I really don’t like to garden. The flowers that bloom in my yard came with the house. I keep my grass trimmed, but don’t really go all out on the landscaping.
But I do like my yard to look nice, and my answer to that is lighting. This started when I was driving around in the city and noticed those homes with strings of Edison bulbs lighting up their porches. I have dreams of strings and strings of fairy lights in my backyard. But staying energy efficient is important to me, too.
My answer to that is solar power. It is so easy to find relatively inexpensive solar lights for the outdoors. I just stick them in the ground, arrange them on the porch or attach strings of them to my house. I’m good to go and it adds nothing to my energy usage for the month.
The trick is to find a nice sunny spot for the solar lights to charge during the day, which is a challenge for me because I have very large trees in my yard. But I managed to find a couple of spots and I have my walkway lit up with pretty lights, as well as my porch. Now I just have to sit back and enjoy my night-time yard.
Lisa, an Avista customer, bought her 1910 house because she loved the old-world character, some of which doesn’t make her house very energy efficient. Lisa is sharing her experience on taking some simple do-it-yourself improvements to inspire others to do the same. You’ll find her stories right here every Tuesday morning.