I still don't know.

In my last post I asked for your help in figuring out what kind of vehicle to buy. I want to support the big three automakers, but just haven't been happy with their vehicles in the past. A lot of you assured me that "American-made" cars are much better now, and that a Jeep or a Ford Escape would be the perfect vehicle for me. I was ready to make that patriotic leap when my co-worker Flora Lichtman sent this. According to the article, some of the cars we consider "foreign" actually have more of what is called "domestic content" than the cars the big three are turning out. Buying American is complicated business.

And that got me thinking--maybe I should just get a more recent version of my beloved Toyota Tacoma. It gets OK gas mileage, around 22 mpg, and with gas prices back down around $2 a gallon, those $4.00 a gallon days are quickly slipping from my memory. Mistake, I know, as gas prices will inevitably go back up.

The Ford Escape comes in a hybrid model that gets 34 city mpg. But at a starting MSRP of close to $30,000 for a new one, it's out of my wallet's range. There are federal tax incentives for buying a hybrid; but is it me or is it really confusing to figure out what the incentives are? (No, it's not just me. )

My state gives a tax incentive for buying a hybrid, but it almost seems like some sort of bureaucratic joke: "The rebate amount is $500 and will be offered throughout the calendar year as long as funds are available." Now THERE'S an incentive. To find out if your state offers something better (and lots do), you can check this site.

In the meantime, thanks for your comments. Keep them coming. Maybe by the time I decide what to buy banks will be loaning money again.

My first car was a Ford Gran Torino. It was a chocolate brown, 8-cylinder mess. You could watch the fuel needle drop when you hit the gas. On my way to my first post-college job interview it stopped working, in the rain, at the intersection of Main and 5th. I swore off Fords for life.*

I’ve been driving Toyotas ever since. I’ve had Corollas, Celicas, Tacomas, and I have driven all of them well over the 100,000 mile mark. They haven’t disappointed.

But this week’s news about the potential demise of the big three American carmakers has me thinking about my next car. I don’t feel much sympathy for the well-paid executives at the wheel of GM, Ford, or Chrysler, who couldn’t think past the gas guzzlers that a lot of people never wanted. But other stories about workers losing jobs, retirees losing health benefits, dealerships closing, and the enormous chunk of our economy that the big three comprise, make me think I should buy a home-grown car.

Here’s what I am looking for in a vehicle: I need a four wheel drive. (Really. I live on a dirt road on top of a hill that sees more than its share of wintry mix.) I would like a four cylinder vehicle, or something that gets decent gas mileage (at least 20 mpg). I prefer a manual transmission, but I know that’s pushing it. I probably won’t buy a new car because it seems like a waste of money (and I can’t handle the stress of waiting for that first scratch).

So tell me: When the time comes to buy a new-ish vehicle, what’s a patriot to do? I know some Toyotas are built in this country, and that not all “American” cars are actually made in America. And does it even matter what I get if I am buying it used? I would love your suggestions. I’ll even consider a Ford.


*I do love 70s-era V-8 cars now, but not as my primary mode of transportation. And I’m partial to GM.

Summer is over, and so is the trial time-of-use pricing plan offered by my power company. And I am happy to report it was a success. With my timers and my determination to use as little electricity as possible between noon and 7:00 PM, I cut my electricity use from a peak of about 50 KWH per day last summer, to well under 38 KWH per day this summer. I figure I saved between $15 and $20 a month under this program.

