Please, stop talking 'payback!'

Great, practical and simple ideas for the average person. However, one item I would dispute when you are living in winter climates most of the year (Like up here in Canada), is to skip the heat deflecting items such as awnings, as you want that sunlight to heat your home 9 months out of the year!

Ted is right. I want to shoot myself every time I hear "ROI" What's the ROI on your electric bill?

Ted and Scott,

Out of curiosity, what's your objection to payback/ROI language in an infographic such as this? It's highlighting a variety of technologies/retrofit options that have an upfront cost, and for which you can calculate a simple payback, the time period by which you'd expect to recoup those costs from savings via a reduced energy bill. No?

Pete Bronski
Editorial Director

While I am very happy for everyone who is independently wealthy enough to buy themselves a clean energy conscience...If we want this to be adopted widely everybody has to be able to afford it. That means it will have to pay for itself eventually. Now where are the tools and concepts and success stories about private residential retrofits? I see a lot about commercial retrofit or super-efficient new housing development. But no discussion about intelligent remodeling of existing homes.