A conventional tank water heater always loses heat through the wall of the tank while hot water sits unused (standby loss). It can waste up to 20% of the energy if the water heater is a less efficient model.

On the contrary, a tankless water heater does not suffer standby loss because it does not store hot water. It generates hot water when there is a demand. It heats up water rapidly. In a matter of seconds the temperature goes from 50 to 120 degrees.

It is estimated that compared to a storage water heater, a tankless water heater can save up to 35% on the cost of heating water. Also using natural gas instead of electricity saves more.

If the water heater is installed close to a major point of use, it reduces heat loss from hot water sitting in the pipes when the faucets are turned off due to shorter pipe run. This could save a significant amount of energy as well.

Tankless water heater also lasts twice as long compared to conventional one.

Tankless water heater is small, easy to repair, long-lasting and durable. It reduces your family’s impact on the environment by reducing your energy demand.

To learn more, go here.

The Global Sun Oven

Back in the Stone Age, people used sun to cook their meal. Ironically, tell 1000 Green Steps how often do you hear about this solar powered cooking in our modern era? To overcome that issue, Sun Ovens International applies the principle of cooking which had been used centuries ago, and combines it with the available technology . These are the green steps The Global Sun Oven offers you!

• Bakes, Boils, or Steams Any Kind of Food with the Power of the Sun – No Fuel Needed!
• Create your favorite recipes as you feast upon natural sun baked treats!
• Reaches Temperatures of 360 to 400 Degrees Fahrenheit!
• Totally Safe – No Danger of Fire – Never Burn Dinner Again!
• Versatile, Easy-to-use, Portable as a Small Suitcase!

Available online at $279.00, but this price is totally reasonable since you could reduce huge electricity usage and no fuel is required to make this techie appliance work!

Happy Green Living!

1000 Green Steps has found too many drivers who always drive like a jerk. Fast, aggressive driving is a big fuel waster. It’s very dangerous to drive like that, both for you (and other people) and for our earth. Try to maintain a constant speed – most cars reach peak efficiency while cruising between 55 and 60 miles per hour – and avoid rapid acceleration and braking, which can increase fuel consumption by as much as 40 percent (and make everyone else on the road hate you).

Happy Green Living!

AT&T is expanding its green steps through alternative-fuel fleet to more than 15,000 vehicles by 2019.

The company plans to:

• Replace about 8,000 gasoline-powered vehicles with vehicles powered by Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) over the next five years. This is the largest U.S. corporate commitment to CNG vehicles to date.

• Replace 7,100 passenger cars with alternative-fuel models over the next 10 years.

According to AT&T, the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) in Ann Arbor, Mich., estimates that over the 10-year deployment period, the new vehicles will save 49 million gallons of gasoline and reduce carbon emissions by 211,000 metric tons. That is equivalent to removing the emissions from more than 38,600 traditional passenger vehicles for a year. What a green step!

You can learn more by watching this short video clip:

There are many easy ways to improve your car’s gas mileage, which save you money and reduce your impact on the environment.

Avoid certain driving habits and keep up with your car’s maintenance.

1.  Avoid aggressive driving, such as speeding, rapid acceleration and hard braking. These driving habits can lower your car’s mpg by 5-33%.

2. Drive at a lower speed. When driving above 60 mph, wind drag reduces fuel efficiency significantly. A loaded roof rack reduces mpg up to 5%.

3. Avoid storing heavy loads in the car. An extra 100 pounds decreases fuel efficiency by 2%.

4. Use cruise control when possible. Cruise control reduces unnecessary acceleration.

5. Avoid long idling. If you will idle more than one minute, turn the engine off.

6. Turn off air conditioning, or use it at a lower setting. AC reduces fuel economy by 25% when set to high.

7. Keep tires properly inflated. Lower than recommended tire pressure decreases gas mileage.

8. Keep air filter and engine oil clean. Clean filter and oil can increase fuel efficiency by 3-10%.

A renewable-energy “oasis” which is a part of the Sahara Foundation project intended to be built in 2010 will serve as a proving ground for new technologies designed to bring green living to the desert.

The project is all about to build an artificial Oasis in the desert by converting sea water into fresh water, using combination of renewable energy source.

• Concentrated Solar power
• The seawater greenhouse
• Cultivation of algae

For instance, special greenhouses would use hot desert air and seawater make fresh water for growing crops, solar energy would be collected to generate power, and algae pools would offer a renewable and easily transportable fuel supply.In addition, planting trees near the complex would trap atmospheric greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide while restoring any natural forest cover that has been lost to drought and timber harvesting.

The planned research center, shown above in an artist’s conception, is part of the Sahara Forest Project—the center would be a small-scale version of massive green complexes that project managers hope to build in deserts around the globe.

These complexes could create food, fresh water, biofuels, and clean electricity while also offering local green employment opportunities, organizers say.

The Seattle-based Foss Maritime Company unveiled the world’s first true hybrid tug at a ceremony in Long Beach, California, a few weeks ago.

The Foss Green Assist (TM) Hybrid Tug, named Carolyn Dorothy, is expected to significantly reduce emissions compared with the operating duty cycle of conventional tugs as her company’s green steps. The Green Assist Hybrid Tug emits less nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon, and particulates, and exceeds the EPA’s Tier 2 emissions requirement for marine engines.

Read more »

Ride an electric bike or scooter, you will never need to buy gas again. Meantime you are saving the environment.

Electric-assist bikes have two types: pedelecs, which you have to pedal to activate the electric assist, and e-bike, which does not require pedaling.

How powerful the motor is determines how much pedaling you have to do. The more powerful, the less pedaling.

There are many makes and models with very different quality when it comes to e-bikes.

When shopping for an electric-assist bike, go for quality, that is, performance, reliability and workmanship. Choose a manufacturer who is standing behind its products and has good track record . It may cost more initially, but will be worth it.

You can also convert your regular bike into an electric one by using a “do-it-yourself” kit. Make sure you get a high quality kit too, which will last you for a long time.

Happy E-biking. Also see Green Riding (2) — E-scooters.

For more information, click here.

E-scooters include a wide variety of machines, from very complicated fancy ones to very simple ones without seats.

When buying an e-scooter, a couple of rules should apply.

First, buy from a reputable manufacturer. You get what you pay for.

Second, buy the most watts and amps as you can afford.

The scooter motors are rated in watts. The higher the wattage, the better. The powerful scooters will have sufficient power to ride both on level ground and hills.

Amp-hours is the measurement of the capacity of a battery to store energy. the more amp-hours, the better.

Make sure that you buy a high quality battery charger. Low quality charger will heat up the battery, which shortens the battery life.

Recharge your battery frequently. Shallower discharges and frequent slow charging will prolong the life of the battery.

Also see Green Riding (1) — E-bikes.

For more information, click here.

If you’re like 1000 Green Steps, you must have already known how much the price of petrol has increased. That makes us wonder if there is any way to save petrol, and at the same time to do your green steps. Now that we came to talk about it, there are!

First of your green steps, you should make sure you set aerodynamics for your car, this will increase miles per gallon. Then you can convert the car to burn water – fine tune your old engine as it might use only 20% of energy of petrol and waste the rest in heat, vibration of engine. Add hydrogen to water.

Happy Green Living!