Letters to the Editor
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Kill a watt....
Last fall a state organization stopped at my house and advised me on how to save electricity....put in a new furnace (I did) reinsulate the house (I did), get a new energy saving fridge (I did.)
It worked.
Turns out the refrigerator is the biggest thief of all. Whirlpool is the only company that manufacturers energy saving devices.
Try it. You'll like it.
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Internalizing Costs II
Best suggestion I ever heard for bringing home costs to consumers would be to have electric meters on the house that display the dollars-and-cents cost on a unit in, say, the hallway instead of (or, in addition to) a unit on the outside of the house displaying kilowatt-hours.
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It's not just the electricity use
that annoys me. There are so many LEDs glowing in my house that it is never dark.
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We used to have fire
But the inventor died.
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Awwww...
But I LOVE my Tivo...... :(
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LEDs
Yes, what about those lights and clocks on nearly every modern device. Light switches, microwaves, ovens, computer printers, electric heaters, computer screens, telephones, power strips themselves, VCRs, DVD players, receivers, yadda yadda.
The seem to think 'modernity" requires a little light on each device. I've put some on power strips, but everything can't go on a power strip. They designed them poorly.
Should be outlawed.
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Mostly Bullshit
Most appliances, such as TVs and stereos, use milliwatts in their power-down state -- not enough to add even pennies to your electric bill. Many people don't turn turn off their set-top boxes at all -- just clicking them off with the remote will save nearly all of their power consumption. I set my computers to do updates and virus checks at night -- I wouldn't want to turn them off.
It always amazes me that the people who go around worrying out loud about "vampire appliances" are the same ones who won't turn out a light when they leave the room. If you really want to save energy do the following, in this order.
1. Turn down your thermostats in winter; turn them up in summer.
2. Change your electric lights to fluorescent.
3. Turn out your lights when you leave the room; turn off (don't unplug) your appliances when you're not using them.
4. Take shorter hot showers; wash your clothes with warm or cold water, not hot.
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The Market will Fix it
I think so far people haven't realized another force that will propel companies to produce energy saving appliances - Market Force. Environmentalism is a hot topic these days, and that means that businesses will look to cash in on the trend. If many people make energy consumption a priority when buying appliances, the market will react. Check out:
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=appliances.pr_appliances
As proof of my market force argument, when I bought a cordless phone less than a year ago, only one earned the Energy Star rating, there are now 26!
The best way to mobilize people is through information, such as this article. I read years ago about vampire load, but most of the people I've told are shocked or simply don't believe me when I tell them. I'll be sending them this article.
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Correct me if I'm wrong
but I was under the impression that the "base load" of electricity generated in most areas was so large that there was essentially "excess" power on the grid at night. If this is the case, does it really matter if you unplug things at night? It's not like they are going to shut off the nuclear/coal plant.
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Bigger ideas
I have an on-demand hot water heater that probably saves me more money in a week than unplugging the few appliances I own would in a year. Why heat a huge tank of water non-stop when you only use hot water once in awhile? As some people have suggested, washing your clothes in cold water, which I've been doing for years, also helps. I also dry most of my clothes on a clothesline when it's sunny out. These are BIG, easy changes that really make a difference in how much electricity you consume. I don't care about the display on my microwave showing the time all night.
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@MeiTai -- heating with light bulbs
Actually, the First Law of Thermodynamics says that incandescent bulbs (or any other electrical device) are just as efficient at heating your house as any other electric heating system (except to the extent that light shines out of your house, but that pretty much amounts to round-off error). Unless michaelbluejay.com would like to contact the Nobel Committee about the repeal of the Laws of Thermodynamics, I'd say he's talking through his hat if he says otherwise.
Since the cost of heating with electricity is still generally higher than other methods, and since your lights aren't thermostatically controlled, this doesn't amount to much of an argument for sticking with incandescents. But still, the previous poster was exactly right that "At the extreme, if your home is electrically heated, the extra heating cost may cancel out the predicted 'savings'."
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Answer to Anonymous
"I have an on-demand hot water heater that probably saves me more money in a week than unplugging the few appliances I own would in a year."
You don't really know unless you measure the actual energy usage and savings.
"Why heat a huge tank of water non-stop when you only use hot water once in awhile?"
A conventional hot-water heater does not "heat a huge tank of water non-stop". The tank is insulated, and once the water is heated, the burner shuts off.
The only efficiency difference between the on-demand hot-water heater and the conventional type is this: The hot water in a conventional heater will eventually cool off because the insulation on the tank isn't perfect.
On-demand heaters are great if your hot-water needs can be scheduled to take advantage of how they work. But on-demand heaters have two big downsides:
1) If you try to use more than a certain number of gallons-per-minute of hot water, you get lukewarm water instead of hot.
2) The hot water never runs out. Which means your teenagers can take endless showers and there goes your savings.
On-demand heaters can save energy if used correctly. But not as much as you might think, compared to a modern tank-type heater.
"As some people have suggested, washing your clothes in cold water, which I've been doing for years, also helps."
Clothes last longer, too.
"I also dry most of my clothes on a clothesline when it's sunny out. These are BIG, easy changes that really make a difference in how much electricity you consume."
Yep. Running only full loads helps.
"I don't care about the display on my microwave showing the time all night."
The display uses almost no energy. It's the rest of the unit that's an issue.
Energy equals power multiplied by time. A device that uses just 5 watts 24/7 will use more energy (and money) than a 100 watt device that is used for an hour a day.