are the LED lights the same white color as natural light? do they flicker?

Use shop lights in the hall and large areas instead of 10 small bulbs. They only take 40 watt electricity but the lumens are around 1800 +. Then for smaller areas replace with energy efficient bulbs.

"One of my ideas at that time was to put alternators
on each wheel of a car so that when the brakes were applied the electricity generated
would charge the battery. They do that now. It took 30 years.
But whether it was my idea or the collective consciousness it happened." - andre1000

Oh this really made me laugh. I hate to be the one to have to tell you but regenerative braking is not your original idea. Regenerative braking has been around almost as long as electric motors have been used for traction applications. Diesel-electric locomotives in particular have long relied on this technique.

As for your statement that "they do that now", as in alternators are put on each wheel of cars to charge the battery, can you point me to a model that has an alternator on the wheels? I'd like to check that out right away. I think it's a safe bet that gasoline powered cars don't feature alternators on the wheels and I know the Prius and Insight don't have alternators on their wheels. (The regenerative braking in those cars is produced with the same inverter that is used for the drive.) Where do you find these cars with alternators on the wheels?

Finally, for cars, regenerative braking is overrated as a fuel saver. If it weren't for the fact that no extra hardware is needed to implement it on hybrid vehicles, then I doubt it would be used at all. For larger vehicles like busses and trains there is more of a benefit -- especially with brake wear.

To get back to the main discussion, several people have mentioned compact flourescent light fixtures. One thing not often mentioned about these is that they take a while (on the order of minutes) to reach their full light output. In other words, when you first turn them on they are noticably dim. Also, when you first throw the switch there is a delay of a second or so before any usable light is produced. This can confuse your guests who are used to instant-on incandescents. For these reasons, I often use only one compact flourescent in a light fixture and leave the other bulbs incandescent. One other thing about compact flourescents is they cannot be used with a dimmer.

PugRanch said:..compact flourescents...when you first throw the switch there is a delay of a second or so before any usable light is produced.
I have about 15 compact flourescent bulbs around my home, various brands, all at least three years old. They are all instant-on. Those old delayed-start bulbs are the 386 of the CF world.

One other thing about compact flourescents is they cannot be used with a dimmer.
Not true. Many compact flourescent bulbs allow the use of a dimmer. My living room is lit entirely by dimmer-controlled CFs.

1. Turn heat of at night. No real reason to have it on anyway, use an electric blanket if you get cold at night. I set mine at 48 degrees and it never comes on. In fact it's set at 48 degrees except from 6AM-7AM where I have to set to 70. Since I have an oversized gas furnace I can heat my house quickly, so this is not a problem (and the house rarely gets below 55 even on cold days with no heat anyway).

2. Insulation. Make sure you have enough of it espically in attic. I have none in my walls and it really doesn't make much of a difference. I highly recomend insualting hot water pipes! That makes a big difference. If you ever have to rip apart your walls and see pipes, insulate them. I'm considering tearing apart my walls just to insulate my hot water pipes. Seal any drafty areas and use lots of weatherstripping.

3. Double pane windows. If you don't have them, get them.

4. Set water heater on lowest acceptable setting.

5. Energy star refrigerator. It's on all the time, so it may as well be efficient. Other applicances really don't matter that much because for only 2 loads of laundry a week, energy star washer is a waste of money (for me).

6. Compact flourescents. Do not use then outside or anyplace where you turn the lights on and off a lot, just use them everyplace else. Cheap dollar store compact flourescents really suck; don't buy them. I buy only the warm white ones (or was it bright white). I don't like the other ones! Some of the crappy ones emit light that's 'off' or sometimes more like light blue, or something. But good ones.

7. Use a fan instead of heating or air cinditioning whever you can. Monitoring outside temperatures helps, as does receptacles near windows.

zzyzzx said:Insulation. Make sure you have enough of it espically in attic. I have none in my walls and it really doesn't make much of a difference.
You must live in a pretty warm climate.

hey guys, I don't have a house or tent so I live in the next best place-- my skin. For cooling I blow air on my belly. For heating I hold my breath 'til my face turns red hot. Great, frugal way to live. I am 33 and have not been diagnozed with any illness yet. My peers are dying from things like stress, ball cancer, and so on.

Yeah, have you looked into digging a well? It costs my neighbor $200 to put in an electric pump in the ground. Stuff can be bought at Lowes & Home Depot.

Don't put the hole next to your house. Don't withdraw too much water -- can lead to sinkhole. Don't dig if your soil is sandy & soft. Otherwise, go for it.

The big Catterpillars, the 100-200 tonn dump trucks used in open earth excavation, useelectric mototrs in each of the wheel hub. But that is out of neccessity. The diesel engine is at the height equivalent of 6th floor, and to have a drive shaft to the "second floor" would create too much energy loss. What they do, is hook up the diesel to the generator and then use electric motors in each hub to drive the wheels. I am not aware of they use regenerative braking to capture energy on the long decends down to the pits.

About the person with high water bills.
If you do live in a dry climate, then you have to set up a system to caprture the rain water from the gutters for the lawn and gardening. Setting up a little pond in the back yard with the gutters piped to it. As long as you set it at the lowest point of your property, the water from the property, and maybe neighbors, will flow into it. This will provide you with enough water to water your plants and grass.