Do I really need to unplug it?

Hooray for summer! My family took a road trip last week to Dutch Wonderland and Hershey Park, hence the missing update.  However, I’m back now and ready to tackle your most perplexing energy questions.  And yes, I know I’m posting this on a Thursday.  I’m late sometimes… (that’s what she said – doh!)

This week, I’m taking on a query from the ever-awesome Johnny B. Truant. He asked…

I love this question because it acknowledges that electronics draw power even when they’re turned off or in stand-by mode.  If they’re plugged in, they’re probably sucking energy, hence the term “Vampire Power.”

They Vant To Suck Your Money

A cursory search around the web will show you that this is a very real issue and, while manufacturers of power-saving equipment would have you believe it’s a major contributor to higher bills, my experience has shown that an average consumer will only spend about 5% more if they leave everything plugged in all the time.  That averages out to about $50 extra per year for everything.

Obviously no one wants to throw away that kind of money, but I ask you to remember that’s just an average and expects you to have a few computers, a whole bunch of inefficient equipment and no power-saving measures whatsoever.  I would estimate unplugging a standard cable box every time it’s not in use would save you about $5 per year.

That said, many advances have reduced the amount of energy they’re pulling.  ENERGY STAR appliances and electronics were designed to draw far less power in standby mode than non-qualified items.  Check this out to learn more about how to buy products with low standby power draws.

Some will say that the increased focus on standby mode power use at the manufacturing level is helping the situation.  I disagree.  We have more crap that requires power than ever before, so our increasing volume offsets the reduction for those few items.  Fortunately, there are a number things you can do to stay in control of your power draw without climbing behind an entertainment center or desk…

Bring Out Your Slayer Stakes

Most computers have a sleep setting. Use it. If you want to go one step farther, flip the big switch in the back (if you have one) instead of the “soft” button on the front, which is more of a standby switch than a power button. Learn more about computer management at Climate Savers.

There are also a few different manufacturers offering smart power strips that eliminate the excess power draws experienced in your home or office.  One that I’ve received a lot of great feedback on is the Smart Strip Power Strip, which can save up to 73% of the wasted energy on a computer system if you set it to go to sleep after an hour and keep it plugged into the strip.

If you’d like to take it to the next level, you can reduce vampire power up to 85% with the Power Smart Tower featuring iGo Green® Technology.

You can find out just how much juice your electronics are pulling with a Kill-A-Watt device.  These things are great for predicting energy bills and also deciding which of your items need your attention the most.  Plus, they’re fun in a geeky sort of way.

The Advice You Weren’t Expecting…

Ultimately, you’re better off focusing on more pressing matters.  The amount of time you’re going to spend mitigating energy vampires could have a better bang if you gave your hour to something else…

  • Do you already turn off the lights when you leave a room? Really? (don’t lie… you’re only doing so to yourself here)
  • Speaking of lights, have you replaced all your incandescent bulbs with CFLs or LEDs?
  • Do you already have setbacks scheduled on a programmable thermostat? Do you leave it, or do you mess with it according to your outfit, level of activity, etc?
  • Do you use a ceiling fan to keep you cool instead of kicking up the AC? Do you reverse it in the winter to bring the heat down to you?
  • Do you wash your clothes in cold water? Dry your clothes on a line when possible?
  • Have you replaced outdated refrigerators, washers, and so on with energy efficient models that, by nature, use less than their predecessors?

If you’ve done all of this and still want to go after your vampires, I’d suggest checking out the Berkeley National Labs site on Standby Power.  I wish you luck and encourage you to contact me if you have any questions along the way!

A few quick notes before I go:

  • Next week I’ll be back on the regular Wednesday schedule.  Hit me up if you have thoughts you’d like me to include or address.
  • If you have any questions you’d like me to answer in a future post, tweet @Renewabelle or get in touch with me one of a few other ways over here.
  • If you have any follow up questions or notes you’d like to add, I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.  I hope this information proves useful and that it finds you well.

RB

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Can we trade our way to salvation?

Carrying on with my new Wednesday tradition, I’m transforming your energy questions into answers. Let no one tell you that I’m short on tricks.

This week, I’m tackling a query from Vic Roberts. Here we go…

This topic is a freaking mine field.  For every company that sells carbon credits or offsets, there’s a person who thinks they’re bogus.  There’s also a person who thinks they’re the best way to save the planet.  Since I’m the type of girl who’d prefer the hard fight first, I’d like to explain why some think carbon trading is the greatest invention since invisible underwear.

Put It On Our Tab…

First, the concept of carbon credits is relatively new and was created to decrease greenhouse gas emissions, particularly in the industrial market sector.  As I noted last week, industrial users consume more power than any other sector.  The international carbon trade was established to stimulate environmentally preferable activities (such as renewable power generation or forest farming) with funds paid in exchange for a virtual reduction in on-site emissions.

