Support Ted’s Tips over at Patreon.com

Here's Ted capturing a thermal image

Here’s Ted capturing a thermal image

People keep asking me how I can do this for free. They say I should sell my services (done that) or charge for website access (won’t do that!) But it got me thinking about how people could drop a quarter in my tip jar, so to speak.

For years, I’ve heard about various systems for doing this, and now I’ve finally decided to take the plunge and signed up at Patreon.com. Patreon is a cool site set up to let people support their favorite creators. Whether they’re musicians, journalists or energy Geeks like me, Patreon lets you say “thanks” to those that bring something to your life.

I’m not much of a self promoter, so I’m not going to do this often. If you think I’m doing something useful here and feel like contributing, just head over to Patreon.

p.s. Ted’s Tips will be free for the foreseeable future. Patreon is just a way for you to provide positive feedback any time I do another post. It helps pay for the coffee that fuels this site.

Cheers!

 

 

Even an Energy Auditor can get Bitten by an Energy Hog

I am embarrassed! I was recently bitten by an “energy hog” – an unwanted waster of energy hiding in the deepest recesses of my home.

He snuck in last week while I was using a lot of energy for opening/cleaning my pool. You see, at that time, I was running a big pool pump 24 hours a day, so naturally, my daily electrical usage increased. But I didn’t expect it to increase so much!

As part of the pool cleaning, you have to flush out a lot of water to clean the filter. Then, you have to add hundreds of gallons of water back into the pool. Since I’m on well water, that means running the well pump a lot! And if you’ve read my other articles, you know that pumps are notorious for using lots of energy. So the combination of the pool pump plus two well pumps adds up to big energy use. Continue reading