Amanda Ray works for TXU Energy in Houston, TX.   With the heatwaves hitting most of the country, I thought that her idea to Guest Post with money saving tips and ideas was brilliant!  I happily present her guest post:

***************************************************

1.       MYTH:  Never turn your A/C completely off during hot summer months because furniture and other items in your home heat up when the A/C is shut off, creating more work for the system to cool the home back down.

FACT: Your system doesn’t work any harder when it switches back on after being turned off.  It just may take it longer than a short cycle to cool your rooms back down. If no one is in your home for more than eight hours, you can save money by switching it off while you’re out. Since, approximately half of your energy usage goes to heating and cooling your home, cutting back on how much your system cycles can save you money in hot summer months. Note: Depending on the outdoor temperature, it may take your system an hour or two to cool your home back down to a comfortable temperature, so be sure to plan accordingly – or use a digital thermostat to turn your system back on a few hours before you’ll be back home.  According to EnergyStar.gov, using a programmable thermostat can save the average household about $180 every year in energy costs.

 2.       MYTH: Keeping ceiling fans turned on all the time keeps cool air circulating through your home, reducing the need for the A/C to power on as much.

FACT: Ceiling fans only make you feel cooler when you are in the room with them.  So, you only need to have ceiling fans turned on when you’re in the room (blades pointed down in summer/up in winter).  While many people may think that it’s better to keep cool air circulating all the time – to make your cool air go “farther,” leaving a fan “always on“ doesn’t present any energy efficiency gains. In fact, keeping the fans on will actually cost you money.

3.       MYTH: If you have a lot of glare and heat radiating on or through your windows in the summertime, you need to replace them.

FACT: Many times, you can reduce solar heat gain in hot summer months by treating your windows.  For these glassy areas of your home, you can reduce solar heat gain with awnings or trees shading them from the outside of your home, and you can also use drapes, blinds, or solar film to shade them from the inside. Since the hot summer sun’s radiant heat on windows can increase the temperatures inside your home, treating them for shade can help you save electricity since your A/C won’t need to perform more frequent cycles to keep your rooms cool due to the added heat.

*****************************************

 TOP 5 HOUSEHOLD TIPS FOR SUMMERTIME ENERGY EFFICIENCY FROM TXU ENERGY:

1.       Setting your thermostat just a few degrees warmer at night can make a real difference to your electricity consumption – and your monthly bill during the summer months. According to the Department of Energy, you can save up to 10 percent on your heating and cooling costs by turning your thermostat back 10 to 15 percent for eight hours a day. What’s more, there are several programmable thermostats that make this an easy and automated task, including one that you can adjust by phone.

2.       Be sure that your fireplace damper is shut and sealed in the summer months to avoid losing cool air through the chimney. According to the Department of Energy, 14 percent of air leaks at home come through your fireplace.  So be sure that your damper is shut and completely sealed.  You don’t want all your cool air flying up the chimney this summer.

3.       Replace your A/C filters regularly. U.S. Department of Energy estimates that this can generate a 5 to 15 percent energy savings, not to mention improving the quality of the air you’re breathing at home.

4.       Pay attention to your outdoor A/C unit too. You can use a garden hose to wash the coils on your unit, and be sure that nothing is blocking its air follow, like bushes or shrubs.  One government study calculated a 2 to 4 percent capacity improvement just for cleaning the coils.  As much as we rely on this device to keep us cool all summer long, a capacity improvement of even a few percent per home can make a big difference if you think about the big picture.  When you think about the amount of electricity usage that goes towards air conditioning in Texas, we are talking about a significant amount of energy that can be saved in a year.

5.       Pamper the lint trap on your (electric) dryer. While it doesn’t necessarily cool you down in summer, keeping your dryer working efficiently can still save you electricity and money any time of year. According to Energy Star, cleaning the lint trap before each dryer load can save the average household about $34 per year.  It also enhances the energy efficiency of the appliance. You can also boost this by vacuuming out your dryer vent hose during your spring cleaning for the year.

ADVISORY: Watch Your Electric Bills: Some Retailer’s Pricing Tactics May Shock You

With ERCOT’s request for conservation this week – and the sustained stretch of +100 day heat we’re having in Texas — you may have conserving electricity for the greater good top of mind.  You may also be hoping to cut their household expenses by dialing back the A/C, turning off lights, and other efforts around the house.

