Save Money on Air Conditioning costs

With summer just around the corner, temperatures will be in the triple digits and it will be a priority to stay cool. According to statistics from Brown University , your A/C usage can be as much as 50%-70% of your total energy bill. It also says A/C systems are one of the biggest energy guzzlers in a home.

 

So I called several electronic stores to get permission to visit their store and get some video of A/C and maybe CCC, if I am lucky enough. While I made contact with several stores, I realized two of the electronic stores were shut down because of the wrinkled economy while three used electronic stores were still open. I thought that could be good story idea for my next news package.  Maybe people use less money on electronic but spend more money on used good. On top of that, two used clothes stores were still open in Columbia last months.

 

I got permission from Best Buy and Sears. I also called several Wal-mart in Columbia but somehow it was very hard to get permission from the Wal-mart.  If journalist or reporter wants to use the Wal-mart for their TV or even Radio, they need to tell a Wal-mart executive director for permission at least two weeks in advance.  I learned something about Wal-mart’s media rule but I thought it was very unconvincing for us as journalists because normally, we have to finished the news package at the same day we got the story.

The next day when I went to Best Buy to get a video, I was lucky enough to get a CCC for my story. He was Clem Dung, and he says he came to the store to get a small A/C for his bedroom to lower his A/C bill.  We ended up talking each other for 45 minutes at the store. He served in Korea with the United States Army when he was 20. While there, he met this Korean women when he was in Korea and got married when he came to American with her. He showed me his son's photos who goes to university in Mississippi. He said he visits Korea almost every year because his wife’s family is still living in Korea and he says he misses original Korean food. I felt like we got close together and he did several acting for my news package so that’s how I got some sequence in my video.

 

Sure, it is important to stay professional with your CCC but I learn that friendly behavior and a connection is an easier way to get close to your CCC and can be very important. I also interviewed the  manager at the Best buy about A/Cs and got some suggestions on lowering the energy bill.

Before I left Best Buy I got a shot of Dung leaving the store with his new A/C. I planned to use the scene as my ending shots. I had not planned for his truck to be out of the frame but I accidently moved the camera without thinking.  It could have been a very good ending shot. My professor Greeley Kyle also suggested in class to follow him to get a shot of him setting up the new A/C in his bedroom. I also learned that journalists need to have some creative thoughts and excellent ideas.