Renter's Solutions to Increase Energy Efficiency and Cut the Power Bill [Saving Energy]

Renting a house or apartment usually makes it hard to upgrade the efficiency and cut your energy bill. DIY blog Apartment Therapy has put together a guide of the ways you can make your rental more efficient without spending a lot of money or upsetting a landlord.

Even in a rental you can cut the cost of your energy bill pretty easily. Apartment Therapy highlights a few surprising tips that you may not have thought about, including installing a programmable thermostat, insulating outlets, and caulking your windows. All of these solutions can be done cheap in less than a hour and no landlord in their right mind is going to complain about them. With summer on its way for half the world, the window caulking is an especially handy tip to keep the hot air out if you live in an old building with deteriorating window seals. Hit up the post on Apartment Therapy for a few more tips on cutting you energy cost in a rental.

The Ultimate Guide to Making Any Rental More Energy Efficient | Apartment Therapy

Are Bananas Much Better Than Cookies? Foods That Keep You Full and Prevent an Energy Crash [Health]

Ever notice some foods, like oatmeal, fill you up quickly, but others, like rice, you can go on eating seemingly forever? Researchers have measured this "satiety" food index as well as how long a food will keep you full to help you choose better snacks.

This "Are Bananas as Bad for You as Cookies" infographic from Massive Health maps the satiety index (PDF) that researchers from the University of Sydney produced for foods across six food categories.

The satiety index measures how full you feel after eating 240 calories of food and how long after eating you feel full again, while the sugar crash scale or glycemic index measures how quickly you get a sugar high from the food and then crash (a low glycemic index is preferable, meaning the food sustains you longer.)

Looking at the chart, the foods at the top right corner are those with the greater satiety and lower glycemic index: More filling and less crashing!

As Massive Health says, you can put the index to work by making easy snacking swaps, since choosing the right food can mean the difference between one snack or five throughout the day. Instead of eating bananas, then, go for oranges or apples. Instead of cereal, try eggs or all-bran for breakfast.

Here's the full graphic (click to expand or right-click to save):

Are Bananas as Bad for You as Cookies? | Massive Health