Customer Reviews

Energy: Use Less-Save More: 100 Energy-Saving Tips for the Home (The Chelsea Green Guides)

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I am a thrift conscious consumer, i.e. college student. I was looking for helpful ways to reduce my outrageous heating bill in the blistery north. I thought this would be a great book, it was cheap and promised 100 tips. I considered buying the other books in the series and I'm glad I didn't.

It's not that it was a bad book per se but it was not as insightful as I hoped. All the information in the book can be found on the internet, your local hardware store, or even given out by your utility provider. Needless to say I was disappointed to find that not only did I not learn anything new but all the information was available from many free sources.

I wouldn't spend $7 on a book so small (or $3 used) which can be read in less than an hour. However, contrary to the review above, it does have 100 tips. But, as stated, most of the tips are common knowledge such as putting jackets on water heaters, washing clothes in cold water, closing curtains at night, replacing energy hogging appliances, etc.

There are some good qualities to this book. It is a great starter guide to anyone who wants to delve in this subject deeper. Its pretty comprehensive in covering all areas of the house and offers simple tips anyone can follow versus other guides which are more about DIY projects. I never thought that cooking in the top rack of the oven was more efficient and was unaware how much energy our hair dryer used until I saw the list of appliances/kwh used.

The last chapter is pretty vague about the costs of alternative energy projects. It constantly repeats the line about tax breaks for solar, wind, etc. They never mention costs or specifics about such projects.

This might be worth checking out at your public library if you want a simple quick read. Its a good starter book into the world of energy efficiency.