The chart instantly shows us the last seven days of electricity usage in Kilo Watt Hours (kWh) and at what points during each day we experienced highs and lows of usage;

Reliant Energy - Our Electricity Usage Chart

Our electricity usage is always highest in the evening and that is probably due to air conditioning, perhaps cooking with the oven, running the washer and dryer, watching television etc.

Our average daily cost was $7.09 and the most expensive day was Thursday topping the charts at $9.10 in electricity usage.

This is the first week we have seen the summary come through and we love it!

Check out more details about the Reliant Energy e-sense program here;

http://www.reliant.com/PublicResourceDispatcher?pageAlias=Shop_eSense_Residential

The Double Glazing term relates from double to tripled paned glass windows separated by an air or other gas filled space to reduce heat transfer. Pretty groovy, huh? Insulated Glass Units (IGUs) are manufactured with laminated or tempered glass that varies in thickness from 3 mm to 10 mm or sometimes even more in special applications. This is a very important feature to consider for your home because nearly 25% of the energy used to heat and cool your home is lost through ineffective single glazed windows. Let’s face it, any improvement that results in a smaller carbon footprint, reduces drafts and cold spots, and conserves the air temperature of your home, gets the thumbs up in my book.

We found an excellent UK based company called Zenith Windows who explained to us how their double glazed windows help reduce energy  bills;

Typically, the glass panes are separated by a spacer. A spacer is the piece that separates the two panes of glass, and seals the gas space between them. Historically, spacers were made primarily of metal, which manufacturers believed provided more durability.

We recently had a home energy survey conducted and our old windows show plenty of hot spots, check out this thermal camera image below;

Our Inneficient Single Glazed Windows!

The Zenith Windows site shows a startling image of how a double glazed window compares, check out their comparison of the thermal image signatures below;

Double vs Single Glazed Windows

The bottom line is, if you are thinking of replacing your old windows, make sure you pick an energy efficient double glazed window and then you can relax and watch the energy savings pile up!

Thanks for reading, if you would like to share your success stories from changing to double glazed windows we would love to hear from you, just leave a comment…

We had been searching for an affordable LED light bulb which would give us energy saving over incandescent or compact fluorescent bulbs whilst maintaining the warm white feel that we are accustomed to. We tested the dimmable globe LED bulb model E27D-A19-WW4 from SuperBrightLEDs.com (P.S. The WW part of the code stands for “Warm White” so we were excited to see the results!)

The first thing we love about the SuperBrightLEDs.com site is the excellent product information. At a glance we could see that our test bulb runs on 120 Volts AC, it has a brightness output of 285 lumens, it provides a 360 degree light beam pattern and it costs $29.95.

Super Bright LEDs Spec Sheet - E27D-A19-WW4

I have a very engineering oriented brain so I love that SuperBrightLEDs.com has all these technical specs! They even have a dimension drawing;

LED Light Bulb Dimensions!

We received the Warm White LED bulb perfectly packaged and in pristine condition and couldn’t wait to get it screwed into a light fixture and tested.

The SuperBrightLEDs.com Warm White Bulb

The bulb was clearly a high quality and durable design which is backed up by the specifications which state an estimated 30,000 hour life.

The E27D Warm White LED

We already knew that this bulb would save us energy but we really wanted to know how it compared in terms of light output and especially the warmth of the lighting, we had tried LED bulbs in the past which provided a very harsh cold white light, we wanted that warm incandescent bulb feel combined with the energy savings of an LED bulb.

The E27D bulb plugged in to our living room lamp perfectly. Our living room lamp holds two bulbs so we kept one side with the compact fluorescent bulb while the other side had the new LED bulb from SuperBrightLEDs.com;

Compact Fluorescent Bulb

The E27D Warm White LED from SuperBrightLEDs.com

We compared the new LED bulb to the old Compact Fluorescent bulb and  we were pleasantly surprised, the LED bulb gave off a very warm light and we love the instant light that it provides. The old compact fluorescent bulb takes a couple of minutes to warm up to its full brightness whereas the E27D LED is instantly on at its full brightness.

If you would like to order the same bulb you can find it here at SuperBrightLEDs.com;

http://www.superbrightleds.com/E27D-A19-W4.htm

The Super Bright LEDs Website

One of the most interesting facts is that having a hot shower followed by blow drying hair is one of the largest consumers!

