Pulling the Plug: Summer of '08 Sparks Creative Conservation

With Temperatures -- and Electric Bills -- High, Families Face Meltdown; Bourbon Cubes
By STEPHANIE SIMONJuly 14, 2008;

There are days -- just the most stifling and sticky of days -- when Reba Kennedy misses the blissful sensation of walking into a house chilled to 72 degrees.
With energy prices soaring, Ms. Kennedy has made the ultimate sacrifice. She's turned off the central air conditioning.
"A lot of my discretionary income was...going into air," says Ms. Kennedy. She lives in San Antonio, Texas. It's hot. She endures.
That's the spirit of this summer of sweat.
With electricity costs rising -- along with global-warming guilt -- consumers across the country are struggling to wean themselves from the A/C. It remains to be seen whether they'll take a cue from Marilyn Monroe in "The Seven Year Itch" and stash their undies in the icebox. But they're trying just about everything else.
In Thousand Oaks, Calif., Adina Nack keeps the thermostat at 82 -- and lets her toddler dance around the house in a bathing suit, spritzing herself with cool water from a spray bottle. Cara Cummins, in Atlanta, turns on the air conditioner only when she's expecting guests. Otherwise, she makes do by snacking on watermelon cubes soaked in chilled bourbon.
Because many power plants run on natural gas, which has shot way up in price, utilities in every region of the nation have imposed -- or are planning -- big rate increases this year, some approaching 30%.
In response, nearly two-thirds of families are cutting back on air conditioning, according to a recent Associated Press-Yahoo News poll. They're buying ceiling fans and programmable thermostats; burning up hot afternoons in malls and movie theaters; and bombarding blogger Erin Huffstetler, who writes about frugal living, with questions about the merits of tinting their windows dark to block the sun.
The Wealthy Cut Back
The wealthy are even putting windmills in their backyards. Southwest Windpower in Flagstaff, Ariz., installs residential turbines that can supply a third or more of a typical household's electricity. The cost: At least $13,000.
Sales are booming, says Miriam Robbins, the company's marketing manager. "People are trying to find ways to take control of their own energy destiny."
In Arizona, 50,000 customers of the Salt River Project utility have cut energy use by an average of 13%, thanks to a gizmo that lets them monitor their daily bill, so they can see exactly how much they save by bumping up the thermostat a few degrees. In Texas, Reliant Energy reports an 8% drop in per-customer energy use since 2005.
To be sure, experts warn that conservation should be taken only so far when the weather turns oppressive. In a typical year, the U.S. records more than 650 heat-related deaths, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But there's much that consumers can do to stay safely cool -- on the cheap.
Take Troy Newman, of Wichita, Kan. Last summer, his home energy bills hit an unacceptable $300 a month. So he has installed dark curtains on his south-facing windows and limited his family's use of heat-generating appliances. All summer cooking, for instance, is done on the outdoor grill. Much of the laundry is hung on a clothesline.
On hot afternoons, Mr. Newman runs a hose to the roof and douses the shingles for 20 minutes, which he swears lowers the temperature inside. "I don't know if it's all that good for the life span of the roof," Mr. Newman says, "but when it's 110 degrees, I really could care less."
Though he recently added 1,200 square feet of living space to the house, Mr. Newman says his energy bills are at least $100 a month lower than they were last summer.
The Department of Energy calculates that heating and cooling account for nearly half the energy used in a typical home. That's more than all the light bulbs, the dishwasher, the refrigerator, the hot-water heater and the washer and dryer -- combined.
TIPS FOR STAYING COOL

The Internet offers dozens of tips for surviving the summer without air conditioning. Among them: Sleep in wet socks. Position a fan to blow at you across a pan of ice. Suck on a mint. Eat spicy foods. Try yoga.
Energy efficiency experts, however, say your best bet is to weather-proof your home. Here's how:
• Install ceiling fans. They can cool a room by several degrees, for just pennies a day. Box fans work well, too.
• Use a programmable thermostat to adjust the temperature to match your daily routine. Letting the A/C rest while you're out at work can shave as much as 12% from your bill.
• Maintain your air conditioner at peak performance by changing the filters and dusting the coils regularly
• Shade the air conditioner's outside condenser. This will improve its efficiency.
• Caulk around windows and weather-strip doors to prevent cool air from leaking out. A $3 tube of caulk can make a big difference.
• Switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs, which use less energy and give off less heat. Over the life of one bulb, you'll save about $25.
• Use window curtains or shades to keep out the sun during the heat of the day
• Insulate your attic. Otherwise, the sun's heat beating down on your roof will penetrate the house.
• Cook on an outdoor grill or in an electric crock pot to avoid using the oven.
Sources: American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy; Lowe's Home Improvement Stores; Xcel Energy.
Replacing a standard air conditioner set at 72 degrees with an energy-efficient model set at 78 can cut your cooling costs in half, though savings vary by climate, according to Xcel Energy Inc., a regional utility based in Minneapolis. A programmable thermostat can save as much as 12%. A ceiling fan can lower a room's temperature by several degrees. Even something as simple as switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs can make a big difference in electricity bills.
'Willpower'
Micki Wehmeier offers another tip: Marry a man who likes it hot.
Ms. Wehmeier and her husband, Gary, are renting a modest apartment this summer while they fix up a house they just bought in Des Peres, Mo. To save money, they resolved to keep the thermostat at 74.
But Ms. Wehmeier admits that she sneaks over to turn it down -- just a few degrees, honest -- at every opportunity. "I'm one who likes to snuggle under an afghan when I'm watching TV," she says, "even in the summer."
Not this summer. Even in their modest apartment, their monthly energy bills are running $110 or more. So Mr. Wehmeier is cracking down on thermostatic cheating.
"He's got more willpower," his wife says.
And Reba Kennedy, who turned off her central air altogether?
Ms. Kennedy now cools just the three rooms she uses most in her San Antonio home, with window units set at 78 degrees. To her surprise, she has found it pleasurable. With her downstairs windows open, she can smell the honeysuckle in her yard. She loves the look of her sheer curtains blowing in the breeze.
Last week, though, when she reviewed her electric bills, Ms. Kennedy found that her sacrifices haven't translated into savings. In June of 2006 -- with the central air on full blast -- she used an average of 26 kilowatt hours a day. Last month? An average of 44.
Harvey Sachs, a senior fellow at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, says that isn't surprising, because window units are notoriously inefficient.
But Ms. Kennedy was upset. Since quitting her job as a business lawyer two years ago to take up writing, she has tried to live simply and frugally; conserving energy is central to that goal.
All this earnest angst over kilowatts and thermostats strikes Kathy Boylan as off point. She runs a homeless shelter in Washington, D.C., and has lived there, without air conditioning, for years -- "in solidarity," she says, "with our brothers and sisters throughout the world who have no electricity, much less air conditioning."
Her advice to middle-class families: Pull the plug.
"You'll be hot," Ms. Boylan said. "Put a little cold water on your face and get on with your life."
Write to Stephanie Simon at stephanie.simon@wsj.com