http://ec-users.pbwiki.com/ wiki for users of energyconsumption.org en http://ec-users.pbwiki.com/feedlogo.gif http://pbwiki.com/ PBwiki 3.7 support@pbwiki.com http://ec-users.pbwiki.com/Directions email.hidden@example.com (Soren (work desktop)) Soren (work desktop) edited Directions Look at how much each device consumed and how long you tend to use each device each day. Multiply the watts by hours and divide by 1000 for kWh. Now find your last couple of electric bills. If they sport a kWh/day average, compare directly to the total of "daily energy" above. Otherwise, multiply by the number of "billing days" covered by your bill and compare the number of kWh you were changed for with the number of kWh you were able to identify using your watt meter. If you were able to positively identify 50% or more of your electricity consumption, congratulations!
Note that consumption varies with season, number of people living in the home, etc. If you are trying to size a solar array, etc, you'll probably want to survey two years worth of bills. And if you've been making significant changes, you'll want to compare to previous similar seasons. Your local utility may have information about the weather in past months (PG&E calls it "degree days" for both heatin]]> Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:45:53 +0000 mod http://ec-users.pbwiki.com/Utility+Bills email.hidden@example.com (Soren (work desktop)) Soren (work desktop) added Utility Bills ! Utility Bills

!! How to read your electric bill

!! How to read your gas bill

!! How to read your water bill

!! How to read your gasoline receipt

!! How to read your ___ bill (fuel oil? sewer?)

