In 2002, I moved to Los Angeles. I have never lived in such a go solar, health conscious, energy preserving place. If you want to be in shape and at your healthiest, this is the place to do it. It’s been a good thing for me. I felt like I was a pretty healthy girl. Before moving here, I would work out for 2 hours, five days a week (clearly, I was single). My idea of healthy though was using a napkin to soak up the grease from my pizza. Um, don’t judge. Ha.
Over the years I have jumped all in to being and living better. That goes into what I eat, my fitness and how we live. We have started a garden that doesn’t need much to thrive. We’re in a serious drought in Los Angles so using a little water as possible is important. Of course that looks includes throwing a cactus in the backyard and other plants that bloom with as little watering as possible.
We also make sure to only use our appliances late in the day when other people aren’t burning so much energy. I have to do at least two loads of laundry a day so our laundry doesn’t get out of control. I pop one load in once the kids are in bed and another before my husband and I go to bed. Our dishwasher has a timer. You can set it up during the day to run four hours later. That works to let me set it and forget it without being such an energy drain either.
We had tossed around the idea of getting a tankless water heater. The thing is, our water heater is pretty new and we didn’t want to replace it just yet. Then I learned about solar water heating. It’s a solution that could actually work for us. SoCalGas has a great option to consider especially because there’s no need to replace your current water eater to make the switch. That’s a big deal when making any change. The less complicated, the better.
The solar option offers a great way to have hot water all the time without burning so much energy. It’s a natural and free energy transfer. It collects energy from the sun and uses it to heat your water. Burning less energy means you save money on your utility bills. Nobody can be mad at that! You also increase your property value in the process. Rebates can be as large as ten grand! Double win! What’s the right system for your home? If you’re all for a little DIY, there are even self-installer workshops through SoCalGas to help you get it right. Visit SoCalGas for information to get more information on the systems and rebate offers.
Tell me, what’s your best eco-friendly tip?