Others may be conserving – and working with local social services agencies to help them cover their bills this summer, like the woman in this story from WFAA-TV here in Dallas-Fort Worth:  http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/help-with-the-heat—energy-bills–126733823.html

The story points out the pricing tactics of some electricity retailers may really shock people this summer.  These  tactics are related to variable rate electricity plans in Texas. What we’re seeing is that a number of retailers are increasing their (variable rate) electricity prices by extreme amounts as soon as the second bill – with no advance notice to the customer. A recent survey also shows a broad lack of awareness by Texas consumers that these kinds of price hikes can happen.

With the extreme heat and electricity consumption this summer, your may benefit from some tips on savings – and what to watch out for… And, you can see other examples at txu.com/novariable.

**I have yet to experience head lice in my three girls.  However, with Katie starting Kindergarten this year, I am weary of the Head Lice out breaks and am somewhat uneducated on how to deal with one.  I know I can not be the only one so I happily present this informative Guest Post from Lisa Leverich to you.  Please stop by and enter my Giveaway which includes Licefree Everyday Shampoo.**

**********************************************

Now the kids are headed back to school in a few weeks, let’s talk about lice, shall we? Head lice, or Pediculosis, is extremely common and affects millions of children (and their parents) each year. If you are dealing with a head lice outbreak in your school or home do not panic. There is no need to dump chemicals on your child’s head or shave off their hair. Having head lice is nothing to be ashamed of and does not mean your child is “dirty”. In fact, head lice prefer clean hair!

The first clear sign of head lice is an itchy head. It is important to try not to scratch the itch because it could lead to sores on the scalp or around the neck and ears. If you do a head check, you may also spot eggs and, in some cases, live lice in the hair. Other symptoms of head lice are frequent head scratching, loss of sleep, shortened attention span and depression.

How to Treat Head Lice:

1) Choose a safe and proven pediculicide. This is an agent used to kill head lice, body lice or pubic lice. Treatments that are pyrethrum or permethrin based may trigger reactions in those who are allergic to ragweed. Be sure to check the ingredients or talk to a doctor or pharmacist before choosing a treatment.

2) Start at the Nape of the Neck. Lice congregate at the nape of the neck and behind the ears. Be sure these areas are thoroughly saturated with the pediculicide first and work the product up from there. With any pediculicide, all lice and eggs must come in full contact with the product. Lice can move quickly to avoid contact with the lotion or gel. Take it slow and remember to read and follow all directions carefully and completely.

3) Remove all of the Eggs or Nits. Begin the comb-out process at the nape of the neck. You will want to use an egg removal comb to help ease egg removal. Thoroughly combing out the hair until all lice and eggs are gone will help prevent re-infestation.

4) Clean up to prevent another infestation.

- Wash all bedding and clothing that your child has used in hot water (at least 130°F) or run them through your dryer’s hottest setting for at least 30 minutes. Dry clean items that cannot be washed.

- Soak all hair care items (such as combs, brushes, hair clips, etc.) in hot water (130°F) for 15 minutes.

- Place items that cannot be cleaned or run through the dryer (i.e. stuffed animals and toys) in a tightly sealed plastic bag for 10–14 days.

- Follow up with the vacuum to get rid of any lice dust or egg shells that were left behind.

5) Follow through with a second treatment in seven days to kill any newly hatched lice. Even if all lice and eggs appear to be gone, follow through with the second treatment.

6) Conduct Frequent Head Checks. After an infested family member has been treated, for the next 10 days, check them daily for eggs. If there is evidence of new eggs or newly hatched lice, repeat the treatment. Head checking should then become part of routine hygiene. A family head lice check once a week is a great idea. You’ll need an egg removal comb, a magnifying glass and lots of light. Work through a small section at a time, comb through each person’s hair, from the root down. If any live lice or eggs are found, begin treatment immediately.

7) Teach your child to avoid sharing personal items. Lice are only transmitted from head to head contact and re-infestation from environmental contact (i.e. infested hats, pillows, stuffed animals, etc.) can occur.

8 ) When in doubt ask my pharmacist or school health official for advice. They’re familiar with the treatments and products currently on the shelves and will give you reliable recommendations. Keep in touch with your child’s school so that you’ll know if a lice outbreak occurs!

For more information on treating and preventing Head lice ‘Like’ Keeping Kids Lice Free on Facebook and visit the FAQ page on Licefreee.com.