!! How to make utility bills better
Wouldn\'t it be great if your utility bill contained all of the information you needed to figure out how much power you were consuming and when? Such that you could see how much it cost to run the dryer at high heat vs. medium or to superheat the water for your dishwasher? Many utilities (like PG&E) have good web sites for month-to-month data (with graphs, information about the weather for that month, and the like). For people with \"smart\" or \"time of use\" meters on their houses, utilities sometimes have really great data available, to the point that you can see your refrigerator turning on and off. There are also [http://energyconsumption.org | whole house meters] that will read your electric meter every minute or so and give you an independent source of ]]> Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:43:24 +0000 add http://ec-users.pbwiki.com/Projects email.hidden@example.com (Soren (puck)) Soren (puck) edited Projects somehow attach a mechanical timer to a periodic use item like a microwave
build a power strip with a built-in mechanical timer for charging
low-power http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/09/25/technical_foundations_diy_solar_powered_pc/ Solar-PoweredPC
Cooler Meter
Simple Solar Oven / Fast Solar Cooker (pnorth says she'll buy one)
]]> Sat, 31 May 2008 14:40:49 +0000 mod http://ec-users.pbwiki.com/Big+Picture email.hidden@example.com (Soren (lrw/slimer)) Soren (lrw/slimer) edited Big Picture U.S. EnergyInformationAdministration
The EIA is the standard source of aggregate energy consumption information for the United States. In addition to basicpiecharts (parent) and awesomediagrams, they have good historicalinformation and lots of interestingdetails (2005 update?). The EIA is mostly focussed on totals and averages, but these totals put everything into perspective and the averages help us gauge the utility of our projects.
StateEnergyProfiles should
should help us figure out how much energy costs in various places and perhaps whether many states have scaled pricing, etc. This fuelmixmap highlights the differences generation in how states generate their electricity, different states, from CA's 1% coal (10%+ non-hydro "other"!) "other") to OR and WA's 70%+ hrdro. hrdro -- HOWEVER, do not confuse (as I did for a while) generation with consumption; the highly populous west coast]]> Thu, 29 May 2008 14:52:22 +0000 mod http://ec-users.pbwiki.com/Products email.hidden@example.com (Soren (work laptop)) Soren (work laptop) edited Products Products of interest to Energy Consumption users
WattMeters
CostController power strip w/built in watt meter (8-1800 watts?) for $100 :P
Lighting
PC Components
]]> Fri, 16 May 2008 00:47:10 +0000 mod http://ec-users.pbwiki.com/Junk+Mail email.hidden@example.com (Soren (work laptop)) Soren (work laptop) edited Junk Mail https://www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailing costs $1 but seems to be effective
http://lnxwebe1.advo.com/consumersupport.html to get rid of one circular for five years (Nov 2007) seems to have worked!
http://pennysaverusa.com/feedback.aspx?return=/index.aspx requesting that my address be removed got me an email saying that I'd been removed. http://pennysaverusa.com/contactus/ does list the "Removal from Mailing List" address in Brea, CA.
Can junk mail by stopped?
AYes. A few years ago (2002?), I (Soren) noticed a message about 1-800-5OPTOUT on the back of a credit card offer. I figured I'd try it, leaving my name and address on an answering system. To my surprise, the credit card offers disappeared within a month. After buying a house, I began getting new types of junk mail. I called my lender and asked them to stop each of the five types of advertising they thought I wouldn't mind getting. That helped, but competing lenders thought paper mail might]]> Thu, 01 May 2008 18:15:41 +0000 mod http://ec-users.pbwiki.com/Projects email.hidden@example.com (Soren (soren in buffice)) Soren (soren in buffice) edited Projects Wheel Generator (http://www.los-gatos.ca.us/davidbu/pedgen.html#FAQ mentions 5% diode loss in rectification AC->DC)
Inspiring
DIYSolarprojects
DIYWattMeter
PrimeMover, Pedal-PoweredTV, onpedalingthroughapoweroutage.
]]> Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:16:55 +0000 mod http://ec-users.pbwiki.com/Junk+Mail email.hidden@example.com (Soren (soren in buffice)) Soren (soren in buffice) edited Junk Mail Useful Junk Mail Resources
http://www.obviously.com/junkmail/ is a comprehensive overview including weekly circulars
Pennysaver/Potpourri circulars. circulars (information which is confirmed at http://www.pennysaverusa.com/contactus/ ).
http://www.globalstewards.org/junkmail.htm has some additional updates including a direct link to the shopwise/ADVO unsubscribepage.
Santa Clara County's JunkMailReductionGuideandKit is probably similar to a step by step resource in your local community.
]]> Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:37:45 +0000 mod http://ec-users.pbwiki.com/Junk+Mail email.hidden@example.com (Soren (soren in buffice)) Soren (soren in buffice) edited Junk Mail Useful Junk Mail Resources
http://www.obviously.com/junkmail/ is a comprehensive overview including weekly circulars
(now http://www.stopjunkmail.org/resident2.htm) http://www.stopjunkmail.org/resident2.htm ?) has some other (newer?) contact info for the same plus contact info for Pennysaver/Potpourri circulars.
http://www.globalstewards.org/junkmail.htm has some additional updates including a direct link to the shopwise/ADVO unsubscribepage.
Santa Clara County's JunkMailReductionGuideandKit is probably similar to a step by step resource in your local community.
]]> Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:34:30 +0000 mod http://ec-users.pbwiki.com/Junk+Mail email.hidden@example.com (Soren (soren in buffice)) Soren (soren in buffice) edited Junk Mail Useful Junk Mail Resources
http://www.obviously.com/junkmail/ is a comprehensive overview including weekly circulars
http://www.recyclestuff.org/JunkMail.asp (now http://www.stopjunkmail.org/resident2.htm) has some other (newer?) contact info for the same plus contact info for Pennysaver/Potpourri circulars.
http://www.globalstewards.org/junkmail.htm has some additional updates including a direct link to the shopwise/ADVO unsubscribepage.
Santa Clara County's JunkMailReductionGuideandKit is probably similar to a step by step resource in your local community.