Check out the full infographic below for the full story…

Source by Power SuperSite

]]> http://www.oureverydayearth.com/an-interesting-infographic-power-consumption-facts-for-the-usa/feed/ 0 http://www.oureverydayearth.com/ten-ways-to-create-an-eco-friendly-home-2/ http://www.oureverydayearth.com/ten-ways-to-create-an-eco-friendly-home-2/#comments Tue, 28 Jun 2011 02:10:22 +0000 firespin http://www.oureverydayearth.com/?p=7926 Living in an eco-friendly home doesn’t mean you have to transform your pad into a tree house. Even if you are restricted to a tight budget, there are ways you can help to protect the environment. The smallest of changes can make a big difference and still save you cash. There is no better time than now for going green. You can reduce your carbon footprint without sacrificing your comfort by following the 10 tips listed below.

10 Ways to Make an Eco Home

1. Energy Saving Light Bulbs

Manufacturers in the UK have replaced the traditional incandescent light bulbs with energy saving, compact fluorescent, light bulbs. These new compact light bulbs are brighter, last longer and are available in a variety of sizes. Your savings can average around $4 (£2.50) a year per bulb by using the energy saving light bulbs throughout your home.

2. Save on Heat Cost

When the weather turns cold, you want your home to remain warm inside. A poorly insulated home loses much of its heat through the roof and the walls. Replace the old insulation with new and improved insulation to save on energy and reduce your heating bills.

3. Decrease Use of Tumble Dryer

Tumble dryers are energy guzzlers that use a large amount of electricity. Whenever possible, hang your laundry outside and let air dry on a clothesline. Within a month, you should see a huge reduction in your electrical bill.

4. Fit Aerators to your Taps

Stop letting your hard earned money go down the drain. Reduce your water bill by fitting aerators to your taps. These energy saving gadgets work by mixing the water flow with air. Your taps will have a fuller flow, but less water usage. If you are replacing your old taps, buy new ones that are already fitted with aerators. To save even more on your water bill, replace your regular toilet with a low flow toilet that uses less water with each flush.

5. Solar Panels

Fit solar panels to your home to save on energy and lower your electrical bill. Solar panels work by harnessing the sun’s energy and converting it into electricity. Investing in solar panels can be expensive, so consider the benefits and possible savings before purchasing.

6. Draft Proof your Home

Cold air flowing through your home can quickly raise your energy bill. Draft proof your home by sealing off all door and windows where the cold air can come in from. You can easily find the supplies you need for sealing a home at all Do-It-Yourself stores.

7. Double Glazing

To help lower the cost of your heating bill, have your home fitted with double glazing. These are two layer glass windows with a spacer between the panes. They are sealed permanently together to keep the heat trapped inside your home.

8. Motion Sensor Light Bulbs

It’s easy to get in the habit of leaving the lights on even when you have left the room. This results in the usage of unnecessary energy and can quickly increase your electrical bill. By using motion sensor light bulbs, you can save on your energy bill. They will detect when no one is in the room and automatically turn off after a certain amount of time.

9. Composting

You can help to protect the environment by composting old food and table scraps. Purchase a recycling bin for fruits and vegetables that have become over ripe and toss in leftover foods from your meals. You can use this organic waste as compost for the plants in your garden.

10. Collect Rain Water

Every year the UK and US receive an abundance of rain. Instead of being an annoyance, the weather can be used to your advantage by helping to protect the environment and save on your water bill. Collect the rain in a water barrel or water butt that is attached to your external drainpipe. When the water butt is full, you can use the rain water you have collected to water your garden.

Just by making some of these changes, you can help to protect the environment while saving on your energy bill. To help more with your savings, search online for a Carbon Footprint Calculator.

How can this improve your Energy Performance Certificate when Selling your Home

In the UK today it is a legal requirement when you are selling or letting your home to have an energy performance certificate (EPC) carried out for the property to assess how energy efficient it is. Following these Steps will definitely go a long way to giving your home a better EPC rating. If you are selling or letting your home and are looking for an EPC provider why not visit My Online Estate Agent for a guide on how to chose the right one.

Tracking Our Refrigerator Energy Usage with the P3 Kill-A-Watt Wireless

We collected eight days worth of energy usage including some worst case scenarios such as a full grocery shopping expedition, we realized that putting up our groceries was the event which required the refrigerator to be open the longest, it also introduces lots of warm food and drink which requires extra work to chill back down.

The Running Total for Our Refrigerator

Over the eight days that we monitored the P3 Kill-A-Watt tracked approximately 14.25 Kilowatt Hours of energy which cost us $1.62.

