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How Programmable Thermostats Save Money

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, cooling and heating costs are the primary cost on your energy bill. If you don’t already know, using programmable thermostats saves money. Sure, you can set your thermostat and turn it all the way or all the way down when you leave the home to avoid the air or the heat from kicking on, but installing and using a programmable thermostat puts your heating and cooling needs on autopilot, which piles up the cost savings for you.

How Programmable Thermostats Work to Save Money

When you install the programmable thermostat, take the time to read the manual. The manual takes you systematically through setting the thermostat in order to maximize your savings. Programmable thermostats save money by providing you with four pre-programmed setting options: home in the summer, away in the summer, home in the winter and away in the winter.

Start by sitting down and creating a working schedule of the hours that your family is home and the hours when nobody is in the home. Once you determine your schedule, you can then set to work on coordinating your family’s schedule with thermostat settings for the air conditioner or heater. For example, if your family gets up at 6 a.m. and leaves by 8 a.m. you may have the thermostat set at 70 degrees at 6 a.m. and adjust to 78 degrees at 8 a.m. when everyone is out of the home. If nobody comes home until 6 p.m. then you can set the programmable thermostat to adjust back down to 70 degrees at this time.

Programmable thermostats save you money because it automatically adjusts the temperature setting according to your family’s needs. Rather than have the air or heat constantly running when it is unnecessary or requiring constant manual adjustments to the home temperature, you end up saving on your energy costs.

Once you set the programmable thermostat, leave it alone and allow it to do its work. Only when it is on autopilot, without human intervention, will it work at its best and allow you to maximize your utility savings.

How to Set Programmable Thermostats and Let it Work

Energy Star suggests a two-step process to setting and leaving alone a programmable thermostat. First, make sure that the thermostat is installed properly. Since most consumers are not specialist, Energy Star says the best way to ensure proper installation is to have a HVAC contractor install the unit for you. Second, follow the setting guide that comes along with your unit to ensure you properly set and use the thermostat.

As long as you follow these rules, installing and using programmable thermostats can be a big money saver in your home or business. a programmable thermostat can be set to coordinate with your life and the times when you are in and out of the home or office. The key is to set the thermostat properly and then leave it alone to do what it does best—put your energy savings on autopilot.

Buy Local Fundraising Ideas

Fundraising buy local campaigns can be an amazing way to bring the community together for a common cause. Typically, the cause is to put a spark back into the buying and selling in a local area, city or county. Local fundraisers can also benefit the local economy and the environment at the same time because it no longer requires trucking in goods from half way around the world. In Miami, Miami Spice, which is an annual local fundraising venture, helps to promote local restaurants by offering special pricing on meals during the month. If you’re hosting a local fundraiser, you may be wondering how you should go about encouraging others to buy into a local fundraiser and what types of business you may be able to get involved in the fundraiser.

According to one of the founders of The Boulder Independent Business Alliance, some of the most successful fundraising buy local fundraisers occur when individual businesses that operate in the community come together to work toward a joint cause with a joint effort. These successful local fundraisers also share three primary characteristics: it’s an educational opportunity, promotes local businesses while promoting the cause and turns individual businesses into a unified voice for media opportunities and more.

Encouraging Local Fundraising Buy-in

Especially in situations where the local community is struggling with an economic hardship, encouraging local fundraiser buy-in can help to stimulate the local economy. When the local economy is functioning at its peak, it is beneficial for the businesses and residents of the community. The primary way to encourage a buy-local fundraiser is to promote how buying locally helps to save jobs and create a higher quality of life in the community.

Establishes and Grows Relationships

All in all, man, woman and child are social beings. People often do business with a certain establishment because they like the owner and employees. Hosting a buy local fundraiser creates and expands relationships in the community. When you walk into the grocery store and the manager and cashier know your name, it is value-added to your shopping experience that you probably won’t experience by ordering food from around the world. Local businesses can provide a face-to-face and highly personalized interaction that national or global businesses have a hard time providing.