About the Author:

Lisa Leverich is the Marketing Manager at Tec Laboratories, Inc., an innovator of over-the-counter topical pharmaceuticals. Tec Labs has been protecting consumers and industrial workers for more than 30 years with products that cleanse, relieve, repel and protect, including the very popular Tecnu® Outdoor Skin Cleanser, Tecnu Extreme® Poison Ivy Scrub, Tecnu Rash Relief® Spray, Calagel® Medicated Anti-itch Gel, Licefreee!® Non-toxic Lice Treatment, and CortiCool® Clear Hydrocortisone Gel. The company also makes the 10-Hour™ Insect Repellent for the industrial/outdoor markets. For more tips and information, visit them at www.teclabsinc.com.

**Timothy Fox is an SEO and social media consultant.  Contact him on twitter you @sogeshirts. He also sells  Great T- shirts at www.sogeshirts.com including shirts for bloggers.

I am honored and glad that Tim Soge of  www.SogeShirts.com accepted my request to write a guest post sharing Tips to Build a Twitter Following.  I love Twitter and have met the most amazing people and contacts on it.  And I get a lot of requests from other bloggers, Etsy shop owners and small business owners asking how I have gotten my 4300+ followers.  I love helping but am small compared to others.  Tim is an ally I know from other business sites and one of those rare breed that are always available to help.   I respect and appreciate all of his advice and am glad I get to share it with you!   He knows Twitter well and is a better help than I.  Please read, implement and share this article and enjoy watching as your Twitter following grows!**

***********************************************

Have you ever wanted to grow your twitter following but find it to be a very tedious process or just really difficult?  Well today I am going to share with you some tips to grow an engaged twitter following that is a bit more fun and will get you more followers.

Hashtag fun

One thing to do to build a twitter following is to join in on some hashtag fun. If you are a blogger on twitter on a friday night you might want to use the #wineparty tag and follow everyone using it. If you talk to some people, have a glass of wine (optional) and use the tag from 9 pm eastern till whenever it ends you are bound to get more twitter followers. Everyone there is really nice. Of course this is not the only tag you can follow. There are many other twitter groups that use hashtags. You just got to find them and jump right in. They are usually all quite friendly. For instance if you are a dad you might want to get to know the #dadstalking hashtag group. Don’t worry that means dads talking not dad stalking haha. Also other hashtag groups like #usguys are also cool. Participate in hashtags and you can get to know some awesome people and get more followers/ have more fun. Nothing like getting more followers while enjoying wine or having a good time talking to people.

Participate in other social sites

Another way to grow your twitter following is to go onto other social sites like Tumblr or Pinterest. On Pinterest you can follow lots of people and those people usually display their twitter handles on their Pinterest profile. If you follow them on Pinterest and Twitter you have a great chance of getting followed back. If i see that someone is making an effort to follow me on multiple social sites I am definitely going to follow them back because it shows they want to get to know you and are savvy enough to use other social sites.

Tweepi.com

A great way to get more followers is to use the free site Tweepi.com All you have to do is login via twitter and it allows you to manage your twitter account completely. You can unfollow 20 people on a page at one time of those not following you back. Do this by checking the box next to their name and everyone else’s name that you want to unfollow by clicking the unfollow button at the top or bottom of the page. Tweepi also makes it easy to follow new people. If you have someone that you know on Twitter that has great folllowers or follows great people you can just go to the top of the tweepi.com screen where it says Follow Tweeps, and target a users followers or a users friends.

I like searching for a users friends because that means that they both follow each other. All you have to do is put in the @ name of the person’s twitter friends you want to see. If you want to see mine for instance just put in @sogeshirts. You will then get a list of people that I follow who also follow me. Once again the friends will be laid out twenty at a time. You can even see when someone has tweeted last. For me I like to follow people that tweet recently so if I see they have tweeted within a day or two I will follow them. You can add followers in bulk as well by again checking all those on the page that you wish to follow and hitting the follow button at the top or bottom of the screen.

How to increase engagement on twitter

Now between the hashtags, other social sites, and Tweepi you should have found some cool people to follow and some should be following you back. Let’s get to know these people so that they are engaged followers. When someone follows you back why not thank them. Check out their bio and if they have a site, visit it first. If you thank them for the follow and comment on something you like about their site or bio you are going to make new friends fast.

To keep track of all your new followers you might want to add them to a new friends list. If you have lots of new friends organize them by new friends 1, new friends 2. Once you list your friends you can add that list to a column on tweetdeck/hootsuite or twitter.com and keep track of their tweets easily. If you retweet a post of theirs or a funny tweet they might do the same thing for you.

Feel free to ask me any questions about how to build a twitter following by commenting on the article here or tweeting me @sogeshirts!