The Basics
Everyone needs to do their part in conserving energy and producing less greenhouse gases. You don't need to go out and buy EnergyStar rated appliances and expensive flourescent bulbs to achieve this either. These are some basic things anyone can do to use less energy , and will save you money on your electric bill.
1. Turn off the lights when you leave a room
2. Use cold water settings on washing machines and dishwashers
3. Unplug appliances that are not being used
1. Why turn off your lights? . The most energy efficient bulb is a bulb thats turned off when its not needed. Every minute that a light is on in a room you are not in you are wasting money and energy. Look at it like this, a 40 watt bulb consumes 0.04 kWh and if you are paying 10 cents per kWh then you would save 4 cents every hour that light is off. But what about the initial power surge when you turn a light on ? . A common excuse people have to not turning their lights off is that the start-up surge of power that occurs when you turn on a light is greater and consumes more energy than just leaving the light on. So in theory its wiser to leave the light on. Now lets separate the fact from fiction. Yes , there is a small surge of power when you turn a light on, but its so insignificant that for it to make any differance you would need to constantly turn the light on and off every 2 seconds. Turning my lights off and on reduces the life of the bulbs ? . Yet again we have fact intertwined with fiction causing confusion. Incandescent bulbs ( bulbs with a filament ) can be turned on and off with no affect on their lifespan. Flourescents lights on the other hand do have a finite number of times they can be turned on. Each time the light is turned on a tiny amount of the coating on the electrodes of the bulb is burned off . If there is no coating then the light will not turn on. Still , for that to make any significance on the life of the bulb you would need to constantly turn the light on and off repeatedly.
2. Why use the cold water setting on my washing machine? . Heating the water for a warm wash produces up to 4 kilograms of greenhouse gases. Washing clothes on the cold water setting produces less than a third of a kilogram. Why use the cold water setting on my dishwasher?. The econo-cycle/cold cycle replaces your hot water rinse with a couple of cold rinses and the dry cycle is cooler than on a regular wash equaling less energy use.
3. Why unplug appliances and electronics when they are not in use?. Next time its dark out, turn off all the lights in your house and take note of all the flashing lights and red lights you see from your appliances and electronics. This is all "stand-by" electricity being consumed and can be eliminated by simply unplugging the appliance or electronic. Grouping like appliances and electronics together and plugging them into a power bar/surge protector is a simple way to turn off the devices, eliminating "stand-by" electricity consumption. Even after your cell phone or MP3 player is finished charging, its power adapter is still sucking electricity - so simply unplug it.
We're not all environmentally extreme, so if you're not, look at these as a way to save yourself some money on your electric bill.
1. Turn off the lights when you leave a room
2. Use cold water settings on washing machines and dishwashers
3. Unplug appliances that are not being used
1. Why turn off your lights? . The most energy efficient bulb is a bulb thats turned off when its not needed. Every minute that a light is on in a room you are not in you are wasting money and energy. Look at it like this, a 40 watt bulb consumes 0.04 kWh and if you are paying 10 cents per kWh then you would save 4 cents every hour that light is off. But what about the initial power surge when you turn a light on ? . A common excuse people have to not turning their lights off is that the start-up surge of power that occurs when you turn on a light is greater and consumes more energy than just leaving the light on. So in theory its wiser to leave the light on. Now lets separate the fact from fiction. Yes , there is a small surge of power when you turn a light on, but its so insignificant that for it to make any differance you would need to constantly turn the light on and off every 2 seconds. Turning my lights off and on reduces the life of the bulbs ? . Yet again we have fact intertwined with fiction causing confusion. Incandescent bulbs ( bulbs with a filament ) can be turned on and off with no affect on their lifespan. Flourescents lights on the other hand do have a finite number of times they can be turned on. Each time the light is turned on a tiny amount of the coating on the electrodes of the bulb is burned off . If there is no coating then the light will not turn on. Still , for that to make any significance on the life of the bulb you would need to constantly turn the light on and off repeatedly.
2. Why use the cold water setting on my washing machine? . Heating the water for a warm wash produces up to 4 kilograms of greenhouse gases. Washing clothes on the cold water setting produces less than a third of a kilogram. Why use the cold water setting on my dishwasher?. The econo-cycle/cold cycle replaces your hot water rinse with a couple of cold rinses and the dry cycle is cooler than on a regular wash equaling less energy use.
3. Why unplug appliances and electronics when they are not in use?. Next time its dark out, turn off all the lights in your house and take note of all the flashing lights and red lights you see from your appliances and electronics. This is all "stand-by" electricity being consumed and can be eliminated by simply unplugging the appliance or electronic. Grouping like appliances and electronics together and plugging them into a power bar/surge protector is a simple way to turn off the devices, eliminating "stand-by" electricity consumption. Even after your cell phone or MP3 player is finished charging, its power adapter is still sucking electricity - so simply unplug it.
We're not all environmentally extreme, so if you're not, look at these as a way to save yourself some money on your electric bill.
posted by peeetur at
9:03 PM
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