauto, GTG