In Phase III of Project Get Off the Grid (for those who haven’t been reading previous posts on Project Get Off the Grid, click here to catch up), I haven’t made many changes. Differing variables in the 2008 and 2009 periods of Phase II, namely a ten-day trip to Mexico in 2008, during which I used virtually no electricity, have made a comparison of the two periods difficult. Therefore, in order to get a better idea of the effects my behavioral changes made in Phase II, I’m not doing anything drastic during Phase III.

I have, however, made one small change. I installed a low-flow Evolve shower-head in my shower. Low-flow shower-heads are officially classified as those that use 1.5 gallons of water per minute or less, and Evolve, a company strictly devoted to making eco-friendly shower-heads, has developed a low-flow shower-head that has another water-saving feature.

For whatever crappy plumbing-related reason, I have to run my shower for a few minutes before the water is warm enough for me to comfortably step in, which means I often turn my water on and then leave the bathroom to occupy myself with other things for a bit – checking my email, watching Sportscenter’s Top Ten, etc. More often than not, I return to a shower that is already spraying – and wasting – hot water. I’m sure there are a lot of folks out there like me.

Evolve’s sleek, low-flow shower-heads are specially equipped to turn off once the water temperature reaches a comfortable 95 degrees. When I’m ready to get into the shower, I simply pull a little cord on the shower-head and the water turns on immediately, already at shower temperature. That way, I can watch Sportscenter, check emails, and mess around with Pandora radio stations to my heart’s content, all the while not worrying about wasting any hot water. When I’m ready, I just get into the shower, pull the cord, and I’ve got hot water.

How does this relate to Project Get Off the Grid? Well, it not only saves hot water, it also saves energy, which is used to heat water. When hot water runs down the drain, we’re not only wasting water, we’re wasting energy, which gets tacked right on to our Duke Energy bills.

Although I think the low-flow and turn-off features of my new shower-head will probably save me some water, I won’t be able to quantify it, because I don’t get billed specifically for water use. I’ll admit the lower pressure probably lengthens my showers a bit, but not by much. As far as the energy savings go, I think they will be minimal, but hey, every little bit counts. Try out an Evolve shower-head and you’ll save water, energy, and, eventually, even money.

It’s one of the primary drawbacks facing the green movement today: the upfront cost that often accompanies going green. Although going green can help us save money in the long run, the amount of time it can take to break even frequently deters even those with the very best intentions (yes, me included). Especially considering the difficulties we’re facing in today’s economic environment (um, yes, me included again), many people just aren’t willing or able to incur this cost, even if they will, eventually, make it back. In many cases, we don’t even know how long “eventually” is.

Fortunately, the Wall Street Journal (I love when green goes mainstream) recently published this great article discussing practical household changes we can make to save energy, save money, and see payback within a reasonable timeframe. Importantly, it also defines what we can expect that timeframe to be.

The article addresses programmable thermostats, water heating efficiency systems, attic, window, door, and duct insulation, low-flow showerheads and faucet aerators, solar panel leasing, air filters, energy-efficient light bulbs, and lighting motion sensors, all of which can help you save energy and will pay for themselves in the relatively short term. Upfront costs range anywhere from free to $1,000, and the time before breaking even ranges from immediate to about seven years.

Of course, numerous variables go into the author’s estimates, many of which he explains, so you’ll have to consider each topic with your specific circumstances in mind if you want a reasonable idea of savings and payback time. In some cases, calculations were made using automated tools that allow for customizable parameters. In case you want to do some calculations specifically tailored to your own situation, I tracked down some of the tools the author used. Here they are:

• For Programmable Thermostats
• For Compact Flourescent Light Bulbs (CFL Bulbs)
• For Drain-water heat-recovery systems

In finding those, I also came across this awesome EnergyStar website, which provides a whole list of similar calculators for all kinds of residential and commercial appliances, fixtures, gadgets, etc. Super helpful for anyone exploring the financial implications of making some environmentally (and potentially economically) conscious home improvements.

The Perfect Flush interface, pretty self-explanatory.

Toilets use a tremendous amount of water. 40% of household indoor water is used for toilet flushing and we flush approximately 55 billion gallons of water each day. The numbers are pretty staggering, and ever since I saw my first dual-flush toilet many years ago in Europe, I’ve considered our standard one-flush toilets to be absurdly wasteful. When it comes to the old deuce, fine, flush flush flush away, but do we really need three gallons of water to flush down an innocent little pool of pee? Absolutely not. Unfortunately, despite being widely implemented in Europe, dual-flush toilets haven’t taken hold in the U.S., mainly due to a high price tag and the low price of water.

In my recent attempts at greenification, I’ve been combating my “flush guilt” by abiding by the old adage, “If it’s yellow, let it mellow. If it’s brown, flush it down.” However, even though I’m not at all squeamish (quite the opposite, actually), I’ve concluded that I find reusing the mellowing, yellowing, aging pool in my toilet pretty damn nasty, especially on those dehydrated weekend mornings.

However, thanks to Karl Burkart’s blog entry (check out Karl’s actual blog, too, a great site discussing the latest in green tech featured on the Mother Nature Network web page), I may have found my answer. Perfect Flush, an easy to install toilet gadget, turns any standard toilet into a dual-flush toilet, so we don’t have to let anything mellow and we can still save water whenever a full flush isn’t absolutely necessary. Perfect Flush will sell for about $120 and the makers claim water savings with Perfect Flush can reach $100 a year, which means break-even and, ultimately, savings can be achieved relatively quickly.

Unfortunately, it appears as if the product won’t be available until May of this year, which means, for at least another few months, I’ll be “letting it mellow”. You should, too.

Blackle.com, the all-black, green Google.

Studies have revealed that an all-white website uses more energy than an all-black website. The energy use is small, and the difference minuscule, but if you apply it to a mega-high-traffic site, like Google, for example, the numbers add up. With this in mind, Tony Heap created Blackle in 2007, an all-black version of the Google search engine. Blackle uses the same searching algorithm and hardware as Google and, according to the site, has saved over 1,111,000 watt hours as of today.

The makers of Blackle don’t expect to change the world with the energy they save, but they do hope to bring attention to the need to conserve energy and the fact that every little bit helps. It’s a pretty cool idea, anyway. To show my support, I’ll be switching my Google bookmarks to Blackle. Why not?

For more info on Blackle, here’s a blog with a good entry on the topic.