A post from one of our fans in Michigan talking about two home improvements she made and one behavior change.

I love the environment and I love saving energy, but I also love not choking over my Michigan apartment energy bills. Last winter I came up with some crafty ways to save money.

I made draft dodgers for all my outside doors - these cloth snakes sit at the bottom of your door and keep the cold from creeping in. I made mine from the sleeves of a thrift store sweater stuffed with old T-shirts and rags. (If you’re not a sewer, search “draft dodger” on etsy.com for some cute ones.) The only problem was, when I closed the door to leave the house, I couldn’t keep the dodger (which is on the inside of the apartment) up against the door. Enter the double-sided draft dodger. I made mine with cardboard poster tubes sewn into fabric (foam would work well too), then slipped it under the door. They work like a charm.

Next, I installed a programmable thermostat. My apartment is old and my thermostat was relying on a rather unreliable mercury tube to assess the temperature. For about $20 I bought a programmable thermostat so that my heat would automatically turn off during the day when I’m at work, and go down low overnight when I’m snuggled in bed. It was a little challenging to install, but with some help from the Internet and the instructions provided, it was ready to go within an hour.

And finally, the ultimate test of courage. I’m the kind of person that gets cold when it’s breezy and 75 degrees outside. So, instead of cranking the heat in the winter, I play a little game with myself that goes like this: if I’m cold at home, I put on one more layer - another sweater or a fleece, a pair of long underwear etc. If I’m still cold after 10 minutes, then I allow myself to turn up the heat a couple degrees. But usually, within 10 minutes, I’ve forgotten that I was cold.

Isabella Weber is a graduate student at the University of Michigan
School of Public Health. Her research focuses on the intersection of
human health and the natural environment.

Peer pressure, saving money, and real-time feedback — these are the three main  techniques that are being explored today to help motivate homeowners to use less energy.

Companies like Opower (below) are using peer pressure to change people’s behavior by sending utility bills comparing them to neighbors that are similar in lifestyle.  This type of “friendly competition” can be a good motivator for many people.

Wattbot is all about saving money.  It takes a homeowner’s address and runs it through a recommendation engine, giving personalized advice on which energy-saving technologies are the most cost-effective ways to save money over the years remaining in your home.

And then there’s Google PowerMeter, which is teaming up with utilities and monitoring devices to display real-time electric usage information.  This type of feedback can also motivate people to explore ways to reduce their energy consumption. 

Which technique is the most effective?  Last fall when IDEO surveyed experts in energy efficiency and assessed the relationships and networks of the DOE-EERE they found that people have diverse reasons for conserving energy.  They said,

“Certainly rising energy costs encourage people to change their behavior; however, economics alone are inadequate for shifting people’s behavior on a mass scale. While concern for the environment or threat from global warming motivates some people, it is irrelevant, even a turn-off, for others.”

So the verdict is still out on which technique will motivate the most people to take action.  We’re happy there are companies out there trying all three, because the answer will most likely be some combination.