]]> Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:22:01 +0000 mod http://ec-users.pbwiki.com/Data email.hidden@example.com (Matt Lee) Matt Lee edited Data]]> Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:06:31 +0000 mod http://ec-users.pbwiki.com/Data email.hidden@example.com (Matt Lee) Matt Lee edited Data]]> Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:05:44 +0000 mod http://ec-users.pbwiki.com/Borrow+a+Meter email.hidden@example.com (Soren (work laptop)) Soren (work laptop) edited Borrow a Meter Borrowed On
Expected back by
Matt Lee
Soren Spies
KaW (office)
21 April 2008
28 April 2008?
People waiting for a meter
Users willing to lend a copy of The Home Energy Diet
]]> Mon, 21 Apr 2008 17:50:25 +0000 mod http://ec-users.pbwiki.com/Big+Picture email.hidden@example.com (Soren (work laptop)) Soren (work laptop) edited Big Picture Picture (cf.
(cf. Right Now) Now, e.g. CA ISO)
(-html; Petroleum-html; NaturalGas-html; Coal-html; Electricity-html -- check out those conversion losses!) losses! -- kWh/country)
U.S. EnergyInformationAdministration
The EIA is the standard source of aggregate energy consumption information for the United States. In addition to basicpiecharts (parent) and awesomediagrams, they have good historicalinformation and lots of interestingdetails (2005 update?). The EIA is mostly focussed on totals and averages, but these totals put everything into perspective and the averages help us gauge the utility of our projects.
]]> Mon, 21 Apr 2008 17:42:14 +0000 mod http://ec-users.pbwiki.com/Lighting email.hidden@example.com (Soren (work laptop)) Soren (work laptop) edited Lighting Lighting
The Navy has somebackgrounddata from 2002 (also linked from Data) that shows Low Pressure Sodium generating well over 100 lumens / watt (183 for the biggest lamps). Lumens is the standard measure of the amount of light emitted from a bulb. Watts are what we pay for and incandescent lights consume a lot of watts (e.g. 100W) to make not so many lumens (e.g. 1700 or 17 lumens/watt). More lumens / watt is better so here are some better-than-incandescent options.
Would you carryandtradeCFLs on your next trip?
CFLs (~75 lumens/watt)
Sources & Advice
]]> Mon, 21 Apr 2008 16:46:46 +0000 mod http://ec-users.pbwiki.com/FrontPage email.hidden@example.com (Soren (work laptop)) Soren (work laptop) edited FrontPage EnergyConsumption.org discusses watt meters and other energy-saving products. This wiki contains everything Soren hasn't yet been able to add to EnergyConsumption proper (that is to say, almost all of it. It is also, as the "users' wiki," a place for EnergyConsumption users to ask and answer questions, contribute ideas, and storm up fun and creative ways of getting at least as much out of life while using less energy.
This wiki is also the place to contribute your consumption data until EC proper has a database. If you have any related projects, shopping, or questions / observations, we'd love to have you contribute to the wiki. Your ideas will mix with others', making energy pondering a lot more fun.
Content (someday to ec.org proper?)EC Content (to migrate?)
Products: lowest-power product recommendations
Lighting
list of people willing to share their watt meters (and expertise)
Borrow a Meterenergyconsumption.org discusses power-saving de]]> Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:21:08 +0000 mod http://ec-users.pbwiki.com/FrontPage email.hidden@example.com (Soren (work laptop)) Soren (work laptop) edited FrontPage Welcome to the EnergyConsumption users wiki!
EnergyConsumption.org is currently a web site for people interested in discusses watt meters and saving power. other energy-saving products. This site wiki contains most of my ideas for the EnergyConsumption, but the ideas everything Soren hasn't yet been able to add to EnergyConsumption proper (that is to say, almost all of it. It is also, as the "users' wiki" is wiki," a place for EnergyConsumption users to ask and answer questions, contribute ideas, and storm up fun and creative ways of getting at least as much out of life while using less energy.
For now, this
This wiki is also the place to contribute your consumption data since main site doesn't yet have until EC proper has a database. If you have any related projects, shopping, or questions / observations, we'd love to h]]> Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:14:48 +0000 mod http://ec-users.pbwiki.com/Products email.hidden@example.com (Matt Lee) Matt Lee edited Products Lighting
PC Components
Wind Power
See pacwind.net for (last I checked) a 500-watt, 48" vertical axis residential wind turbine for under $3000, among other goodies.
Products to Find
Remote-switched power strip: You mount a mechanical switch by the door so that when you go home at night, you can cut power to everything your office. Vice versa on the way out in the morning. There are fancy "whole house power-off" buttons, but something that works for a single room would be cool and consume no power itself. Similar products include motion-sensingpowerstrips and Christmas Tree light switches with the switch at the end of a cord ... perhaps someone makes a three-prong version of such?
]]> Fri, 18 Apr 2008 15:34:22 +0000 mod http://ec-users.pbwiki.com/Products email.hidden@example.com (Soren Spies) Soren Spies edited Products PC Components
Products to Find
itself. Similar products include motion-sensingpowerstrips and Christmas Tree light switches with the switch at the end of a cord ... perhaps someone makes a three-prong version of such?
soft-off, soft-on sensor switch (I think these exist): motion-sensing power switches should always generally default to automatic mode ... but if you want to force them on or off, you can have a press the appropriate button for that which but it only last until they would stays in]]> Fri, 28 Mar 2008 12:10:34 +0000 mod http://ec-users.pbwiki.com/Data+Points email.hidden@example.com (Soren Spies) Soren Spies edited Data Points Energy Star's EnergyEfficiencyNews:ConsumerElectronics
Nokia makes EcoDeclarations for all their products (back to 2001)
Engadget has started covering Energy and Power monitoring (alttag?)
Points
Whole Foods, UTC, and a Connecticut Clean Energy Fund are puttingafuelcelloutback in an attempt to reclaim heat that would otherwise be lost during electricity generation. Presumably the (hydrogen?) fuel is coming from somewhere; how efficient is that process and is it using electricity? Also, we know that natural gas can power a fridge in a VW bus, but how efficient is turning to water into cooling?
]]> Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:41:44 +0000 mod