Freezing

By admin | Published: November 6, 2009

I’ve decided to simply freeze the content of this site while I consider what I’m going to do with this domain from here forward. I don’t really have the time to support efficienting and work and go to school so efficienting is probably going to lose out. It was fine when I didn’t have anything else to do, but running a web site, collecting new and useful information, etc, is quite difficult for me at the moment, so I’m going to let this site idle.

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The month’s electric bill

By Elijah Sarver | Published: October 16, 2009

Down a bit from last year with a 143 kWh improvement year-on-year. 12-month average has fallen off a bit to 355 from 367. I was away four days in the past month which helped those numbers along. Hurting the numbers is my new computer system which draws around 200 watts while on (plus monitor, etc) and 300-400 watts at full performance mode. I’ll see going forward how this affects next month.

Looking to install a chimney balloon since I don’t use my fireplace at all and it’s a big source of coldness.

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EU ban on incandescents begins

By Elijah Sarver | Published: August 27, 2009

This month marks the beginning of the EU ban on both frosted and clear bulbs over 100 watts. A few of the (US-based, often right wing) articles are talking up the mercury in Compact Fluorescent bulbs, but that seems silly considering the ever-shrinking mercury content of CF bulbs.

Of course, one can also buy LED bulbs if they are inclined to avoid mercury completely. They aren’t as bright as CFLs or incandescent bulbs, so be prepared for less light output. They are quite sufficient for most tasks, and I light three rooms in my house with them. The rest of the rooms are CFL (high service areas) or incandescent (utility/never on bulbs).

The mercury content of the CFL is only released if the bulb breaks. Since lot of these bulbs are in fixtures out of the way of accidents, I can’t see the argument of contamination risk. Basically, the process is to open a window for 20 minutes since it is a vapor.

Posted in Environment, Residential Energy | 1 Comment

Energy Update 2009-08

By Elijah Sarver | Published: August 19, 2009

The middle of the month is fast becoming my favorite time because I can see the results of my personal conservation efforts. As a bonus, progress energy NC has added a few new options, including a 12-month plot:

Progress energy now plots usage history. Squee!

Progress energy now plots usage history. Squee! Click to embiggen

I think the results for July/August are due to the laptop I purchased last month. My main system sits idle most of the time, and is of course powered off during that time.

So -312 kWh year-on-year is a great result.

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Don’t follow a leader

By Elijah Sarver | Published: August 11, 2009

I should take the time to say this: I give any ideas on this site in the spirit of improving your situation. I do not want to give the impression that you should follow anything I say. From my very first post I pointed this out and I want to re-iterate now: Only you can decide if a given choice is right for you.

And really, isn’t that the problem with the “environmentalist” movement? Instead of telling people that we could do something in our own rational self-interest, we instead say that we should do it because it is right. But is it right? Is it right to waste a perfectly good 60 watt light bulb in a closet that gets turned on an hour a month in order to replace it with a more efficient, but toxic compact fluorescent?

When replacing a 60 watt bulb with a 6 watt LED solution, do we use the bulb as often? or do we use it 10 times as much? These are important questions to ask ourselves. It’s about the attitude to the goals, and it’s about having an underlying cause behind your actions.

My underlying cause is to use less energy in order to save my money. I work for money, and I want to spend as little as possible on my energy bills because I can better use that cash savings to do other things. I can invest, I can make more efficient decisions for appliances and save even more money, or I could on something I want to improve my standard of living.

It’s a matter of personal choice and the values I hold. I’m not a leader, you are not a mindless follower; I can’t think or decide issues for you, and I won’t guilt trip you either.

So let’s be honest with each other: Why do you want to be more efficient? Or maybe you don’t. If so, why?

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Pro-Albedo News and living without A/C

By Elijah Sarver | Published: July 30, 2009

Another pro-albedo effect news came my way this morning, and I thought I’d share. Also, some items about living without air conditioning.

First, white roofs are catching on from the NYT. It turns out that most new Wal*Marts for the past 10 years have gone white. I wonder if a lot of them don’t have low ceilings to trap the heat up high.

Also, life without air conditioning, a piece on people going without A/C. This is a difficult way to live, as the article points out, but some people save thousands a year. My heating and cooling is nowhere as drastic, even before replacing my windows.

