Thermal photography shows heat leaks.
There’s a great story online from National Geographic about energy conservation at home, with a fantastic photo gallery as well. It includes infographics that show which cuts in carbon emissions would actually save money, and which would cost money to implement. There’s also an interactive quiz to see how much you already know about household energy use.
The main story is about the author’s family and their attempts to live a less energy-intensive lifestyle. Along the way, he discovers how much heat his home is losing, how to avoid going crazy thinking about wasted electricity, and the surprising consequences of air travel. Here’s an excerpt:
When PJ drove off in the CR-V to pick up a friend for church, I hauled out gear to cut the grass: electric lawn mower, electric edger, electric leaf blower. Then it dawned on me: All this power-sucking equipment was going to cost us in CO2 emissions. So I stuffed everything back into the garage, hopped in the Miata, and buzzed down the street to Home Depot to price out an old-fashioned push reel mower.
The store didn’t have one, so I drove a few miles more to Lawn & Leisure, an outfit that specializes in lawn mowers. They were out too, though they had plenty of big riding mowers on display. (The average gasoline-powered push mower, I’d learned, puts out as much pollution per hour as eleven cars—a riding mower as much as 34 cars.) My next stop was Wal-Mart, where I found another empty spot on the rack. I finally tried Sears, which had one manual mower left, the display model.
…
As I pulled into the driveway, I had the sinking realization I’d been off on a fool’s errand. I didn’t know exactly how foolish until the next morning, when we added up the numbers. I’d driven 24 miles in search of a more Earth-friendly mower.
