Here are some free resources to help you save money on your home’s energy bill. Hiring a local firm to do a home energy audit would yield more useful specific items to address, but would cost a couple hundred dollars.

Home Energy Saver has a web based do-it-yourself energy audit tool. It is from the people at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. While some recommendations are pretty general, it is a good starting point.

Energy Star Home Yardstick has helpful resources but focuses more on Energy Star rated items.

Money Magazine has an article stating that some people could invest $1500 in insulation and mainteance and get over twice that in energy savings in the first year.  Most of the tips cover those with poor attic insulation, leaky duct work, no programmable thermostat.

Flex Your Power has lots of energy saving tips.

Pacific Energy Center has many free classes on how to save energy.

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The hot weather is here and people are looking for ways to save on their cooling bills. Buying a new air conditioner seems to be a rite of passage into summer for some people. We take a look at one product that is being heavily advertised.

We have been noticing these ads for MIRA-Cool popping up in newspapers like USA Today and Parade nationwide promising, “Public set to get free air cooling units”… “A new miracle air cooler is actually being given away free to the first 11,337 readers who call to beat the order deadline for their first miracle air cooler to stay cool for just pennies a day”

From their website: “The New MIRA-COOL uses 95% less electricity than a typical window air conditioner, yet blast out ice cooled air to keep you cool for just pennies a day.”

Sound too good to be true?

Way down in the ad copy it says you pay $298 and $98 shipping for a MIRA-Cool, then get a second MIRA-Cool unit free. They will make 11,337 x $396 = $4.4 million from this ad!

Connecticut watchdog has some analysis of this cooler. A MIRA-Cool is a unit with two small ice blocks placed in tap water with a fan blowing over the ice, creating an effect similar to an evaporative cooler. Consumer Reports reviewed the predescessor to the MIRA-Cool, the Cool Surge, and issued a Don’t Buy.

Check out their Better Business Bureau BBB D+ Rating.

This ad reminds me of the Amish built heaters  and the Bob Villa Edenpure heater ads run in the winter.

If you want a real evaporative cooler, look at this evaporative cooler article

Check out our Air Conditioner Energy Savings article if you really want to save on air conditioning.

Our article Ways to save Energy, Money, on your Energy Bill has other money saving tips.