What are your frugal and sustainable tips and tricks?

[TooCheep]

I totally agree. It was the concept of grid down backup versus whole house solar that interested me.

The vast majority of us use the current electrical grid. I have a generator, but that has some limitations. This tweet that I saw yesterday really got me thinking:

 

[gtaus]

I use an electric kettle to heat the water for our French press. We use it a lot though, and the little dude is a ramen fiend but he can use the kettle himself. I’ve replaced the kettle twice in 20 years, but it’s so much more versatile and cheaper than a coffee maker.

I like that idea of a separate water kettle. I don't drink coffee. Dear Wife has a Keurig machine to make her coffee. If has a feature for hot water only, but I still can taste the coffee in the water if I make a cup of hot chocolate, or, god forbid, some cup of soup using water from the Keurig machine. So, I always have to either heat up water on the stove or in the microwave.

For a non-coffee drinker, a cup of soup that tastes like coffee is not good.

 

[gtaus]

Very helpful information it is too! Knowledge is power right?
I just wanted to share the solar side. It's not really as expensive as some think and I'm not sure everyone knows there's a lot of government incentive programs around to help offset costs. Those vary a lot over time and by location, but think they're still around.
As always, thanks for the share!

Here's a link to current solar programs: https://www.forbes.com/home-improvement/solar/solar-tax-credit-by-state/#:~:text=What Does the Federal Solar,inverters, wiring and mounting hardware

Helpful link. Thanks. If you are considering in a major investment like a whole house solar system, then I think you would really have to find out the rebates and incentives available to you at that time.

I know our electric company offers rebates for installing new, energy efficient appliances to replace older non-energy efficient appliances. They also give us rebates for installing electric heaters and air conditioning. Of course, they want you to heat and cool your house with their electricity.

We also have some local county programs that offer rebates for winterizing your house with new windows and insulation, for example.

Most of those programs change from year to year so you have to check into what's available before you start to upgrade your house. It's certainly worth looking into.

 

[gtaus]

The vast majority of us use the current electrical grid. I have a generator, but that has some limitations. This tweet that I saw yesterday really got me thinking:

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Well, I am not an insider for the electric company, but I can tell you that we rarely have power interruptions for longer than a few minutes, usually in the summertime when they are working on or maintaining the lines. Not a big deal where I live.

I don't understand the notion that wind and solar electricity cannot be stored. At least at the household level, every system I have seen uses a bank of batteries to store the energy created by the solar panels or a wind turbine.

I even saw a YouTube video where a company was using solar energy to heat up very large tanks of water which they used as a battery holding system. Beyond my level of knowledge, but essentially, they created a hot water battery, and that heat was later converted to electricity as needed.

Maybe someday our residential houses will all have some kind of battery backup system that would allow the electric companies to avoid blackouts. I see that some of the companies selling EV pickups are advertising that you can recharge your pickup at home, and if the power goes out, your EV pickup batteries can power your home!

 

[TooCheep]

I even saw a YouTube video where a company was using solar energy to heat up very large tanks of water which they used as a battery holding system. Beyond my level of knowledge, but essentially, they created a hot water battery, and that heat was later converted to electricity as needed.

Yes, there are multiple variations on this idea. The problem is that you lose a huge percentage of the original energy this way. Electricity is the least efficient way to heat air or water. Every cycle from electricity --> hot water --> electricity compounds the losses. Effective large scale electrical storage just isn't in the cards barring a major technology breakthrough.

I don't understand the notion that wind and solar electricity cannot be stored. At least at the household level, every system I have seen uses a bank of batteries to store the energy created by the solar panels or a wind turbine.
...
Maybe someday our residential houses will all have some kind of battery backup system that would allow the electric companies to avoid blackouts. I see that some of the companies selling EV pickups are advertising that you can recharge your pickup at home, and if the power goes out, your EV pickup batteries can power your home!

Please check on how long your EV can power your home. It isn't terribly long, particularly if you use electrical heating. And if you do this, how do you recharge your EV to drive when you have a longish outage?

The real problem isn't even about running a single home. You can spend enough to get a good solar/battery system. So, an individual home can have a good solar/battery solution, but not everyone can.

The real problem is in scaling up the entire electrical grid, particularly if solar/wind is the desired means to get there. The numbers just don't add up. There simply is no way to get enough metals. Here is a key slide from a presentation given last year using data from the US Geological Society and others. It was from the 40min mark of this video. The last column is the one to examine. (click to expand)

 

[gtaus]

Effective large scale electrical storage just isn't in the cards barring a major technology breakthrough.

Probably correct.

The real problem is in scaling up the entire electrical grid, particularly if solar/wind is the desired means to get there.

I know our electric company has invested in wind and solar "renewable" energy for many years. Even so, I think they are still less than 20% of the power supply from renewables. Their main plant is sitting out in North Dakota burning coal, as it has been, for my lifetime. Burning coal to make electricity is still cheaper than wind and solar. I don't think we have any hydro dams on our system.

But the good news is that you can reduce your energy usage by simple things like upgrading to new energy efficient appliances, turning down the water heater a few degrees from scalding hot, and turning down the furnace a few degrees in the winter. It all adds up.