Types of Businesses

Almost any type of local business can participate in a buy local fundraising effort. Grocery stores, convenient stores, liquor stores, museums and other cultural institutions, beauty salons, nail salons, real estate agents and print shops are but a few of the types of businesses that can participate in this type of movement. Restaurants, cafes and coffee shops are a few other options. By joining efforts, these businesses can bond together to run co-op advertisements and work to market each other’s businesses to current and prospective customers who frequent their own business establishments. When multiple businesses join together in an effort to promote doing business locally, it also sends a strong message to the community members, media and other businesses operating in the area—a strong enough message to spur buying and jumpstart the local economy.

3 Ideas for a Green Fundraiser

Going green is the talk of the globe, but you can do more than just talk by hosting your own green fundraiser. Whether the cause is a local charity, a school fundraiser or a team fundraiser, you can simultaneously raise the money you need for your cause and help make the world a better place to live, work and play. If you are looking for some inspiration for ideas on hosting a green fundraiser, look no further. These three ideas for a green fundraiser are sure to be a hit.

Plant a Tree

You can swing a couple of different ways with a plant a tree fundraiser. One way is to accept cash donations and for each milestone you meet, you will plant one tree. For example, you can promote that for every $100 the fundraiser brings in, one tree gets planted. If you raise $3,000 this adds 30 trees to the Earth.

You can also sell tree saplings to raise money. Check with the county where you live to see if they are willing to donate trees. You can also work with a local plant nursery to see if they are willing to donate or sell you baby trees at wholesale rates so that you can keep the difference to pay for your cause.

Often times, this type of fundraiser coincides with Earth Day, which is in April. It is also an opportunity to teach people of all ages how important trees are to the environment.

E-Waste Drive

Millions of discarded electronics end up in the landfills every year. Not only does this clog up the landfills, but some of the batteries and other chemicals in the electronics contaminate the ground soil and water. Fundraising companies exist that assist you in collecting old cell phones, computers, printers and other electronic equipment. The e-recycler pays you a set amount of money for each item that you bring in for your fundraiser and recycle. It’s a great way to clean out old electronics, raise money and protect the environment.

Cartridge Recycling

Another set of fundraising companies help you collect and recycle ink cartridges for money. For each cartridge that you rescue from winding up the landfill, the fundraising companies pay you money that goes toward your cause. You may able to coordinate an ink cartridge fundraiser simultaneously with an e-waste fundraiser. When people donate printers for your cause, remove the ink cartridges as this is a separate recycling process. Combining the two fundraisers or using the ink cartridge drive as an offshoot of the e-waste fundraiser can add a boost to the funds you raise.

When you host a green fundraiser, you are accomplishing more than one goal at a time. In the process of raising the money you need for your charity, school or team you are working toward making the world a better place at the same time.

Do Dimmers and Motion Lights Really Save You Money?

The mantra “save energy” may seem like a simple concept to conceive and achieve. You can find numerous tips, advice and useful information on ways to save energy by cutting down on your light usage. Two ways the experts says help you to cut down on the energy use in your home is to use light dimmers and motion sensor lights, but do dimmers save money? In addition, do motion sensor lights save money?

Dimmers Do Save Money

The answer to the question, do dimmers save money is yes. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 15 percent of the average American light bill is from light usage in the home. While you cannot walk around in the dark all of the time, there may be ways to cut down this percentage. According to Good Housekeeping, one of the primary ways to decrease your light usage, which subsequently saves you money is to install dimmer switches on certain lights in your home.
It is common sense that the lower or dimmer the lights are, the less electricity the light uses. If you set your dimmer switch at 75 percent of usage, it can shave off about 20 percent usage. This not only helps to lengthen the life of the light bulb, but also cuts down on your energy bill each month.

Motion Sensor Lights Do Save Money

The answer to the question, do motion sensor lights save money is yes too. A similar concept relates to installing and using motion sensor lights. While a light outside of your garage and front door are great safety features, when you live them on all night, night after night because you forget they are on, then this runs up your energy usage and your electric bill. When you install motion sensor lights, however and it too can shave money off of your energy bill. Lighting and energy experts also suggest installing motion senor lighting in other areas of the home, such as stairways and hallways (those places in the home where unforgotten lights are often left on). Since the lights turn on when you enter the hall or stairs and turn off after a set period of time, it ensures that lights are not left burning for hours at a time, which also burns up the energy bill.

