Gary
Gary of Newark replaced most of the lightbulbs in his house with Compact Fluorescent (CFL) lightbulbs in October 2006.
I spent about $90 for the lightbulbs. Since installing them, I've saved $460 on my electric bills. I'm an engineer, so I plotted my power consumption before and after, and I've been impressed with the savings.
I got the idea because I was tired of replacing lightbulbs all the time. I haven't had any problems with the bulbs. They just work.
Bill
Bill in Morrow County, Ohio built an energy efficient home.
Bill spent about $20,000 extra in energy efficiency upgrades including extra insulation, ENERGY STAR appliances, ENERGY STAR lighting, etc. In return, his monthly utilities are just around $50/month! While it may take Bill several years to recoup his investment, he knows that he will live in the home long enough to see a positive rate of return. And he feels confident that he did the right thing for his family and for the environment.
For more information on building a green home, visit the National Association of Home Builders, the US Green Building Council or the Energy and Environmental Building Association.
Paul
Paul, of Westerville, Ohio installed weatherstripping around his front door, installed a programmable thermostat and high efficiency furnace, replaced incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents (CFLs) and replaced shower heads with low flow, energy efficient shower heads.
Our old furnace was about 35 years old, and it was costing us a lot of money to use, so we decided it was time to replace it. It was worth it to us to spend a little more on a high efficiency furnace since the energy savings would pay for it over time. We installed the weatherstripping just to get rid of the drafts we felt around the front door. It's made us more comfortable and it's saving energy.