We recently switched to our current refrigerator and knew that it was energy star rated, the energy usage results certainly backed this up, the predicted total energy usage for an entire year was 613 Kilowatt Hours which would cost us $69.89;

The Predicted Total Energy Cost for 1 Year of Refrigerator Usage

We were pleasantly surprised that our refrigerator didn’t use too much energy, we also saw that if we want to save money we probably need to focus on another area of energy usage.

Our quest to track our electricity usage continues, to summarize the results so far;

• Electric Kettle (used to boil water for tea and coffee) = $7.45 per year
• Television (used for around 5-7 hrs per day) = $40 per year
• Refrigerator = $70 per year

Our next target for energy monitoring is going to be our garage door opener, check back soon for the results!

If you are interested in buying the Kill-A-Watt Wireless you can visit their store here;
P3 Kill-A-Watt Wireless

A typical day of television watching in our household consists of a couple of hours watching the news in the morning and then around 3-5 hours of drama / sports etc., in the evening.
I expected our TV would use a large amount of electricity and wanted to know exactly how much.
For reference, the TV we monitored is a 42″ LCD made by Vizio.
Plugging in the Kill-A-Watt Wireless transmitter was easy;

All we had to do to collect the usage data was sit back and enjoy our favorite television shows for three days, we set about this task with enthusiasm and watched as the data piled up!
We collected a total of 89 hours worth of usage data, this was almost 4 days of monitoring the TV while it was switched on and off.

We were pleasantly surprised by the results!
The Kill-A-Watt Wireless showed that our TV uses just 11 cents per day in electricity, that equates to roughly $40 per year, which isn’t bad at all.

The P3 Kill-A-Watt Wireless also told us that our television uses less than 1 Amp and less than 1000 Watts when in use.

Our quest to track our electricity usage continues, to summarize the results so far;
Electric Kettle (used to boil water for tea and coffee) = $7.45 per year
Television (used for around 5-7 hrs per day) = $40 per year

Our next target for energy monitoring is going to be our trusty refrigerator, check back soon for the results!

If you are interested in buying the Kill-A-Watt Wireless you can visit their store here;
P3 Kill-A-Watt Wireless

Americans produce more than 5 billion, yes billion, pounds of computer waste annually. According to the EPA, they also simply dump about 82 percent of computers straight into the landfill. More than forty million went right to the landfill in 2007. This is 40 million too many and dedicated techies have to get a new computer every 2.5 years, on average, just to keep up with the latest advances.

How to Make Your Office PC a Little Greener!

Here I have organized some tips on how to make your computer energy efficient and save you money, plus help with the environment at the same time. There are a few cross-over tips as well, such as using energy-saving appliances and energy-efficient light bulbs, reducing, recycling, reusing and my own “invention” — reinventing. Adjusting your office thermostat also helps cut down on energy use. Throw on a sweater, and don’t just turn up the heat!

Switch That Monitor Off

Computer displays use a lot of energy. As a rule of thumb the bigger they get the more energy they use (though recent models tend to be much more energy efficient than older one’s). Almost 1/3 of your computer’s energy use is for the monitor. Change your settings so that the monitor powers down when you’re away from the desk. Either switch to sleep, or simply turn off all together. Lower the brightness of the monitor if you can do so without straining your eyes, as this uses less energy, too. Sometimes, this can even reduce eye strain.

Don’t Use a Screensaver

These were designed to protect old monitors. LCD or LED monitors don’t need them. Animated screensavers don’t save any energy and they make your computer hotter. If you turn off the screensaver you can save up to $75 annually per monitor according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Turn on Energy-Saving Modes

Don’t leave your computer always powered-on unless you need remote access to it, need to receive faxes, or for some other valid reason. Read up on the PC manual (online or through the machine) about how to clean your registry or defragment. This will also save a lot of boot-up time. Enable standby or hibernate modes if you have to leave your PC on. I’ve asked myself what the difference is between the two modes, and then I found out. Here’s the scoop: In standby the computer uses little energy, you’ll be up and running as soon as you return to it, but it uses more than in hibernate. In hibernate, the computer doesn’t use any power. Your power-up will take a few seconds longer.

Tune Up Your PC

Proper maintenance is great for reducing waste. Like your car, tune-up your PC and you’ll save money and energy. It will also perform better. There are plenty of free PC tune-up software programs like Ccleaner you can use to make your PC more efficient and energy saving. When you keep a computer in better shape there won’t be the need to buy a new one so soon. Good for both your bank account, and the environment!

