Energy Conservation, The First Step Towards Solar

[tenuchi]

Nice suggestions!

I especially liked this one;



LOL. I never knew that there were instances like this.

same here borther c:

Mod note - You can place your contact information in your profile and direct people there - not allowed in posts though

[tenuchi]

same here borther c:

Mod note - You can place your contact information in your profile and direct people there - not allowed in posts though

sorry mod iam not allways online

[Utana]

Anyone know anything about those ductless split air conditioners/ heat pumps? I've found a few web pages where people say they are very energy efficient compared to window units and central air, but I don't know of anyone that has one. they are expensive compared to window units, but cheaper than installing one central air. I'd really like to hear opinions on if others feel the energy savings is worth the cost.

Kelly

[russ]

They are the most cost effective heating/cooling units today if you live in a moderate climate. As temperatures drop they lose efficiency (less available heat in the air for them to collect) until at some temperature I don't remember - either 5

[keiooz]

I've been paying a very expensive electric bills for years now and was thinking to start conserving without cutting the use of appliances and electronics at home. This would be a good start for conserving a lot of energy at home.

[xwhite3]

Good advise...

I started with automatic timers. I am total electric, so the water heater timer has saved a bunch.

[simonbond]

Solar panels

HI appreciate your approach for the energy conservation. I also think that that using the solar panels should be the first step of everyone who is involved in idea of energy conservation. Thank you.

[russ]

HI appreciate your approach for the energy conservation. I also think that that using the solar panels should be the first step of everyone who is involved in idea of energy conservation. Thank you.

Actually PV panels are one of the last steps. First you monitor consumption and reduce where possibly - much more cost effective (read sustainable if you want) that way.

Solar thermal water and air are often the best choices to start with.

[brofig]

good information

this is a good thread. I like what was first said... we all need to cut back and live a simpler life and then as a part of that we need to providepower for the remaining needs that we do have.
Keeping this in mind, are there sytems out there for low level energy use?

for instance as a ham radio operator we are allowed to transmit with a 1500 watt transmitter. I usually use about 3 to 5 watts or if more is needed I will go up to 35, 50, or 75 watts. enough to make contact. As a result I can use battery power in place of the power company for this use.

so yes I agree with your statement and am glad yo hear more and figure out how to go simple on solar power as well.

thanks

Brofig

[PFAES]

I have the feeling that saving 25-30% of your electricity is a wasted effort when you not at the same time prepare to go off grid as much as possible.
In my own house in the Netherlands i managed to save around 40%, encouraged by subsidies from the government. Soon after (within 2 years) the electricity rate went up, a 'green' tax was introduced and gone where the saving, the utilities companies were making top profits selling less energy at higher prices. This trend is still going on.
I was unable to install solar and wind because of regulations. As the house was on a dune at the beach wind alone would have been enough for all my energy needs. No more ways to save on energy use and still getting higher bills every year. Conclusion wrong location!

It has stopped to bother me because i moved to Thailand.
At least here i am able to install solar/wind and go off gird when i want to. Makes you think about the whole energy thing again. I have some land that is still unprepared. Connecting to the grid will cost about the same as around 2kw solar panels. The choice will be easy.

Now the most energy in my current house, a 2 bedroom townhouse in Bangkok, is used for cooling. I managed to get my fridge and freezer use a lot less energy by always keeping it completely filled. Empty space is filled with water bottles. The freezer and fridge are set on a timer so that it switches on only during the day. Keeping it filled and switched of at night saves about 50% without noticeable difference in temperature inside. At night it will never be opened anyway. The challenge will be to get the fridge and freezer running on solar. The 50% savings i have reached sofar will make it easier to accomplish. The best way to to use these bottles is when you buy groceries then take out a few bottles to make room and place them in the freezer. When you use the food and it gets more empty transferring the bottles from the freezer to the fridge will help to cool down the interior a lot quicker after you have opened the fridge. The freezer has 2 lids on top, opening the smaller one will keep the cool air in, not wasting much. The fridge has a large door in the front causing all the cool air to rush out quickly. I am still trying to figure out if i can use a second freezer as a fridge by regulating the temperature myself. I think it will be more energy efficient then the fridge. Time and experience will tell.

Lighting is florescent already so not much to save there, maybe change a few to LED as the light is more comfortable to the eyes.

I use a very small desktop computer using max 3 amps on 12v through an 220/12v adapter. The 32" screen uses 120 watts on 220v. Not much to save there anymore except making sure the screen switches of quickly when not used.

Insulating the roof saved about 20% on the aircon bill that is used only at night. I just used the bubble foam with aluminum backing to reflect most of the heat. Installed a fan to extract the hot air from the attic and made sure air could raise through convection out of the rooms to the roof, sometimes with a little help from a fan. It lowered the temperature in the house by 4 degrees Celsius. That was in our case enough to get it from uncomfortable to comfortable most of the year. In hot season (april/may) a few fans are used to help evaporate the sweat.

