When deciding on what I could do to reduce CO2 emissions from parts of my life I wanted to do something that would have a positive impact on the environment, while also doing something that was actually practical for me to do on a daily basis. This is how I came up with the idea of adjusting my thermostat for my a/c and heater according to outdoor weather conditions. On warmer days I adjust my thermostat 4 degrees warmer to 79°, up from my normal house temperature of 75°. On cold days earlier in the semester from February through March, I lowered my thermostat from 78° to 73°. I felt that this action was a simple adjustment to my life that would have an impact in reducing the amount of kWh used in my house, saving my family money; but ultimately reducing CO2 emissions.

 

I never thought I would take a class that required me to look at my life in terms of how much energy I consume and how many CO2 emissions I emit whether it be daily, monthly or annually. This class, and project in particular opened my eyes to how much energy is needed to live a ‘comfortable life’ in America. According to EIA estimates, residential cooling in the United States uses about 214 billion kWh of electricity, which is equivalent to 5% of total U.S. electricity consumption. As long as carbon based non-renewable energy sources are used to generate electricity, which is mostly coal and natural gas at this point, greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere. This project has taught me that making a small change in my day to day life can make an impact on the amount of CO2 emissions I am responsible for contributing to the atmosphere, while not really causing me to lose any comfort or change my ways of living drastically. Once this class concludes, I plan to use the knowledge I gained from this course and project to inform others in my life how easy it can be to change some small aspect of their life and help the global climate. I plan to continue adjusting my thermostat to reduce the amount of electricity needed to cool and heat my home.