On the surface, it’s easy to get frustrated watching these major industrial users buy their way out of the pollution they cause instead of focusing on improvements at the source.  It seems as though they’re slapping Band-Aids on bullet holes, but that’s not always the case…

What you may not see is that some are also working to increase efficiency and reduce on-site emissions, too.  They just can’t move fast enough.

Transformations take time and money—two things most businesses don’t have enough of to begin with.  By assigning caps or quotas, countries and markets are  able to assign a monetary value for each metric ton of carbon dioxide, which in turn financially motivates more individuals to become operators who sell credits.

Countries that have ratified the Kyoto Treaty follow different guidelines than those who have not (like the United States), though they’re all based on the same general idea.  Around the world, there are five exchanges trading carbon allowances: the Chicago Climate Exchange, European Climate Exchange, Nord Pool, PowerNext and the European Energy Exchange.  Other markets are in development or in early stages of trading, and carbon is being touted by some as the commodity of the future. I disagree.

Can You Say “Pollution Palliation” Three Times Fast?

I certainly see the value in the promotion of renewables via financial incentives (there’s no carrot like money to move a market) and I really like to read about developing countries generating more revenue, but I fear that there are too many industries that will see this as the easy way out.  Consider this…

I tell you that you can lose all the weight you want if you take some magical pills that I’m selling, and the more you take the more you’ll lose, regardless of what you eat.  If, however, you do not take my pills but still want to lose weight, you’re going to need to reduce your caloric intake, increase your physical activity and find the time to make it all happen.

If you had the money to buy the pills, would you choose the hard way? I wouldn’t. I’d eat 45 White Castle burgers in a row and plop my ass in front of the TV for the rest of the week. Losing weight is hard. Swallowing is easy. (heh) And easy is…well…easy.

Change and challenge are BFFs.  Many people are not against change unless it involves them directly.  This is clearly the case with the so-called “Carbon Cowboys” who would prefer to buy carbon credits rather than change the way they do business, and with industrial users, that’s exactly what you’re asking them to do.

The Shape Of Things To Come…

While I certainly don’t have any issues with market mechanisms that increase the number of environmentally preferable operations, I do take issue with policies that allow energy hogs and polluters to ignore their on-site energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.  Furthermore, spending their money on carbon credits limits the amount of capital they will have on hand for efficiency upgrades.

To get back to Vic’s question, we (meaning “we” as individuals) manage the undermining effects of this new trading scheme by doing what we’re supposed to be doing in the first place: reducing our energy use, consuming less stuff and minimizing the impact our activities have on the planet.

Once you’ve done all that, if you’re rolling in dough and guilt, you can exchange your money for a carbon credit.  Just make sure you research the company taking your money, because ultimately it’s the brokers who are getting the most out of these trading schemes and not all of them care about the planet as much as they do the profit.  If you’d like to learn more about legit carbon trading, I think the Environmental Defense Fund has some great information to get you started.

I had hoped to tie in a few more questions, but this really needed its own post and I’m out of time.

A few quick notes before I go:

  • Next Wednesday (or within a few days thereof — it’s summertime), I’m going to answer a question from Johnny B. Truant on whether we really need to unplug everything to be energy efficient. Hit me up if you have thoughts you’d like me to include or address.
  • If you have any questions you’d like me to answer in a future post, tweet @Renewabelle or get in touch with me one of a few other ways over here.
  • If you have any follow up questions or notes you’d like to add, I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.  I hope this information proves useful and that it finds you well.

RB

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What’s taking so long?

It’s recently come to my attention that many of you have questions related to energy that go unanswered.  I’d like to change that.  Starting today and continuing until I can’t do it any more, I’m going to answer your most perplexing energy questions every Wednesday.  To kick it off, I have some questions that came in Tuesday via Twitter…

First, I received an excellent question from Anson Burtch:

This question gets hotter the closer you are to Capitol Hill.  Of course, the answer is going to be different depending upon who you ask.  My particular specialty involves the development and management of market transformation programs, and my opinions should be regarded as such.

That said, we’ve all known for a long time that our resources are limited and that there are better ways to obtain the energy we crave.  I use the word “crave” intentionally, as we don’t really need as much as we use.  Opportunities for efficiency are everywhere, yet many still choose the old way of doing things.

I’d like to point out here that we’ve been mining coal here since the mid 1700s and drilling oil since the mid 1800s.  Most of the American energy infrastructure was built to depend primarily on these two resources.

The latest research shows that roughly a third of our energy is used by the industrial sector for things like manufacturing, agriculture, mining, and construction.  The transportation sector uses the second largest amount of energy.  The remainder is consumed by homes and businesses.

Most of our total energy use is spent making stuff, feeding ourselves and creating more energy.  Our nation is but a collection of energy user archetypes, each with his or her own reasons for not doing what it takes to make a clean energy future our reality today.

