I hate bills. Paying for gas, electricity, trash, water, and everything else just eats away at a paycheck that could be used towards more important things, and it drives me nuts.

For that reason, I always look for ways to cut costs. I take short showers, I try to turn off lights that aren't being used, and I prefer turning the heat down and wearing a sweater indoors.



I also like reading about projects online that save money. For instance -- solar heating. This guy took a bunch of aluminum cans, drilled out the bottoms and stacked them to make columns, painted them black, and used them as a solar furnace. Behind a wall of Plexiglas and fed by some vacuum-cleaner hose tubes, these black cans capture light and convert it into heat, drawing ambient-temperature air in from the bottom (hot air rises, causing more air to be drawn in) and delivering hot air out the top.

Genius.

I'm going to see what kind of raw materials I have around my house and get to work making one of these. It won't be useful for me during the summer, where I'll have to look for ways to cool down my house, but during the colder winter months, I'm curious to see how it'll offset my heating bill.