Pecuniarities

Heating water in the microwave to use for cooking with other appliances can reduce energy costs by shaving minutes off cooking time.

When our A/C went out two Sundays ago, my first reaction was panic. We live in the desert where we have been experiencing triple digit temperatures and we have esteemed air conditioning as one of the dire necessities of life. So when our central air went out last weekend, my first thought was that we [...]

First of all, I think it very likely that our seemingly endless summer of “No A/C” will soon be coming to an end. But more on that later. Let’s start at the beginning.
No-Heat Winters
When we moved into our house in the Mojave Desert in December 2006, we arrived late at night and therefore had to [...]

As of this writing, “No-Air Conditioning Summer” is over for us (thank goodness!), but before I talk about how and why it ended, I thought I’d offer some tips on staying cool for those who either choose to or have to live without A/C for frugality’s sake or due to power outages, etc.
Before we begin, [...]

Photo © Darren Hester for openphoto.net
A Simple Cooling System
Heat naturally diffuses from areas of higher concentration to areas of lower concentration. And cold being the absence of energy, a block of ice literally draws heat out of the air.
As was mentioned in P. Pince’s recent article, our air conditioning system is on holiday at this [...]

How to keep your home cool with basic scientific principles and thermodynamics. Save money on utilities and air conditioning with logical and simple methods.

Hold a “Financial Lent” or fast to see what luxuries you can live without and how much money you can save by cutting back or giving it up altogether.