I love inefficient "open concept living." Only the crunchiest of moderns, or rational folks with old houses, would live in small rooms with doors.

Our state was having a rebate program if you bought certain new enegry star appliances. We were thinking of replacing our frig, but after looking into the program, decided against it. They frigs that qualified cost way more than we wanted to spend & were way too big for our kitchen. We have a small, basic, WHITE frig, probably cost $4-500.

You have to really crunch the numbers to see if there is a savings. Too, the bigger the house, the more flooring, paint, furniture, windows, etc., there is to buy.

I have to admit I wish my house had rooms that were a little larger, but it isn't going to happen!
I think a bunch of the this "goin green" stuff is just hype to get people to spend more money.

Only thing green in my house is my plants..lol

We had a heat pump installed, a big difference on our heating and cooling bill. It also helps that our house has 6" of insulation on the exterior walls as well as the floor and ceiling.

My new washer and dryer are alot more energy efficient also. We run a fan on exhaust in the study to pull out the heat from the computers. That way we don't have to run the AC all the time to keep one room cool and the rest of the house freezing.

we have a small (9 c.f.) fridge that is almost 30 years old and uses up half of our electric each month (not that much really - $13 or so.)
Looked into getting a new one. State rebates for getting Energy Star. FIrst, the E.S. appliances cost a lot more than the regular ones, and they don't save that much electricity. Second, they insist that you trash the old fridge (they will pick up) - now I don't go along with that, maybe there is someone somewhere who can use it. Doesn't make sense to destroy a working appliance and then use energy to make a new one.

We are not technically (sp) green, but I try to be conservative. I used to run the washer when ever, now I try to do all my laundry twice a week only. I keep rooms we don't use close off with the vents closed. One room is for my fabric and I don't want the kitties in there sleeping on the fabric. Our house if over 2000 and it's bigger than I want when it's time to clean. It's paid for so it would cost to much to downsize if we could find a buyer and a smaller house that cost less than we could get for this one.

I grew up iin the sixties and we had 2 bedrooms ,1 batroom a kitchen and a living room. Probably 1000 sq feet. @ adults @ kids. All my friends houses were about the same and most had more than 2 kids. Seems like the average was 3. I had one friend who was a single child so she had her own room and she had her own bathroom! We all thought she was rich!

We grew up in a tiny house that for a bathroom we only had a toilet and a curtain for the door. I remember the first time I took a bath in a tub with running water.

I love the people that are looking for a house with "character". Then when they look at an older house, they're upset because there's no bathroom off the master bedroom. Hello!! Old houses don't have bathrooms off the master unless they've been added on. And why do they all want a large maste suite? Am I missing something? How much time do people spend in their master suites? Gotta love 'em--want "character" then they rip out or paint over woodwork or cabinets. And this is the generation that is supposed to be "more aware" of environmental issues.
Phew--sorry for the rant. Usually I just yell at the tv!!

I have two rooms that don't have heat, can I consider myself green for saving gas and electricity? Hehehe