At Home with...Ed Begley, Jr.

1936, 1,700-square-foot home where he now resides with his second wife, Rachelle Carson Begley, and his daughter, Hayden Carson Begley. He started a green conversion from scratch in this home, adding compact fluorescent bulbs, an energy-saving thermostat, double-pane windows, insulation and more. With the money he saved from those changes, he added solar electric in the 1990s and then a wind power turbine. Ed Begley, Jr. in his vegetable garden. Photo credit: Brentwood Communications International, Inc. Begley Learns Something New One might think that Begley couldn’t install any more energy-saving measures into his home or learn anything more, but it took one eye-opening, jaw-dropping home energy assessment to show Begley that he missed something big. “There are new tools, such as an infrared camera and a blower door, to do a home energy audit, but I thought I’ve done it all already—what are you going to find?” says Begley. “When they were done they said I did ‘pretty good’ and I said, ‘I did great, didn’t I?’ But they told me that the good news was that I had a lot of solar to offset the huge losses that I had. Huge losses?!” The experts showed Begley that there was a diagonal piece of wood in the wall when the insulation was put in that left a huge gap and allowed air to escape. An air duct had also loosened from the wall, leaving another air escape hatch. But the worst culprit in Begley’s home was an overhang leading down to the basement that prevented light and water from entering but acted like a flue, pulling air out of the home. Begley repaired the problems and is proud of his accomplishments. “The lesson I walked away from [the energy audit] is that there’s always something you can do with today’s tools and technology,” he says. “As it stands right now, I’m only going to use $600 worth of electricity this year and with another improvement on the solar panels [which is planned for the next couple of years], it will come down to $100 to $200 per year.” Begley is also looking at recycling rainwater and graywater (water that flows down the sink after the dishes have been washed or a shower taken) to help conserve water. Begley’s Advice What he learns in his personal life he wants to teach to others. To that end, in 2007, he and his wife began starring in their own reality television series, Living with Ed, on HGTV, where he teaches fellow celebs, including Cheryl Tiegs, Jay Leno, Larry Hagman, Seth Green and Helen Hunt, how to green their lives and their homes. He has also written Living Like Ed: A Guide to the Eco-Friendly Life (Clarkson Potter) and is the spokesperson for the green design/build company MyGreenCottage.com. Ed’s most important advice: Start small with anything you can afford and work up from there. For more celebrity stories, check out the entire "At Home with..." series here. Read Cheryl Tiegs's interview here. “Now, more than ever, we have to do this,” he advises. “If we have a healthy environment, we have a healthy economy. Everybody should do things for their long-term prosperity that they can afford.” When he’s not working on environmental issues, Ed still has a hectic acting career. He appeared in The Accidental Tourist, Pineapple Express, A Mighty Wind, Best In Show and For Your Consideration. He’s had recurring roles in the television shows Six Feet Under, Arrested Development and Gary Unmarried. Of course he wants you to see him on television and in films, but if you call him "The Green Guy" or "The Guy in the Electric Car," he really is okay with it. It means you’re paying attention.

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