Tesla picked Texas!!

Yaaay, Tesla picked Texas!! I knew it! 

I'm one of those who's been believing in their mission and following them for nearly ten years. When they were building the first Gigafactory in Reno, NV, I contemplated moving there. Well, the new factory will be in Austin. Not exactly nearby. But, just a few-hour drive away. No, I am not moving there. I have a business to run and clients to serve here in Dallas. Still, this news made me so happy :)))

テスラがテキサスにやってきます！彼らのミッションに賛同して、10年近くフォローしているので、うれしいです！まだ、テスラを持ってもいないのに、North Texas Tesla Owners Clubに、4年前の創設当時から入れてもらっている私です ー 創始者の好意に感謝。

テスラが何を目指しているのか、ご興味お有りですか？わかり易く面白く書かれたティム・アーバンの記事を、本人の了解を得て、私が日本語にしていますので、どうぞ御覧ください。全部で19ポストのシリーズで、5年前に書いたものですが、今でも十分通じます。今度、テキサスにfactoryをつくるのも、その延長上を突っ走っているってことです！

https://iitokotexas.blogspot.com/2015/07/blog-post.html

https://iitokotexas.blogspot.com/2015/07/blog-post_5.html

A prominent Japanese joined Tesla board

Tesla's shareholder proxy vote had a Japanese name listed.

For a split second, I thought he must be an executive from Panasonic. I am glad I did not dismiss it as such and googled him instead.

Tesla Welcomes Hiromichi Mizuno (水野弘道) as New Independent Director to its Board... 

Hiro’s entire career has been in finance and investment... Most recently, Hiro served as Executive Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund, which is the largest pension fund in the world with approximately $1.5 trillion in assets under management.  

During his time there, Hiro emphasized the importance of environmental considerations in portfolio management and became a global thought leader in sustainable and responsible investment. He also challenged many established market practices, including short-selling, to promote long-term value creation by corporations. .... 

We are excited that Hiro has joined our mission to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy. 

(excerpt from)  https://ir.tesla.com/static-files/f455a322-7032-4a6f-a314-df1afc21397f

He is the only prominent Japanese who works with Tesla (well, other than Panasonic) I've come across in a decade I've been following Tesla. 

He is also articulate. He sounds like he talks about what he believes, which, unfortunately, is rare in governments or corporations in Japan.

Here is a short talk he gave at Cambridge in January this year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AIlgTwqo2M  (Short talk)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNHhYytoJQE   (Q&A)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC-Z4Q8wdj0   (Q&A)

It's possible someone like him is not that unusual in current Japan. I may just don't know as I have not been following anything of or about Japan for three decades. If that's the case, please excuse my ignorance. 

Anyhow, I am glad that someone from Japan, who has an influence, joined Tesla to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy. A piece of good news in a rather dark time.

#Tesla  #sustainableenergy  #HiromichiMizuno

P.S.

If you want to know what Tesla's mission is all about, in detail with background info and stories, read this. It's the best and easiest to understand among all I've come across. And, it's fun to read.

https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/06/how-tesla-will-change-your-life.html

If you want to read the above in Japanese, I have translated it into Japanese and summarised, with the author's permission. It's 19 parts published in this blog in 2015. Hope you enjoy it. 

https://iitokotexas.blogspot.com/2015/07/blog-post.html

https://iitokotexas.blogspot.com/2015/07/blog-post.html

seventeen more... 

Diaper dilemma

One of my favorite podcasts is “Energy Gang”. (I also love its sibling podcast “Interchange”.) I’ve learned a lot over the years by listening to these smart people talk about green/clean energy.

They are down to earth and fun to listen to, but because they are super-duper knowledgeable (and not to mention they are prominent figures), I haven’t thought I share similar experiences...until yesterday.

The host, Stephen Lacey, recently became a father. He talked about the dilemma of choosing between cloth diapers and disposable ones. He ended up choosing disposables and asked his co-hosts, Jigar Shah and Katherine Hamilton, about their thoughts and experiences.

Jigar became a father a few years ago (I think) and Katherine is a mother of four. They both went through the same dilemma and decided to stick to disposable. Katherine used the cloth ones for her first baby (now 29) and gave up because the urine smell filled up and seeped through the entire house.