Of course, if you have a programmable thermostat, you can turn it up during the day in the summer or down in winter. It saves some bucks and prime electricity for those with a tiered price structure.

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Global warming and the industrial age

By Elijah Sarver | Published: July 27, 2009

This is for those who say that there is no correlation of industry to global warming.

In 1857, the city of Pittsburgh burned 22M Bushels of coal, or 880,000 tons. for each short ton (2000 lbs) of coal burned, 2.76 pounds of CO2 are released. 2.4 million tons of CO2 was released in one year during this pre-car, pre-electricity age. This is a drop in the bucket to today’s power production, but this is only the number for the factories in one city.

In 1880, Coal used for manufacturing coke only (not producing mechanical power via steam engines; just making coke) was 3.36 million short tons, or 9 million tons of CO2.

This was the beginning of warming. It doesn’t take cars and electricity to do the damage we’re doing. Since coal releases CO2:raw material ratio of 2.76:1, we can tell that coal is not the answer.

1910 was the peak of coke production, consuming 17 million tons of coal. 44.6 million tons of CO2. By 1910, Pittsburgh had full electric power, consuming coal at a much higher rate.

So you can put your head in the sand and say the 1 degree Fahrenheit since the 1850s is normal and non-anthropogenic, or you can see that it coincides with beginning of industrialization on a large scale, and precedes electricity and cars.

For all its benefits in convenience, the industrial revolution put us on a path that we must get off if we are to survive the next century with any sort of dignity.

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The efficiency of computing on the go

By Elijah Sarver | Published: July 24, 2009

I had no idea computing on a laptop could be so good.

Sure, I’m assigned a laptop for work. It gets about 3 hours on extended battery, is unwieldy in both shape and size, and has a case I’d much rather not use. It’s the opposite of cool, and the opposite of portable.

I’ve been using my iPhone for a year now, mainly for email and light web browsing. I sweep my RSS feed content to Read it Later List and do my reading in places where I’d otherwise just be waiting.

But until I got a personal laptop, I didn’t notice how much I used my desktop computer. There’s a lot of disadvantages to the situation. You never have what you need at arm’s length. You have to sit upright instead of relaxing. You can’t work whenever the mood strikes.

A laptop is like having your home office with you. The iPhone is nice, but you can’t type up a long email on it. Your desktop is nice for applications that need a lot of horsepower, but you don’t always need the power. The laptop is just right, sitting in-between the two extremes.

With a laptop, you have an always-on 99% of desktop computer available to you. You can sit on the couch, on the porch, or in a coffee shop and work on things in comfort. No more desk chair and static seating.

The best thing about laptops is they consume far less energy than a desktop systems. My MacBook Pro can live about 7 hours “off-grid” and if you turn off wireless and stick to writing, you can continue uninterrupted for almost 9 hours. It charges in about an hour on an 85w plug. It is also Energy Star 5.0 compliant. It also consumes far less than the 310w my desktop does with all its accessories running.

Plus, it’s made of real materials: the only plastic is in the Apple logo, the Keys, and the plug. Everything else is aluminum and glass. After being embarrassed by Greenpeace for being “uncool, man”, they made many improvements in the “eco” field.

Laptops: highly recommended.

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Clean Coal

By Elijah Sarver | Published: July 23, 2009

I almost feel silly about posting this, but it gets the point I’d make with too many words in less than 30 seconds of video:

I hate hearing those two words. Even without considering the burning of coal, they set off alarm bells in my head when they come together. “Clean Coal”. Pure carbon. Clean. Right. Read More »

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Electric bill update July 2009

By Elijah Sarver | Published: July 19, 2009

I figure I should be held accountable for practicing my recommendations here, so I provide to you now my latest meter reading, containing a bunch of extra data.

July 2009 vs 2008

July 2009 vs 2008

Comparison of July bill to June bill

Comparison of July bill to June bill

It seems my conservation efforts are paying off. Once I have the new A/C and/or heat pump installed and my ducts sealed, I think these numbers will drop further (if I go with heat pump they will go up in the winter, but I’ll be able to drop my natural gas bill to compensate slightly)

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