Alright, so blogging isn't exactly my number one priority.
No excuse, but i promise I've been busy.
see here for proof
Now that you've had a good laugh, Hopefully that will hold you off for a while.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Time to improve
In order to improve I think it is important to understand how others are doing when it comes to efficiency?
why you ask am I doing this well, the other day I got my gas bill, and am absolutely disgusted by how much we used. I give in to comfort more then I should and therefore my bill was ridiculously high.
alright so here's what I want. Your electricity consumption in kWh, there should be a number on your bill that states how many kilowatt hours you used in a month. second number is Gas, how much gas do you use in a month in cubic meters. and third how much water do you use in cubic meters, mine says in M3, which is the same thing.
And to start off I will give my pathetic numbers for the last billing period, as much as i don't want to share my consumption I think it will be good for me and everyone to see how we are doing and motivate us.
Darren's consumption(most of Jan some of Feb) Electricity = 791 kWh, GAS = 408.673 cubic meters, Water = 26.6 M3
***********See Comments for Update*************
why you ask am I doing this well, the other day I got my gas bill, and am absolutely disgusted by how much we used. I give in to comfort more then I should and therefore my bill was ridiculously high.
alright so here's what I want. Your electricity consumption in kWh, there should be a number on your bill that states how many kilowatt hours you used in a month. second number is Gas, how much gas do you use in a month in cubic meters. and third how much water do you use in cubic meters, mine says in M3, which is the same thing.
And to start off I will give my pathetic numbers for the last billing period, as much as i don't want to share my consumption I think it will be good for me and everyone to see how we are doing and motivate us.
Darren's consumption(most of Jan some of Feb) Electricity = 791 kWh, GAS = 408.673 cubic meters, Water = 26.6 M3
***********See Comments for Update*************
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Not so proud to be Canadian right now :-(
I just read this article about the Tar Sands - http://www.environmentaldefence.ca/reports/pdf/TarSands_TheReport.pdf
I started to Rant.......
Then Scrapped it.........
and replaced it with this....
...................WE SUCK!...................
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Wall Warts and Vampires
To answer your questions I figured I needed a whole post for this one.
First of all .......a wall wart is a physical description ...."It's something that plugs into a wall outlet that has a built in transformer and usually blocks more outlets than it uses. Look at a power bar, or your cell phone charger, I’m sure there are several examples within eye shot of where you’re sitting now.
Now talking about Wall warts, we better talk about what they do, and I don't mean just blocking an additional outlet, I mean draining unnecessary power at all times even when not being used. The best example of this is your cell phone charger, it may provide a function overnight while you charge the battery inside your cell phone, but in the morning when you disconnect the phone from the plug, it doesn’t stop...... It just keeps on sucking back the power, and dispersing it as heat, feel it next time. And yes this particular function has also been given a name, Vampire power or Phantom power.
Now vampire power and or phantom power isn't limited to wall warts, anything that goes into standby mode is also sucking back the juice while not in use. Take for instance your TV, why do you think you can use a remote to turn on a device that is turned off, well that’s because its not turned off, it's in standby, this a pretty good rule of thumb, basically anything that can be turned on by remote is not off but in standby mode. Turning off your cable box however is not the best idea unless of course you don't enjoy having the guide available at all times..... not even I am turning that one off.
Side note... did you know that in a typical situation your microwave oven will use more power displaying the time then when its actually being used (24 hr period).
Ok so what do you do, well, you can use power bars so that all those wall warts can't draw the juice. They even make some special power bars that have a master plug, that knows when you turn off the main device i.e. TV or computer, it can turn off the other color coded plugs as well.
My only advice would be to not purchase a device that requires power in order to turn off other devices; this is just displacing one problem with another.
Hope I answered your questions and didn't cause too many more.
First of all .......a wall wart is a physical description ...."It's something that plugs into a wall outlet that has a built in transformer and usually blocks more outlets than it uses. Look at a power bar, or your cell phone charger, I’m sure there are several examples within eye shot of where you’re sitting now.
Now talking about Wall warts, we better talk about what they do, and I don't mean just blocking an additional outlet, I mean draining unnecessary power at all times even when not being used. The best example of this is your cell phone charger, it may provide a function overnight while you charge the battery inside your cell phone, but in the morning when you disconnect the phone from the plug, it doesn’t stop...... It just keeps on sucking back the power, and dispersing it as heat, feel it next time. And yes this particular function has also been given a name, Vampire power or Phantom power.
Now vampire power and or phantom power isn't limited to wall warts, anything that goes into standby mode is also sucking back the juice while not in use. Take for instance your TV, why do you think you can use a remote to turn on a device that is turned off, well that’s because its not turned off, it's in standby, this a pretty good rule of thumb, basically anything that can be turned on by remote is not off but in standby mode. Turning off your cable box however is not the best idea unless of course you don't enjoy having the guide available at all times..... not even I am turning that one off.
Side note... did you know that in a typical situation your microwave oven will use more power displaying the time then when its actually being used (24 hr period).
Ok so what do you do, well, you can use power bars so that all those wall warts can't draw the juice. They even make some special power bars that have a master plug, that knows when you turn off the main device i.e. TV or computer, it can turn off the other color coded plugs as well.
My only advice would be to not purchase a device that requires power in order to turn off other devices; this is just displacing one problem with another.