When my oldest (also now 29) was born, I tried the cloth diaper route first. I could not bear the thought of sending mounds and mounds of soiled diapers to landfills. We were in a two-bedroom apartment near the edge of Brentwood off West LA in Southern California. We had a washer and a dryer in the unit, but very quickly, I realized I could not do laundry for those diapers, and switched to cloth diaper delivery service.

However...each time I received a bagful of super white diapers in exchange for smelly and yellowed ones, I wondered if that was the right choice. What and how much chemical they use to make them so white? How much hot water or steam they use?

One day, a call came while I was nursing my baby. It was from my friend in Australia to congratulate for the birth of my first baby. I was happily talking with her until my baby started to poo. It ran over my lap then onto the carpet while I was tied to the lined phone. (There were only landlines back then.) Next day I went out and bought a pack of disposable diapers with side guards and never looked back. I remember reading somewhere that both types of diapers are equally bad to the environment and felt somewhat justified.

So, hearing those three clean energy experts chose disposables made me smile. Jigar and Katherine also talked about raising less materialistic children who are responsible and care. They used hand-me-downs, got stuff from garage sales, frequented to library, let the children play outside...etc. I did all of those as well.

Well, even though I feel I am falling short every day, maybe I did alright. At least how I raised my children were not too far from those people who are leading the green/clean energy revolution.

https://www.greentechmedia.com/podcast/the-energy-gang#gs.wei6r8

https://www.greentechmedia.com/podcast/the-interchange#gs.x21zgh

Tesla Model Y is (will be) here.

Tesla Model Y (compact SUV version of Model 3) will be here soon enough.
This is the car I have been waiting for a looong time.
I've been telling everyone that I am going to get a Y with blue exterior and light color interior.
The fact they brought "blue Y" for the reveal event made me happy :)

What made me even happier was hearing that Elon restated two of his (and Tesla's) ultimate goals;
1. Offering a whole package of an electric vehicle, solar roof, and battery storage.
2. Really encouraging other automakers to go fully electric sooner rather than later.

I humbly, and really, realize how little I can contribute to shaping a better and sustainable future. Supporting Tesla's mission is, at least, one thing I can do to help accelerate the advent of sustainable future.

Texan industrialist turned his polluting company into environmental leader

I manage programs for NT Renewable Energy Group. We had a honor to have Dale Crownover, CEO and President of Texas Nameplate Company, as a speaker for our July meeting.

The reasons I wanted to invite him were...
 - He runs small local manufacturing business.
 - He and his team have been improving their pollution producing business practices over the years to the point that they are recognized for their environmental stewardship.
 - He spends his personal time to encourage others to green up their practices.

His story was fascinating. We were encouraged by knowing company like this exists in our own backyard.

There are three things he talked about and did not show up in below linked sites.
 - He trademarked the phrase "Our nameplates are green." 
 - He often faces strong resistance from other business owners when he talks about going green.
 - They invented iScrubber, a closed-loop automated solvent scrubbing system. He let his major competitor come in to observe the system even though his management opporsed. They worried the competitor might imitate the system and their company might lose its competitive advantage. Surprising results? Two separate competitors asked Texas Nameplate perform that part of process for them. Texas Nameplate picked up extra business and revenue by generously opening the door to its competitor and sharing information to go green. Abundance mindset resulted in win/win. How cool is that?

Texas Nameplate Website
http://www.nameplate.com/

Detail story about the company...
http://www.industryweek.com/leadership/texas-nameplates-crownover-talks-green-leadership-and-tax-bill

Programs for the North Texas Renewable Energy Group (NTREG)

For the next two years, I am a co-program manager for the North Texas Renewable Energy Group (NTREG). That means I'm in charge of bringing speakers to our monthly meetings as well as setting up field trips and hands-on projects.

A few examples of what we do:
Speaker: Our March speaker is the Passive House Specialist.
Field trip: Last October, we toured Oncor's Microgrid Facility in Lancaster.
Hands-on project: We are planning to build "portable mini solar charger w/battery system" for around $120 per system.

We promote renewable energy, clean transportation, energy/water efficiency and various clean technologies. If you know someone you could recommend to be our future speakers, please PM me.

Please note, we are a "serious" non-profit as we like to call ourselves. We stay away from "in your face" product/service promotions as well as political activities. In addition, if we see a proposal may not be a good fit to our mission (scroll down to Our Mission), we may/will decline.