Back a few months ago, I started a thread on the cost of buying a small solar panel setup ONLY to recharge my power tool batteries and if that would be worth it to me. I was surprised to find out that recharging my largest 40v battery on grid power costs me less than 2 cents per charge. Even an inexpensive starter solar kit at Harbor Freight, for around $130.00, would take me longer than 20 years to reach the payback point. For me, that was a non-starter.

Frugal Tip, use a Kill-A-Watt meter to determine how much it really costs you to run your electrical appliances.

Do you really know how much it costs you to run your electrical appliances and gadgets?

I thought maybe it cost me 25 cents to recharge my largest power tool batteries. But when I plugged the charger into my Kill-A-Watt meter and fully charged my tool battery, I found out that it actually costs me less than 2 cents to fully charge my largest 40v 4Ah batteries and less than 1 penny to recharge my 18v 4Ah batteries. Wow! Lots cheaper than buying gas for some of my yard equipment.

You could also use this Kill-A-Watt meter plugged into your old refrigerator or freezer to see how much it costs you to run. Is it worth it to you replace that old appliance with a newer, more energy efficient model? Instead of guessing, you can actually determine your costs of running that old appliance and factoring that into your buying decision.

Knowledge is power.

 

[igorsMistress]

I like that idea of a separate water kettle. I don't drink coffee. Dear Wife has a Keurig machine to make her coffee. If has a feature for hot water only, but I still can taste the coffee in the water if I make a cup of hot chocolate, or, god forbid, some cup of soup using water from the Keurig machine. So, I always have to either heat up water on the stove or in the microwave.

For a non-coffee drinker, a cup of soup that tastes like coffee is not good.

I am a coffee drinker and coffee flavored soup doesn’t sound good lol. I just have a basic model with a thermometer and we really do use it a lot.

 

[CedarLane]

The plastic containers... What to do with them?

Do you ever need a bunch of ice cubes to cool something down? Or to put in a cooler, but not have but not make a mess when they melt? How about to freeze some broth or soup? They'd fit in a freezer better than round canning/freezing jars.

I also was thinking they would work well in the freezer.

 

[CedarLane]

Having said that, if you need a plastic wrapper for your homemade bread, why not just buy a commercial loaf of bread of the size/shape of your homemade bread and then reuse that plastic bag for your bread? Last time I bought a loaf of bread at WalMart, it was about $1.00 for the house brand. Anyway, you might as well eat the bread and reuse the plastic bag.

My grandparents lived through the Great Depression. They washed and reused almost all their plastic bags instead of throwing them away. It was their way of life. The plastic bag was only thrown out if it ripped or tore and was no longer usable.

My Dear Wife and I are not in sync in reusing plastic bags. I don't mind saving those bags for reuse. She will only consider using a plastic bag once and then throwing it away. There will be no washing plastic bags in her kitchen. For me, reusing plastic bags is both a way to save some small amount of money, but perhaps more importantly, it reduces the amount of plastics that continue to pollute our world. So, I appreciate your desire to reuse plastic bags.

On a more positive note, we are in agreement on reusing the plastic containers we get our sliced ham in from the store.

I just peel off the top label and we reuse those containers for leftovers. They are great in the refrigerator because they stack so nicely. Also, since they are not round, there is less wasted space. They also work great in the freezer, but sometimes the plastic might crack if you bump it around. No big deal, if they crack we just toss it out at that time.

I will reuse some plastic bags...but I draw the line at washing & reusing bags which contained raw meat!

 

[fuzzi]

"What are some of your tips...?"

My parents and in-laws grew up during the Great Depression, so I got some practical know-how by osmosis. I know I am a little late to the party, but here goes:

I like making bone broth. It's easy to concoct and nutritious. Put your meat bones in a crockpot, cover with liquid, add a few peppercorns and a splash of apple cider vinegar. Cover and cook on low for at least 12 hours. After cooling and straining I put the broth in reusable freezer containers. Before placing in the freezer I add a piece of tape to the lid and write the date and the contents with a permanent marker. Someone not feeling well? Defrost a container or two, add cooked vegetables, rice, noodles to the broth for a quick pick-me-up. The tape peels off the container so you don't deface it.

Do you cook vegetables in water? Save the water and freeze it. It's a great base for soup.

All uneaten non-meat/non-fat leftovers go into my compost. I have a clear plastic wide mouth container by the kitchen sink, the type that is used to hold dog biscuits or peanuts. In go the items to compost and I screw the lid back on. When it's full it gets taken out to the barrel, emptied, rinsed out and reused.

When I give my husband a haircut the hair goes into the compost. I put sweepings of dog and cat hair into the compost also.

We reuse paper towels. If all you use the towel for is to dry your clean hands, drape it off to the side, let it dry. They work fine for cleaning, so you get twice the use.

Stop using store bought chemical cleaners. Buy a large jug of white vinegar and a few spray bottles. After cooking I spritz the work space with vinegar and then wipe with a recycled paper towel. Clean, sanitized, smells good! Baking soda is a good scrubbing powder.

Nuff for now.