Consider how hard it is to walk down a grocery aisle without seeing at least one item that touts its own eco-friendliness.  There are a lot of things to evaluate when making purchases, and for many, the key items of note are the ingredients.   Since we’re talking about energy here, I’m going to ask that we instead think about how these items actually came to be.

For the amount of energy used to develop a crappy plastic egg-poaching gadget (which, by the way, includes a recycling symbol associated with a type of plastic no one recycles but people think it’s okay because it has a symbol), you could light a living room for the evening. Think about that… Now think about what you’ve purchased in the last week.

While you’re pondering, I’d like to tie in another question to this conversation that I received from the delightfully irreverent Jay Dolan:

The US government is offering more incentives than ever before to get people to use less energy and support the adoption of renewables.  They can’t seem to throw enough money at it, but they’re certainly trying.  Money is the only way the Feds can come up with to motivate the market to move – though regulations are passed all the time to push out inefficient and ineffective technologies.

See, this is bigger than the government covering an entire southwestern state with solar panels.  They can’t force this on us any faster than we let them.

We must not forget that solar panel manufacturing requires energy, too. The same goes for all those elements that make up the clean energy systems that Anson addressed.  We must also remember that, while technology continues to improve efficiency in said production lines, large-scale renewable energy systems are very costly investments.  When compared to conventional means of obtaining energy, the returns are lengthy and too few are willing to give away investment funds for good will.  That’s why the government is buying down the cost with as many incentives as it can afford…

If you tell me you want to make some kind of energy improvement in your home or business, 95% of the time I can find an incentive of some sort to buy down the cost.  We can make this more affordable.  The thing is, you actually have to make the improvement.

For many people, the only believable future is one that doesn’t include coal or crude oil.  With this thought, Martin Whitmore (the awesomely talented artist responsible for my header) is going to make me take this one step farther…

Scientists and engineers tell us it is possible to power our nation completely with renewable resources.  If we want renewable resources to power our nation, we need to remember that money makes the decisions these days.  True, the government and utilities are offering more incentives to lower the initial costs, but no investors are stepping up to take this on right now.

The reason, as Marty astutely noted, is because we consume too much energy to make it a worthwhile investment.  We need to cut back.

Really, this is the critical key…

We are responsible for our own energy use, whether this comes from actually flipping a power switch to consuming copious quantities of items that take energy to produce.  We are the only ones who can make this change happen faster, and we do this by making energy-smart decisions in every aspect of our lives…

I know.  It’s frustrating that this urgent issue isn’t moving quickly enough.  Believe me… every week I learn of a business owner or a municipality who knows what they can do to reduce their electric and gas use but won’t make the changes because they don’t have the money.  Really, though, I think they need a paradigm shift more than anything…

We are the reason this is taking so long.  How we actually fix it is going to be another post, since I’m definitely out of time. A few quick notes before I go:

  • Next Wednesday, I’m going to tackle questions from Marty on cold fusion and Vic Roberts on the implications of carbon credit programs. Hit me up if you have thoughts you’d like me to include or address.
  • If you have any questions you’d like me to answer in a future post, tweet @Renewabelle or get in touch with me one of a few other ways over here.
  • If you have any follow up questions or notes you’d like to add, I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

Thanks for taking the time to read this.  I hope this information proves useful and that it finds you well.

RB

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Birds, bees and LEDs…

Before the majority of lights available at any given big box store were LEDs, I was forking out $60 for two strings of blue lights to drape on our son for holiday pictures.  This was three years ago, when they were hard to find and NEVER on sale.

LED holiday lights are everywhere now, and that is fantastic.  According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the amount of electricity consumed by just one 7-watt incandescent bulb could power 140 LEDs — enough to light two 24-foot (7.3-meter) strings.  Even better, LEDs produce more light per watt than incandescent bulbs, so you can do more with less.  Check out this neat calculator to figure out what you’d save by switching…

LED vs conventionalHow do they do this?  Light emitting diodes, or LEDs, use electron movement in tiny semiconductors (the same chips that help run computers, only much smaller) instead of filaments like incandescent bulbs.  In plain English, little electrons move around inside the chip and this motion creates the illumination.  If you really want to learn more about how these work, click here…

As a parent, I love these because they don’t get hot.  Anyone who’s ever spent more than a minute with a three-year-old knows that they’re going to touch anything that lights up. At least with LEDs  I can rest easy knowing he won’t lose his fingerprints.  Also, LEDs are encased in hard plastic instead of glass, so they’re more durable and less likely to pop between pinching little digits.

If you’re still using old school lights, pledge to make 2009 their last year of duty.  I’m not even going to get into the environmental benefits of swapping inefficient lights for new ones… you know it’s the right thing to do.  For your wallet and the planet.

And of course… if you EVER have any questions about energy efficiency or related technologies, feel free to contact me directly.  I love helping people realize the sound investment made in an energy efficient future!

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