Joining our monthly meetings and discussion group are open to the public. Please see NTREG discussion group (again, scroll down) for details .

"Negative Carbon Road Trip" dropped by NTREG meeting

This funky looking car belongs to Brian Kent.

Brian and his Nissan LEAF are taking a "Negative Carbon Road Trip" across and around The United States.

You see, driving across the US with Tesla is non issue thanks to its >250 mile range and the Supercharger Network.

But doing that with other EVs currently on the market, such as Brian's LEAF, is another story. Driving ranges of most of those EVs are still little over 80 miles.

Here in Texas, 80 miles does not get you very far. Between Dallas and Austin is roughly 200 miles. From Dallas to New Mexico border is roughly 430 miles even when the shortest driving distance is taken. (I don't recommend that route, but that's another story.)

Back to Brian and his LEAF. Despite the headwinds, they had driven to 33 states so far and stopped by NTREG (North Texas Renewable Energy Group) monthly meeting this Saturday.

As I still drive a gas car, 2005 Lexus, I'm keenly aware that I am spewing exhaust into the air each mile I drive. Until I can get the zero, or close to zero, carbon transportation, I will try to drive the least distance/time while letting me do what I want/need to do...

Striking the balance while making a small step forward each and every day.

エネルギー、車、テスラと変える世界 ---１

私はクリーンテック・リエゾンです。クリーンなテクノロジーやエネルギーが、もっと早くもっと広く普及するお手伝いをします。

かなり以前から興味はあったものの、本腰を入れなかった理由の一つは、理系を学んでこなかったので基礎も専門知識もなかったから(今から思えば言い訳に過ぎませんね)。それでもとにかく本やネットを読みまくり、グループやセミナーに参加して話を聞きまくり、オンラインコースを取ったりしてきました。長い間、何度読み直しても内容がよくわからなかったり、その時はわかったつもりでもしばらく経つと記憶が薄れていたりということもしばしばありました。専門家のプレゼンを聞いているうちに、途中から話が頭の上を素通りしてしまっているのに気づいたこともしょっちゅう。一番困ったのは、相反する意見を聞くとどちらも一理あるように思え、じゃ自分はどっちを支持するのか、でなければ他に意見があるのかと自問した時に、答えに詰まることがよくあったことです。

特にエネルギーに関しては、政治、経済、環境問題に温暖化をまとわりつけた愚論がはびこり、わかりづらいばかりでなく、たまにはうんざりしてシャットオフしてしまいたくなることもありました。（温暖化と聞いただけで耳をふさぎたくなる人いませんか？）それでも懲りずに読み続けていると、うすうすとパターンが見えてきて、そのうちにどの情報をどの程度信頼できるのかだんだんわかるようになってきたのです。そして、どの意見に賛成できる、賛成できないとしたらどうしてかが言えるようになりました。

私は昔から独学することが多かったので、この方法があっていたのだろうと思います。ただ、今はまさにエネルギーのターニングポイントです。私達の力で平和に将来を大きく変えていける好機です。だから、もっと多くの人に、理系の知識があろうがなかろうが、早くきちんと基本を理解(understanding the principals)してもらえたらと願います。ビッグピクチャーがクリアにわかったら、ビジネスや技術畑にいる人も、消費者もどうしたら良いのか方向が見えてくるはず、と思うのです。

waitbutwhy.com

ティム・アーバンが書く”Wait But Why”のこの記事「How Tesla Will Change The World」は、エネルギーについてまさにその基本をとってもわかりやすく楽しく説明してくれています。

ティムが記事の前書きでも引用してる「知識の木」の話を少し借りるなら、私の学び方は、「木」を見たこともないのに、林の中を地面だけ見ながら歩き回ってあちこちでいろんな枝や葉っぱを拾い、見つけた切り株の上にそれらを繋げていって「木」を作ってみたようなもの。

ティムのは「木」の中に飛び込み、枝や根の端まで行ってみる。あちこちの先の先まで行ってみると「木」がどんなものかわかってくる。そしてそのアウトラインを誰にでも見えるように描いてくれるのです。

少し長いですが、ティムのオリジナル記事を是非読んで見てください。私も日本語でスラスラ説明できるようになりたいので、彼の記事を今後数回に分けて、掻い摘みながら(翻訳ではありません)まとめてみようと思います。


次のページ

SoCal turf removal rebate - When will Texas start?

