We're working on a page that will act as a directory to help users sort through the best ways to save energy.  We've already written a free energy saving guide which I think is one of the best tools out there for beginners to energy saving. For those who want to dig a little deeper in saving energy, and maybe want to take on some projects themselves, we've covered an energy saving guide that Southface put together for you.

As I try and think through how to present  energy saving tips to users from all different regions, I naturally turn to Google.  On the first page of Google hits for the term "Save Energy" there are some helpful pages, but for some reason I'm just not impressed.  The posts are either way too basic (i.e. turn off your lights), too disorganized (several paragraphs on what to do but no flow), don't tell users how to follow through on harder tips, or just not engaging.

Most of the links don't mention home energy monitoring, the strong relation of energy consumption to climate, how to follow through on harder tips (like insulating your home), what are the best products and where to buy those products.

So that's what we're thinking about.  How to pull all of that info together so those interested in saving energy can find out how no matter if they are an energy noob or an energy guru.

The internet is an amazing tool for hosting content.  Unfortunately it isn't always organize or presented effectively (hence our purposely cluttered post image).

What does your ideal energy saving page look like?  What information do you want to see and how can it be helpful to you?

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how to save energy
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Comments

Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/09/2012 - 12:15
First I would break out everything into two categories, conservation and efficiency. For example, turning off light switches and using a monitoring system are based on conservation and only save energy when the user is interacting with the technology. Insulation falls under efficiency: you install it then don't have to think about it again. Secondly, I would rank each measure (roughly) by the savings per dollar investment. That way the top of the list has the cheapest ways to save the most energy. Insulation near the top and solar panels near the bottom. Users can go down the list in order, checking off each option (relevant to their home) as upgrade their home.
Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 08/17/2012 - 16:17
Random thoughts ... Define the scope.... household? "Don't fly in jets" is one good way to save a big chunk ;) Measure. Know where the energy goes, and how much goes there, before you start trying to fix it. And for a detail: Energy is (Time X Power). So relatively little power can add up if it's over a lot of time, that's the whole vampire power argument. An extra 100W of idle appliances (which could be just 2 or 3 bad offenders) adds up to 73kWh/month. And a suggestion: Concentrate on the easy, set-it or do-it and forget it things. Unless you're highly motivated, something which requires remembering or interaction makes it too easy to fall off the wagon. :)
ckmapawatt's picture
ckmapawatt Thu, 08/09/2012 - 21:30
That's a great idea. I think ranking actions by dollar saved is very important. That ranking would probably changed based on where the person lives. Love the point on conservation and efficiency. In our post on <a href="http://mapawatt.com/2009/12/22/reduce-fossil-fuel/" rel="nofollow">fossil fuel reduction strategy I broke out the difference between efficiency, conservation, and clean energy</a>.

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