Hope I answered your questions and didn't cause too many more.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Geothermal heating and cooling
alright Leanne here's some information about geothermal installations, Obviously like all types of alternatives it is expensive to install, but pays back over several years depending on the installation costs and the annual savings involved in the individual system. It’s impossible to predict how quickly someone’s unit will pay back, because of the variables involved in each system. And if you’re lucky a geothermal installation will cost you an upfront cost starting at $10,000.
Geothermal is used for both heating and cooling your home, by the use of a heat pump, and by tapping into the relatively constant temperature of the earth starting at 5-6 feet below ground.
Better then any unit you can install, however, is to reduce your homes use of energy in the first place by insulating walls and ceilings, installing energy efficient light bulbs and appliances, and learning energy efficiency habits like turning off lights, electronics, when not in use, and doing something about all those wall warts that suck back little bits of energy 24-7.
Here’s some things that I found that show the basics of installation, I wanted a video actually showing the installation of the vertical pipes but, the second link at least gives you an idea of the machines involved to accomplish it.
Any Questions?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5rxV3R9RbQ
http://www.palacegeothermal.com/1htms/dxresidence.htm
Geothermal is used for both heating and cooling your home, by the use of a heat pump, and by tapping into the relatively constant temperature of the earth starting at 5-6 feet below ground.
Better then any unit you can install, however, is to reduce your homes use of energy in the first place by insulating walls and ceilings, installing energy efficient light bulbs and appliances, and learning energy efficiency habits like turning off lights, electronics, when not in use, and doing something about all those wall warts that suck back little bits of energy 24-7.
Here’s some things that I found that show the basics of installation, I wanted a video actually showing the installation of the vertical pipes but, the second link at least gives you an idea of the machines involved to accomplish it.
Any Questions?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5rxV3R9RbQ
http://www.palacegeothermal.com/1htms/dxresidence.htm
Saturday, February 9, 2008
North Pacific Garbage Patch
Amy says I need to blog so here's something I've been interested in lately.
The "eastern garbage patch" or "Trash Vortex" it has a bunch of names, In essence what it is, is a large gathering of all the plastic and garbage that has been put into the oceans (by us) and instead of spreading out in some sort of natural dilution it is being rounded up by gyres (A gyre is any manner of swirling vortex. It is often used to describe wind or ocean currents, for example the North Pacific Gyre. - thank you wiki)
Now what is going on is that there is a bunch of people and organisations saying that this thing is the size of texas, or the size of the USA, some saying its real thick some not. It's apparently also just under the water surface which makes it unseen from satelite imagery.
Now I'm the first to jump on board for this sort of stuff, but this one has me wondering, I think that the oceans are being polluted, theres not doubt about it, and these gyres... well it makes sense theoretically.... but where then are all the pictures!!!!! I mean if I'm gonna take my boat way the crap out there to see this thing, and report on it, where are the pictures! We have cameras in cell phones, cameras that fit in pockets and could take thousands of pictures on a single media stick, cameras are everywhere and everyone owns one..... except somehow these people who spent thousands of dollars to take a trip out to see it first hand....... I'm just saying..... it seems odd.
The "eastern garbage patch" or "Trash Vortex" it has a bunch of names, In essence what it is, is a large gathering of all the plastic and garbage that has been put into the oceans (by us) and instead of spreading out in some sort of natural dilution it is being rounded up by gyres (A gyre is any manner of swirling vortex. It is often used to describe wind or ocean currents, for example the North Pacific Gyre. - thank you wiki)
Now what is going on is that there is a bunch of people and organisations saying that this thing is the size of texas, or the size of the USA, some saying its real thick some not. It's apparently also just under the water surface which makes it unseen from satelite imagery.
Now I'm the first to jump on board for this sort of stuff, but this one has me wondering, I think that the oceans are being polluted, theres not doubt about it, and these gyres... well it makes sense theoretically.... but where then are all the pictures!!!!! I mean if I'm gonna take my boat way the crap out there to see this thing, and report on it, where are the pictures! We have cameras in cell phones, cameras that fit in pockets and could take thousands of pictures on a single media stick, cameras are everywhere and everyone owns one..... except somehow these people who spent thousands of dollars to take a trip out to see it first hand....... I'm just saying..... it seems odd.
Monday, January 14, 2008
$200 per barrel
It's no secret that the price of oil will forever increase in price, and as a direct (potentially exponential) relationship to the amount of oil left to be had.
So how are you preparing for the increase in the price/disappearance of oil and all of its related direct and indirect outcomes? (remembering that a realistic estimate to remaining oil reserves is only 40 years)
What is your vision of the next say 10 years? Do we succeed at reworking our completely petroleum based lifestyles into something more sustainable and maintain our luxurious lifestyles, or are we in total disarray from an absolute economic and social collapse. I guess you could be allowed to say some where in between, but whats the fun in that.
So how are you preparing for the increase in the price/disappearance of oil and all of its related direct and indirect outcomes? (remembering that a realistic estimate to remaining oil reserves is only 40 years)
What is your vision of the next say 10 years? Do we succeed at reworking our completely petroleum based lifestyles into something more sustainable and maintain our luxurious lifestyles, or are we in total disarray from an absolute economic and social collapse. I guess you could be allowed to say some where in between, but whats the fun in that.
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