One of the yards in the neighborhood is getting a makeover - from water thirsty turf to drought tolerant plant and rock garden. 

I've heard California utilities are giving rebates for the conversion. "Rebates are available for $2.00 or more per square foot of turf removed."

I believe Las Vegas has been offering similar rebates for a while. Although drought condition in Texas is not currently severe, this is something we should start offering before we face water crisis. It is probably one of the most cost effective long term solution to reduce potable water waste. 

Yes, we need to water around foundation of houses because of our clay soil in North Texas. Drip irrigation can take care of that. There is no need to water entire yard for green - sometimes brown - turf. Actually these xeriscaping with succulents and rocks are really pretty, I think anyway.

Traveling with AirBnB

We woke up to a view of snow covered mountain and hundreds of windmills in Desert Hot Springs last two mornings. We are moving to LA temporality (a year+?) and this is the last leg of our trip. The house we stayed here is a contemporary beauty, something you would see in an architecture magazine.

Three neat houses we stayed en route from Dallas - Albuquerque, Flagstaff (Grand Canyon), and here near Palm Springs - I found on AirBnB. I started using their services nearly three years ago as I saw values in sharing economy concept. It has been giving us unique opportunities to peek in how locals live, meet interesting people and hear their stories.

It's not for everyone - it takes some efforts to communicate and make arrangements. It's not for every time - not recommended for short term business travel. It's not always wonderful - while I was hosting, I had two horrible guests. But, luckily they were super minority.

Our daughter started using them a year ago. Last fall she used AirBnB in Dublin for one night as she arrived there a day before her dorm room opened for her study abroad program. She became very good friend with the family, stayed in touch with them throughout the semester, was invited to their family Christmas gatherings and had a great time. Experiences like that would not happen when staying at regular hotels.

Desert Hot Springs is only two hours away from LA. We will come back to the contemporary house to do The Annenberg House tour at Sunnylands over one weekend. We look forward to visiting the house and having chats with the host.

Franconia - Green, N TX local, and great tasting German beer

Dennis, a transplant from Germany, knows how to brew great beer in a super energy/resource efficient way!

I've heard about Franconia before. "Somewhere in McKinney, there is this cool local brewer a guy from Germany runs. They offer tours of their brewery and tasting events weekly."

Of course we did the tasting, but an hour before a regular beer tour on one Saturday, Dennis showed us, NTREG (North Texas Renewable Energy Group), around his energy efficient brewery.

Here are some highlights - IIRC:
His brewery does not generate trash.
Until recently, there was no dumpster on site.
Current dumpster is for glasses and cups, not for beer brewing operation. It gets emptied rarely.
He uses steam from brewing operation to make all needed hot water via heat exchanger. No HWH.
He has 20 kW solar carport, which supplies most of his electricity needs. No battery yet, but Green Mountain helps to mitigate that.
Used vegetable oil generates supplemental electricity when needed. Perfectly Green in McKinney manages the micro-power system shown behind Dennis.
Beer cooler section of his brewery has foam insulation with R value of 55. If power were gone for a long time, the cooler could stay in chilling temperature for three days.

We expected nothing but great tasting German beer from his operation and did not get disappointed.

How much water you use during winter unproportionally affects your water bill

If you wonder why your water bill stubbornly stays on the high side even though you think you are conserving water, this might help explain...at least for those of you who live in Plano.

My latest water/utility bill shows only a quarter is charged for water usage. (This, of course, means reducing water consumption would help little to lower my water bill. Not a good system to encourage people to conserve water, but that's a different discussion.)

More than half of the bill is for sewer. For anyone who wants to reduce his water bill, now is the time to act. Why? Because Plano uses "Water Quarter Average" to calculate your sewer rate and apply that for the entire year. Details are here and here. Basically, how much water you use during last three winters, including current, will determine how much sewer rate you pay for the coming year.

My sewer rate is high because I enjoy taking a hot bath in the cold winter night. That Japanese habit is not something I want to give up easily...I need to figure out other ways to use water less.

Build coalitions(collaborations) for "Future of Anything"

I was lucky enough to attend a program called "A Better Path from Farm to Fork: Policy Solutions for the Future of Food" at the National Geographic office while in Washington DC.

When opportunity like this comes up I won't pass up. Although I am in cleantech and energy, not in food, my son, sister-in-law, and niece are working in nutrition and food fields. And in a big picture - food, energy, environment - everything is interconnected. Knowing what's going on in other fields won't hurt.

