This week, John discussed buying clean electricity from your utility. If you can't set up a small renewable energy system of your own, buying clean electricity is a great way to support the use of renewable energy.

Do you buy clean electricity from your utility? Tell us about your experience.

Each Thursday, you have the chance to share your thoughts on a question about energy efficiency or renewable energy for consumers. Please comment with your answers, and also feel free to respond to other comments. [More]

Clean air means a lot to me. My wife and I had a small solar electric system installed on the roof of our house that produces about 2% of the annual electricity consumed by our all-electric house. We don't have a large south-facing roof, so we couldn't easily install a larger system. But what about the remaining 98% electricity that we need to buy?

About half a dozen years ago we signed up for 100% wind electricity after our state deregulated its electricity industry. We didn't have much of a choice to purchase "green" electricity. Only two utility companies offered electricity produced by renewable energy to residents of Maryland where I live. One is a subsidiary of our existing electric company. The other is an affiliate of the local natural gas company. Our electric company subsidiary offered one-year contracts; the gas company affiliate offered one- and two-year contracts. We sometimes went with one company, sometimes with the other, depending on the rates they offered. For billing purposes it didn't matter which company we signed up with—our local electric company still supplied our electricity and billed us. The difference was that our bill now had an insert saying how much of the bill was being paid to the renewable energy supplier. [More]

I can be a strange and particular person at times. So here is a post wherein I will be strangely particular about setting the temperature on your thermostat.

You often hear about how you should turn down the thermostat to save energy, and there are a slew of helpful ideas on the subject. I'm sure you've heard some of them right here on this blog: You can turn the thermostat down when you're out, when you're sleeping, and you can save about 1% on your energy bill per degree you turn your thermostat down! This is all very exciting.

But before you go crazy with turning down the thermostat really low, I'd like to point out some things you might want to keep in mind. [More]

On Monday, you read about the resources on Fueleconomy.gov and how they can help you compare the fuel economy of vehicles.

Fueleconomy.gov also offers a tool called Your MPG, where you can track your own fuel economy and compare it to that of other users and to the test ratings. Many factors affect your mileage, and you may see different numbers than those list on Fueleconomy.gov. Whether you are using Your MPG or just keeping track on your own:

How does your fuel economy compare to the test ratings on Fueleconomy.gov?

Each Thursday, you have the chance to share your thoughts on a question about energy efficiency or renewable energy for consumers. Please comment with your answers, and also feel free to respond to other comments. [More]

From time to time over the last few years, I've come across articles and blogs discussing the "Small House Movement." The movement encourages homeowners to reject the huge homes that dominate many suburban neighborhoods and embrace smaller homes and simpler living. Do a quick Web search on the movement and you'll find many photos and testimonials for these small homes—some smaller than 100 square feet.

Many of these homes are fascinating. Not only are the designs innovative, attractive, and comfortable, they are also relatively inexpensive—especially when you consider long-term maintenance costs.

I also like them for their energy efficiency. Think of the potential savings: a smaller home means fewer lights, less space to heat and cool, and smaller appliances. Simply having less room to store things means you would likely buy fewer items that use electricity. Not to mention the time savings; less space and fewer possessions means less to maintain, fix, and clean. Less time cleaning is a definite plus in my book! [More]

If you're in the market for a new car, you've probably been doing a lot of research. Talking to friends, reading reviews, scoping out other cars on the road, maybe even taking some test drives.

You probably have a list of things you want in car, and you should consider all of these points of comparison before you make a final decision. Buying a car can be confusing, and you may feel overwhelmed by data points, but I'm going to give you more! Aren't you lucky?

Before you start banging your head on the desk, read on. This one might be even more important than the car's color.

It's fuel economy. [More]