It seems like a lot of people are concerned about how to save money in a depression, or how to protect what they have in the near term. I’m getting queries like “moving to the country to survive a depression” and “How to earn money in a depression”.
You have to remember, when we think of what we might face in terms of a depression, that we know very little of true depressions (hardly anything in personal experience terms). In the 1930′s, the depression hurt a lot of people because there was no social security safety net, no unemployment benefits, no welfare and food stamps. It was because of that lack that these safety net programs where instituted.
In addition, it’s well known that Herbert Hoover let the depression sink in because he refused to spend any more. Guess where we’d be if some conservatives had their way? Why would they want to repeat the mistakes of Hoover? True, we are building up a huge financial deficit. But there could be – could be – growth to get us out of it, if all goes according to Obama’s plan.
Nevertheless – if a family faces job loss or downsizing, foreclosure, if big banks fail and consumers hunker down and stop spending, we could be in for some tough economic times. Yet I tend to see this as a step on a path to a new way of thinking about how we live – just like social programs resulted from the Great Depression of the 1930′s.
Here’s where things could go, IMHO. We could start learning to live with less money. OK, after we default on our homes and credit cards, we learn that we don’t need all the latest doo dads to keep us happy. We plant gardens. We keep the cars we have running. We barter and trade with our neighbors – lawn cutting for piano lessons or something. We turn to our communities for swap meets and recipe trades and getting back to basics. We start to be creative again, not just consumers of someone else’s creativity, that is, we bake and cook instead of going out; we play games and go for walks instead of spending hundreds a month on cable; we go to the movie at the town hall with our blanket and picnic instead of paying $50 or more at the theater. We take a composting class or a bike repair course and learn a new language with friends.
We find that we don’t need the things we have been conditioned to buy. We find that yes, if we save instead of spend, we put some people out of work, but we reach out to those people and help them become useful in other capacities. We learn that this too is just a phase, on our way to a more sustainable, friendlier, less consumption driven lifestyle, where there wasn’t much substance behind all that garbage.
My feeling is you’d do better in a community, not the country, where people can share and educate and lend and play and work together to make things work. You are not well served by harboring fear or complacency, but rather we can do so much better by harnessing the same “we can do it” strength that we felt after 9/11. We are facing difficulty as a country, not alone, but together, and only with constructive effort and creativity – not fear-mongering and ignorance and infighting – will be succeed and build something better out of our challenges.
And believe me – there are going to be amazing investment opportunities. I’ll be posting some of those to keep a watch on in the coming weeks and months.
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How To Stop Drafts and Save On Energy Bills
Imagine leaving a window open all winter long — the heat loss, cold drafts and wasted energy! If your home has a folding pull-down attic stair, a whole house fan, a fireplace or clothes dryer, that may be just what is occurring in your home every day.
Drafts from these often overlooked holes waste energy and cost you big in the form of higher energy bills. Drafts are the largest source of heating and cooling loss in the home.
Drafts occur through the small cracks around doors, windows, pipes, etc. Most homeowners are well aware of the benefits that caulk and weatherstripping provide to minimize energy loss and drafts.
But what can you do about drafts from the four largest “holes” in your home — the folding attic stair, the whole house fan, the fireplace and the clothes dryer? Here are some tips and techniques that can easily, quickly and inexpensively seal and insulate these holes.
Attic Stairs
When attic stairs are installed, a large hole (approximately 10 square feet) is created in your ceiling. The ceiling and insulation that were there have to be
removed, leaving only a thin, unsealed, sheet of plywood.
Your attic space is ventilated directly to the outdoors. In the winter, the attic space can be very cold, and in the summer it can be very hot. And what is separating your conditioned house from your unconditioned attic? That thin sheet of plywood.
Often a gap can be observed around the perimeter of the attic door. Try this yourself: at night, turn on the attic light and shut the attic stairway door — do you see any light coming through?
If you do, heated and air-conditioned air is leaking out of these large gaps in your home 24-hours a day. This is like leaving a window or skylight open all year ‘round.
An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add an insulated attic stair cover. An attic stair cover seals the stairs, stopping drafts and energy loss. Add the desired amount of insulation over the cover to restore the insulation removed from the ceiling.
Whole House Fans and Air Conditioning Vents
Much like attic stairs above, when whole house fans are installed, a large hole (up to 16 square feet or larger) is created in your ceiling. The ceiling and insulation that were there have to be removed, leaving only the drafty ceiling shutter between you and the outdoors.
An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a whole house fan shutter seal. Made from white textured flexible insulation, the shutter seal is installed over the ceiling shutter, secured with Velcro, and trimmed to fit. The shutter seal can also be used to seal and insulate air conditioning vents, and is easily removed when desired.
Fireplaces
Over 100 million homes, in North America are constructed with wood or gas burning fireplaces. Unfortunately there are negative side effects that the fireplace brings to a home, especially during the winter heating season. Fireplaces are energy losers.
Researchers have studied this to determine the amount of heat loss through a fireplace, and the results are amazing. One research study showed that an open damper on an unused fireplace in a well-insulated house can raise overall heating-energy consumption by 30 percent.
A recent study showed that for many consumers, their heating bills may be more than $500 higher per winter due to the drafts and wasted energy caused by fireplaces.
Why does a home with a fireplace have higher energy bills? Your chimney is an opening that leads directly outdoors — just like an open window. Even if the damper is shut, it is not airtight.
Glass doors don’t stop the drafts either. The fireplace is like a giant straw sucking your expensive heated or air-conditioned air right out of your house!
An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a Fireplace Plug to your fireplace. Available from Battic Door, a company known for their energy conservation products, the Fireplace Plug is an inflatable pillow that seals the fireplace damper, eliminating drafts, odors, and noise. The pillow is removed whenever the fireplace is used, then reinserted after.
Clothes Dryer Exhaust Ducts
In many homes, the room with the clothes dryer is the coldest room in the house. Your clothes dryer is connected to an exhaust duct that is open to the outdoors. In the winter, cold drafts in through the duct, through your dryer and into your house.
Dryer vents use a sheet-metal flapper to try to reduce these drafts. This is very primitive technology that does not provide a positive seal to stop the drafts. Compounding the problem is that over time, lint clogs the flapper valve causing it to stay open.
An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a dryer vent seal. This will reduce unwanted drafts, and also keeps out pests, bees and rodents. The vent will remain closed unless the dryer is in use. When the dryer is in use, a floating shuttle rises to allow warm air, lint and moisture to escape.
For more information on Battic Door’s energy conservation solutions and products for your home, visit http://www.batticdoor.com or, to request a free catalog, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to P.O. Box 15, Mansfield, MA 02048.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mark D. Tyrol is a Professional Engineer specializing in cause and origin of construction defects. He developed several residential energy conservation products including an attic stair cover and an attic access door. Battic Door is the US distributor of the fireplace plug. To learn more visit http://www.batticdoor.com
Very great posting. I disagree on the cable thing. I have a 4 month old.. He can’t live without watching ” Handy Mandy” Each morning.
But being on food stamps has so changed me. I’m the only child of a Doctor and being poor never was an issue for me, Then I moved in with my hubby and had a baby. ( Diapers aren’t cheap) Money isn’t too tight but help is always needed. I have a few start up companies and I’m a writer but that’s it!
Thanks again for this posting!
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