The program was keynoted by U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow who authored 2014 Farm Bill which represented $1 trillion in spending over 10 years. I don't know much about this bill and its implications. But I heard it was a long-stalled bill that passed on a rare bipartisan vote (68-32) this spring while most everything else was gridlocked in Capitol Hill.

"Ability to build coalitions to get things done" is what she is known for, her bio says. That's an undervalued but very much needed ability to improve anything and tackle any problems we face.

Group discount on a massive scale

More than 100,000 people will have opportunities to buy or lease solar PV system at discount.

Beautiful collaboration effort between WWF and Geostellar that could benefit employees of four large corporations (and everybody else until the end of the year. Just use the code "solarmojo".) According to Geostellar, the average base cost of a system is $3 per watt - which is good. I hope many, especially those who are in areas with high electricity rates, would find this attractive and sign up.

The story in New York Times is here and simpler explanation in CleanTechnica is here.

Having helped Solarize Plano, I know group purchase works. It gives you leverage to attract cheaper and better purchase options. It also helps you to learn from your trustworthy community members. As we are starting to hear stories about a few “bad apple” installers even in our area, it pays to ask around.

Words of caution…

Before getting a new solar system, better to find out how much electricity you use, and take simple and cheap measures to reduce your consumption. You may be surprised to find out you will need much smaller system that will cost less. 

Above screenshot shows Geostellar estimates we use 1,641kWh per average month. We actually use half of that. They are correct though. During the first 12 months after we moved in, we used just about the same as they estimated. Since then we reduced our consumption by half. Our 4.25kW system, instead of 9.14kW they estimated, was enough to cover 65% of our usage and costed far far less.

EVの電磁放射

ダラスに、ダ・ビンチというプレスクールがある。ウェイティングリストも長いらしく、妊娠中から申し込む人もいるくらいの人気だそう。

ここの校舎は、先週のDFW Solar Tourのおすすめサイトの一つ。オーナー夫婦が、構想設計に関わっただけでなく、使用素材の一つ一つを調査して選び、工事にもずっと立ち会ったという。校内を一周まわりして、簡単に説明してもらっただけで、小さい子どもたちの健康の為に、オーナー夫妻がどれほど心を込めて作った建物かよくわかった。

テスラの協賛で、ツアー中、この学校の前で「ドライブ体験」（テストドライブとは法律上言えないらしい）があった。予想以上の大人気で、予約が溢れ、テスラはモデルSを4台出して、15分単位で10時から5時までフル回転させていた。（結局、それだけでは足りず、先週の予約に溢れた人たちの為に、今日もドライブ体験をやっていた。）

さて、先週ツアーが終わった後、スクールオーナーの奥様が、テスラ車内の電磁放射量を図りたいといって、スタッフと乗って出て行ったので、今日、ツアーのうちあげで会った時に、結果を聞いてみたら。。。

社内の床部分では少し検知されたものの、シート部分（座って膝から上の部分では）ほとんど何も検知されなかった。これは、前も後ろの座席も同じだったらしい。

オーナー夫婦が今乗っているトヨタのプリウス（2台）は、前座席ではほとんど検知されず、後ろ座席でわずかながら気になる量が検知されるとのこと。だたし、子供でカーシートとかに乗って、座る位置が上に上がればそれだけ薄れるから気にならないとの事だった。

それよりも気になるのは、携帯やラップトップなんだそう。

ラップトップは、名の通りラップの上で使わず、机の上に置くべき（ということはデスクトップ？）

携帯は耳に直接当てないで、イヤフォンで通話する。ポケットに入れないで、左にような特別ケースに入れるようアドバイスされた。（これはご主人のケース。このサイトで購入したとのこと。）

携帯は、通話が入ってくる前に、瞬間的に多量の電磁放射するのだとか。私自身はそこまで気にしないけれど、息子や娘達➖これから子孫を残そうという人たちは、reproductive systemにどう影響するか分からないので、ポケットに入れるのはやめて他の方法を考えるよう言ってみようと思う。

Would you throw recyclables into a trash when...

...you stand in front of these two bins?

Hope you wouldn't.

This was the set up at Cottonwood Art Fest in Richardson this past weekend. I want to give them a high-five.