I love paying less money to my electricity company. Seems like a concept most people, regardless of their politics, could support. Or not. Here’s what a blog commenter who goes by "Thomas Hamlin" thinks about my participation in time-of-use billing:

Dear Ms. Heist, Congratulations! The Liberal Fascists have entirely gained control of your personal behavior and lifestyle. 1984 and the Brave New World have come true all at once and you helped! If we now could only get rid of those folks in the country who believe that individual liberty and freedom are from God, we could even outlaw incandescent light bulbs. What wait we already have! Keep pressing the global warming hoax and we can shut down your beloved NPR because it pollutes too much. Thomas Hamlin

Personally I am always suspicious of anyone over age 12 who uses that many exclamation points. And I had a few choice words I wanted to share with Mr. Hamlin about what fascism is and possibly isn’t. But I’ll let the readers of this blog come to my defense instead. Here’s a reply from “Shawn, a physics teacher:”

“Thomas Hamlin, was that satire or are you serious? That's a sign of good satire when we can't tell. The irony behind the satire is that demand-side-management, in the case of electricity, like time-of-use billing is a very de-regulated kind of thing, invented at the dawn of the electricity utilities. Samuel Insull's electric company Commonwealth Edison (formerly Western Edison Light Co) gave away tens of thousands of electric toasters in the very early days of Chicago's utility to get people to use more energy in the morning.
Or is the irony that time-of-use billing is clearly a market-based pricing, a rather libertarian policy?”

And from “Laurie in Utah:”

To Mr. Hamlin: Do you know what the least expensive and least polluting answer to ever increasing energy use? IT'S CONSERVATION; not using it in the first place, or in the case of electricity, tapping the unused capacity of night time generation. Get a clue and do your part.

Thanks Laurie and Shawn. And to Mr. Hamlin: save your outrage (and exclamation points) for the real fascists. Here’s something to get you started.

At the beginning of June, my new electricity time-of-use billing program kicked in. Basically, the program works this way: I pay more (than I used to) for electricity used between noon and 7:00 PM on weekdays. And I pay less for electricity I use at all other times. For a more thorough explanation, go here.

To get ready for the program, I had timers installed on my hot water heater and my pool filter. Both only run at night now. That was the easy part. Once the new billing program kicked in, the real work began. (It’s not particularly hard work; let’s just say it’s a challenge for an absent-minded person who isn’t used to being on an electricity schedule.)

To save money I had to switch as much of my electricity use as possible to off peak times. That means remembering to charge my cell phone, iPod, and laptop at night, and to unplug it all before noon the next day. I also shifted laundry, dishwashing, and vacuuming to non-peak hours. I am proud to report that I have never once had the air conditioner on during peak time. And I’ve stood in front of the stove at 6:30 PM debating with my stomach about how hungry I was, and could I wait another 30 minutes to start dinner. (Yes, I can wait. Waiting is better with a gin and tonic.)

One month into the program, I got my first bill. I saved about $15 by bringing my electricity cost from about 11 cents a KWH down to an average of about 9.5 cents. OK, that doesn’t come close to covering the cost of a timer, but it’s only been one month.

Damn. As I write this, it’s 12:17 PM and I just remembered I left the dehumidifier running. Maybe I’ll put that $15 bucks I saved toward another timer—and some more post-it notes.

In my last post I wondered whether I would save electricity if I turned my water heater off for part of the day. In other words, is it better to turn the water heater off and allow the temperature of the water inside it to drop, only to be heated up later, or to keep the heater turned on even if I am not using hot water.

The majority of the comments I received convinced me that it would be more energy efficient to turn the heater off, at least for part of the day. So my water heater is now on a timer; it turns off from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM every day. If it weren’t for the click I hear as the timer engages, I wouldn’t notice any difference at all. I have showered as late as 7:00 PM and there’s been plenty of hot water. (Although I’m still using the conditioner sparingly--not convinced that the hot water will hold out.)

It’s too early to tell if it will cut my bill. But I do know that I probably won't be saving any money. It cost around $60 for the timer, and $50 an hour for the electrician to install it. But that’s OK. The goal is to cut KWHs. Hopefully this will save a watt or two.

(For those of you who suggested a solar water heater: Yes, that would be wonderful. But it sounds like it's out of my budget. Can anyone tell me the estimated cost? And does it matter that my house is shaded most of the time?)