Using energy savers such as dimmers and motion sensor lights can make your light usage more energy efficient. More efficient energy usage in your home definitely leads to savings on your energy bill. So, do dimmers save money? Yes. And, do motion sensor lights save money? Yes. While you may only be able to install these types of lights in certain areas of your home, every little bit helps. Over time, each little bit you can cut back on your energy use is greener for the environment and keeps your green in your pocket rather than as a form of payment to the energy company.

Standard Operating Procedures for the EPA

The EPA’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) were developed to ensure consistency and quality assurance in preparing and managing environmental data and materials. EPA Standard Operating Procedures cover procedures at both the technical and managerial levels, and all organizations that fall under EPA guidelines must observe these procedures. According to the EPA, the SOPs are intended “to be specific to the organization or facility whose activities are described and assist that organization to maintain their quality control and quality assurance processes and ensure compliance with governmental regulations.” EPA Standard Operating Procedures were designed to be a well-developed quality control system to avoid environmental problems.

Field Measurements and Procedures

The EPA has determined that field measurements and procedures must follow a specific format for quality assurance. Field measurements apply primarily to water quality measurements and must be observed when monitoring the turbidity, conductivity, pH, and dissolved oxygen. Additionally, in the case of other types of field testing, the EPA requires procedures for general sampling, equipment decontamination, stream gauge measurements, stream flow measurements, electrofishing, and the transport and operation of a boat of other water vehicle for sample collections.


Sampling and Sample Handling

The EPA provides a wide range of SOPs for a variety of samples and how they must be handled. For instance, surface water must be sampled for metal levels. Groundwater covers a larger category of samples, as the EPA also has guidelines for well installation and measurements (including water pressure and static water level). What is more, soil samples must include a sampling of volatile organic compounds, while sediment sampling does not have this requirement. All samples must be recorded in four categories that include type of sample container, volume of sample, preservation method for maintaining sample, and holding time for sample.


Documentation

The EPA requires detailed documentation for all quality assurance activities, and this documentation must include three levels of maintenance. Those responsible for the sampling must log and track the sample, and then provide information about its correct disposal. A chain of custody must be provided for each sample, to ensure that the sample is managed properly at each location and to ensure that there are appropriate levels of responsibility for sample maintenance. Finally, each location must prove document control; in other words, each location must show how it maintains its records and how it keeps track of each sample that comes through to ensure that all procedures are followed correctly.

EPA Standard Operating Procedures

The EPA’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) were developed to ensure consistency and quality assurance in preparing and managing environmental data and materials. EPA Standard Operating Procedures cover procedures at both the technical and managerial levels, and all organizations that fall under EPA guidelines must observe these procedures. According to the EPA, the SOPs are intended “to be specific to the organization or facility whose activities are described and assist that organization to maintain their quality control and quality assurance processes and ensure compliance with governmental regulations.” EPA Standard Operating Procedures were designed to be a well-developed quality control system to avoid environmental problems.

Clarity and Accuracy

Standard Operating Procedures can vary by industry and purpose, but one primary requirement of the EPA is that any SOP be clear and focused in its description. The EPA notes that unclear or inaccurate SOPs are of “limited value” and requires that those responsible for preparing SOPS provide focus for the procedure and an outline of steps that is simple to read and follow. What is more, the EPA requires that all Standard Operating Procedures be consistent, particularly if the details of a procedure are transferred from one source to another. Consistency ensures that all who read the procedure can follow it the same way, leaving less room for failure or inaccuracy.

Style and Organization

The EPA requires that all Standard Operating Procedures include concision in style and organization. Because the procedures themselves can often be tedious and full of steps, the EPA wants to ensure that anyone who reads the procedure can follow it without becoming confused during the process. The writing style should avoid flowery language but instead should rely on simplicity and brevity. Any SOP that contains potentially confusing elements should also include a visual, such as a chart, to aid the reader in following the steps.

Oversight and Revision

The EPA recognizes that “the best written SOPs will fail if they are not followed” and requires that all Standard Operating Procedures fall under a hierarchy of management responsibility and that management review them carefully to ensure that they are accessible to those who will be carrying out the procedures. The EPA recommends that management utilize SOPs as a part of training, because the SOPs by their very nature provide a series of steps for personnel to follow correctly. Additionally, the EPA requires that management review Standard Operating Procedures periodically to make sure that they are up to date and that management take the responsibility to complete revisions that are necessary.