It seems so no-brainer to place trash and recycle bins side-by-side with clear signs like this. Unfortunately, it's still a rarity around here. We have more work to do...

DFW Solar Tour - Saturday, October 4 (free and public event)

Another solar energy project I've been helping is "DFW Solar Tour". - 13 solar houses in Plano (among 130 with solar) will be open. - Roughly 50 locations in DFW, some with EV (Tesla included), will participate.  Interested in solar and energy efficiency? Come and learn. Here is more details from the organizer NTREG. (Their earlier email brust includes the photo I'm in...I didn't know that but cool.) What is the DFW Solar Tour? The DFW Solar Tour is a one-day event on Saturday, October 4 timed to coincide with the American Solar Energy Society's National Solar Tour, the largest all-volunteer solar event in the nation.  The tour's purpose is to demonstrate how homeowners and businesses  are using solar, wind, passive solar design, and energy efficiency to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels and reduce utility bills. Tour Hours:  Generally speaking, tour hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., but times may vary at the discretion of the tour host. The DFW Solar Tour is free of charge. Solar Tour Etiquette Visitors are guests, please be courteous and polite. Tour hours are generally 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Please don't arrive early or late. Remember, tour hours may vary at some sites so it is important to check the individual tour host page on the DFW Solar Tour website to confirm visiting hours before you get started. There are no public restroom facilities at tour sites. Practice the Golden Rule and everything will work out great. visit our website

The ASES National Solar Tour is the world's largest grassroots solar event. This event offers you the opportunity to tour innovative green homes and buildings to see how you can use solar energy, energy efficiency, and other sustainable technologies to reduce monthly utility bills and help tackle climate change. More than 165,000 participants will visit some 5,500 buildings in 3,200 communities across the U.S.

#DFWsolartour, #NTREG, #TexasEV, #Renko, #Tesla

Solar PV on my roof

I came home and found solar PV panels on my roof! I was not fully expecting the installer, Axium Solar, to be back today because Plano Balloon Festival limited the access to our neighborhood.

They are beautiful. I am excited. Once all the wiring is done and the final permit is issued, these panels should start producing and cover roughly 65% of our current annual electricity consumption.

I am all in to promote renewable/clean energy and energy efficiency.

Although my system is small (4.25 kW DC), I feel great to personally contribute to distributed sustainable energy production.

Through "Solarize Plano Project", so far we have helped about 40 households, including mine, in Plano to install solar PV systems at discount.

I am also helping to organize DFW Solar Tour coming on October 4th. And being the first solar house in our neighborhood, I am hoping to inspire others to follow. I know, before long, solar and other renewable energy will become norm.
http://www.magisto.com/video/O0QGNEYVAC0oUEdpYw

People with conviction - solar PV ban

Andy Jacobson/Dallas Morning News staff photographer

People with conviction are tough. 

They strongly believe what they believe not because others have taught them, but because they have studied, explored, examined and came to the conclusion on their own. 

Once they get there, they no longer seek approval from others. In fact, they get fired up when faced with unreasonable oppositions and defend their belief with the facts they have dug up.

In a recent Dallas Morning News article titled "Texas law lets developers ban solar panels while subdivisions are growing", a solar advocate assembled cases against builders and developers even though the current law was on their side. He believed the law was an unjust loophole. An antiquated initial responses he received from a powerful builder and a HOA fueled his determination to put the things straight. He was unfazed by some voices of caution - mine included. He pushed it through. The article went out. It received loud responses, mostly supportive. He gave convincing rebuttals with references to the negative comments...and the article is spreading with more support.

A hat tip, or rather a bow, to people with strong convictions. They are the ones who disrupt and start changing the society.

Slimming down an energy hog

My house is one of the guinea pigs in Dallas-Fort Worth area for electricity usage monitoring study by Pecan Street. They just released a new mobile app called "Pumpkin Pie".

According to this app, we use roughly half of electricity compared to similar houses in our area. It gives more details such as the usage data in kWh and $ per breaker. I would like to dig into that when I have more time.

During the past 12 months, we used roughly kWh8,650 (kWh720/m) and paid $860 ($72/m). For a regular spec house (2 story, 3000 sf) built by a production builder (read - built to be an energy hogger), it is good.

We did some cheap DIY energy efficiency updates using stuffs from Home Depot and Lowes several years ago. Nothing fancy. Most likely we have recouped the cost over one summer.