My current project is building an air conditioning using ice water to cool and extract moisture from the air using a simple water pump, heat exchanger and a fan. It will use about 30 watts. Ice is very cheap to get here otherwise this would not be possible. I expect the air conditioning bill to be 80% cheaper this way. In western countries it is currently being used in large buildings by making ice at night and using that to cool during the daytime using the lower rates at night to save money.

While this may not seem germane to the subject, bear with me for a moment. Most of the wind and solar programs require you to be grid tied to get rebates. Out in the Antelope Valley, the county of Los Angeles is harassing off-grid people. With the new smart meters it's possible to calculate the values of the sun and wind as far as energy goes.
Now that they can be assigned a value, government can tax them. This may come as a surprise, but shouldn't. Governments are the equivalent of people farmers. Like any farmer, they're going to get the most out of their flock that they can. All of the infrastructure built has as its core purpose, the making of a more productive flock.
When SecState Clinton went to Afghanistan she complained that the level of taxation was not high enough. Basically putting forward some of the tenets of the IMF, if Afghanistan hopes to get any money to develop the country.

[russ]

While this may not seem germane to the subject, bear with me for a moment. Most of the wind and solar programs require you to be grid tied to get rebates. Out in the Antelope Valley, the county of Los Angeles is harassing off-grid people. With the new smart meters it's possible to calculate the values of the sun and wind as far as energy goes.
Now that they can be assigned a value, government can tax them. This may come as a surprise, but shouldn't. Governments are the equivalent of people farmers. Like any farmer, they're going to get the most out of their flock that they can. All of the infrastructure built has as its core purpose, the making of a more productive flock.
When SecState Clinton went to Afghanistan she complained that the level of taxation was not high enough. Basically putting forward some of the tenets of the IMF, if Afghanistan hopes to get any money to develop the country.

That is the mantra of one section of silly politics - The tax generated that would be generated is inconsequential.

[m8a8n]

very new to solar.

newbie here, i got lost on some threads here hehehe, terminologies are a bit confusing, im no expert with watts,voltages and systems, but im really willing to learn. im from the Philippines, power charges in our country as they say are far more expensive than other asian countries i guess, we really dont have big appliances at home and we have been doing this save electricity tips already, our basic rule, turn it of and unplug if u r not using it, i really want to cut our cost of consumption down. if anybody can help me how to set up this solar panels for me to cut on my cost, i would very much accept it. tnk u very much.

[bcroe]

Energy Saving

My first stab at reducing energy costs (currently creeping on many fronts), was to stop
wasting electricity. That, hopefully without changing service & benefits much. Noticed
that when everything was OFF at my house, the meter was still spinning happily. Using
a KILL-A-WATT, dozens of circuits were tracked. The power wasn't going to a couple
things, there were a hundred small things adding up to 300 watts when they were turned
OFF. I think these are called phantom loads.

At first it looked hopeless, but one by one means were found to reduce most phantoms
to zero or at least less than 0.1 watt. For example the microwave used 3 watts if not
cooking. It used as many KWH when it was off, as when it was on. Now it sits at 0 W
till you open the door, and stays on while you cook. 12 minutes after cooking concludes,
it disconnects back to 0W.

Currently phantom power is at about 50 watts, with plans to get down to 35 watts. Then
repeat the survey to make sure nothing is missed. This year long process is detailed on
my PHOTOBUCKET, guess I have to put the address in my profile to obey the rules here.
I'm at about 9 KWH/day when the furnace isn't active.

Bruce

[rockhunter]

solar/wind-electric bill

Hey guys, im totally new to this site.. but i have a little experience in the solar and wind power diy stuff for you home.. i built a wind turbine and a solar pannel.

Bcroe, not to take anything away from the idea of wasting energy.. but i wanted to lower my energy bill about 3 months ago and did so by using solar and wind power and now the electric company is paying me and i didnt have to change any of my energy habits... just saying.

m8a8n, just an idea for you.. it worked for me.. but i am pretty good at the do-it-yourself type stuff. i googled it and after looking around for a while i stumbeled on this site and tried it and it worked great for me. it pretty much goes through any questions you could possibly have and makes it pretty easy.

just an idea.. im sure there are other sites that are good at giving directions on how to do this but i used this one and it worked great for me.

6b29dbs0wbzj4y6m3dogk61qfo.hop.clickbank.net
Generally, we FROWN on clickbank. just copy, paste behind a http:// and the link will be whole, and serv to your computer, whatever is on the other side. I'm only leaving it because Bill did not report it as "spammy". moderator

p.s. i do live on a hill and so i have a pretty consistant wind source. if you dont think that you do where you live.. then maybe just look into the solar power.

[billvon]

Bcroe, not to take anything away from the idea of wasting energy.. but i wanted to lower my energy bill about 3 months ago and did so by using solar and wind power and now the electric company is paying me and i didnt have to change any of my energy habits... just saying.

You can of course do that. The question is - do you want to spend an extra $500-$1000 on solar equipment to avoid spending $100 on energy efficiency improvements? If so, that works - but for most people, saving the money is preferable.