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# Going straight to the source
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/going-straight-to-the-source-editor/
- Published: 2007-02-03T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T23:59:53.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By Joe Bates Venice*

Susan Munves (the city’s Green Building Program administrator) is certainly ambitious in her goals to “spur over 10,000 energy actions in the community.” I don’t know what exactly an “energy action” is, but I would hope that the first ones that she intends to “spur” would involve getting residents to minimize their current energy usage before considering any solar add ons.

Excellent ways to start are: ■Turning down the temperature on your hot water heater to 110 degrees or below; ■Installing low flow toilets, shower heads and faucets; ■Turning off lights and water when not in use; ■Replacing all incandescent lighting with fluorescent; ■ Using shades and drapes to control heat gain; ■Opening windows to use breezes instead of air-conditioning; ■Putting on a sweater instead of turning up the heat; ■Weatherstripping doors and windows to block drafts; ■Replacing old and drafty single-pane windows with low-e double-pane ones; ■Adding insulation to the attic, walls and floors; ■Replacing older appliances with energy efficient ones; ■Preheating domestic hot water with a rooftop solar hot water system.

This is just the short list of low or no cost ways to reduce emissions and greenhouse gasses while getting an immediate savings payback.

Installing solar panels is costly and a fairly inefficient way to generate electricity, has a long payback time and does nothing by itself to reduce overall energy usage.

Munves should encourage Santa Monicans to invest in solar power generation only after they have explored and implemented every other possible means of trimming their energy usage. To make a large investment in solar panels without first reducing energy usage where possible is both irresponsible and impractical.

Start with the basics before you jump to the splashy, feel-good and showy. Even a 10-year payback for a system that may last 20 years (not the 40 to 50 claimed by Munves) is not as good an incentive to save energy as is the immediate payback of turning off a light or turning down the heat.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 3, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/020307.pdf?ref=smdp.com)