Category Archives: Residential Energy
Energy Update 2009-08
My monthly update on electric energy consumption in the past month.
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Don’t follow a leader
Why do you want to be more efficient? Or maybe you don't. If so, why?
Also posted in Habits, Lifestyle Leave a comment
Do your part, even if industry doesn’t
It doesn't matter what you do to reduce your environmental impact in the world. Keep doing it.
Also posted in Environment, Waste Tagged confucius, conservation, grass roots, philosopy, Waste 2 Comments
TrickleSavers: TV is decent, PC is flawed
The TrickleSaver TV and PC. So close, yet so not there yet. Flaws in the design prevent my recommending the PC version for anybody but laptop owners.
Microsoft Hohm
Apparently, Microsoft has a new “smart grid” project similar to Google’s PowerMeter. Sign-up for Hohm is here. They just announced today so the site is all messed up for the moment. While the pun is clever, someone should remind microsoft that energy use is measured in kWh and kVA, not Ohms. Ohms are a measure [...]
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Power Hogs: XBox 360
Today’s power hog is the XBox 360. It draws 2 watts while in standby, and a whopping 140-150 when powered up. That’s 17 kilowatt hours per year without even turning it on! Assuming a 2 hour duty cycle per day, it burns 105 kWh. It is capable of playing DVDs, the dead HD-DVD format, plus [...]
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Using the DMAIC Process to Improve Power Consumption
Combining smart measuring technology like Google.org PowerMeter pilot and the engineering technique of DMAIC, improve our power consumption. I attempt to explain how DMAIC works, why you should follow all steps, and where PowerMeter and new tools from Itron and P3 will help us slay our energy drains.
Also posted in Best of Tagged dmaic, Energy, engineering, power, reduction, residential Leave a comment
Calculating Savings for a New Appliance
The following is an overview of how to pick an appliance based on three formulas: PB, ROR, and SIR. While they should not be the only tools used in making a decision on a new appliance, they certainly can help one to choose between a few contenders by analyzing the cost against the benefit.
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LED replacement candelabra bulbs
I decided to make the jump in my bathroom to replace my bathrooms’ bulbs with LED equivalents. I went with Lights of America ($13.70/3 at Sam’s Club) candelabra replacements for my existing Sylvania crystal lights. Some photos and cost/quality comparisons follow.
Also posted in Energy 4 Comments
EU ban on incandescents begins