Recycle Responsibly

If you have to say goodbye, don’t do it without taking the machine apart first. You can also choose to make a donation to help charities and schools. Techsoup is a non-profit organization that provides links to recycling and refurbishing resources that accept computer donations. Never forget to take off all personal info from the computer before recycling it or donating it. You have to use data wiping software to be safe, as simply deleting files won’t work.

Always Buy Green if You Can

Research for those “green” models first, before buying. Major manufacturers offer greener and greener machines every year. They either use some recycled materials, use less energy, or contain more rechargeable and reusable components, or a combo of all.

The greenest way to go green is downsizing your computer. Laptops and tablet and netbooks are great for travel, too. These portable and smaller computers have efficient energy-saving features built-in so the user can get more hours of battery life out of each charge. The fact is, laptops may use 50% less energy than a desktop computer. And think of the savings when they are manufactured — they use far less materials than a desktop and monitor.

One last bonus is that the new tablet-type computers, either a PC or an Apple, are very cool and their features are outstanding. No printed instructions and CDs or DVDs for programs — the mini programs they use are called apps, short for applications, and you can download them from the various online stores in minutes, and they cost from a buck to just a couple, or are even free!

Lloyd Burrell is the owner and publisher of OfficeDeskReviews.com. He writes reviews on all types of contemporary office desk furniture. If you are looking for eco office desk furniture that is reasonably priced then a south shore computer desk made out of recycled CARB compliant particle panels is a good choice. Lloyd lives on the West Coast of France with his wife and 2 children.

Solar Water Heaters Are Becoming More Popular and Cost Effective

Image by hardworkinghippy

The introduction of renewable sources of energy has posed a problem that for sometime has been only looked at intermittently by the market. This has been generally because it requires an amount of work and also expense. The present cost of fuel and the rush for renewables has given a new impetus to the market, and the market has had to adapt. In the case of solar power the heating panels that have been able to be connected to the boiler system have been able to supply some of the hot water, the problem has been that when the temperature of the hot water dropped then the gas boiler switched on automatically and supplied the necessary energy. Unfortunately in many cases that energy could have been supplied in time by the solar panels and so the units were fairly inefficient in their use of the solar heating. This problem has been looked at by most of the major boiler manufacturers and some solutions are beginning to find their way into the market.

One of the most innovative appears to be the introduction of a separate system which uses a boiler to collect the hot water from the solar panels and the gas boiler works as a separate system but in tandem only coming in when the energy supplied by the solar panels is insufficient to supply the instant household demands. There is obviously an extra cost for having the two systems running in tandem, but the savings more than justify the usage and the solar system can supply most of the energy. Even on a dull day the solar panels can provide enough heat to supply all the hot water that a family needs, and with today’s fuel costs going up by a tremendous amount over the past few months it has become a major requirement for many families to reduce their dependence on carbon based fuels. The volatile nature of the Middle East political scene has only made matters worse and the many governments are driving towards green energy so we could see grant aid as well.

We’d love to hear from you, let us know if you have considered a hybrid hot water heating system or perhaps you already have a solar water heater installed?

Our Warm White LED Light Bulb from LightInTheBox.com

We ordered and received our warm white LED light bulb from LightInTheBox.com an online store which has many choices for the eco conscious lighting enthusiast.

The Warm White LED Light Bulb

Looking at the warm white LED bulb up close you can see that it looks slightly different to a traditional LED bulb, the individual LED’s have a yellow dot in the center and the soldered joints can clearly be seen. This particular bulb is a 60 LED count warm white light LED which produces 240 lumens of light.

If we wanted to quantify the brightness of this bulb with a traditional incandescent then its 240 lumens would be roughly equivalent to a 30 Watt incandescent bulb or a 10 Watt CFL.

Here are the detailed specifications for the groovy warm white light LED bulb;

- Luminous Flux (Brightness): 240 Lumen

- Color Temperature: 3000-3500K warm white

- Connector: E27 standard (Screw in type)

- Rated voltage: 110V

- 60 super bright light emitting diodes (LEDs) inserted

- Dimensions: 2.48 in x 2.48 in x 2.2 in (6.3 cm x 6.3 cm x 5.6 cm)

- Weight: 2.82 oz (80 g)

Warm Light 60 Count LED Bulb Closeup

The bulb housing is a super reflective polished metal which makes it a nice finish if the bulb is being used where the housing is visible.

This particular bulb has the standard E27 screw in type fitting.

LED Light Bulb With Screw in Fitting

So How Does The Warm White LED Compare to CFLs?

We ran a quick comparison with a CFL light bulb, here we have a normal CFL fitted into our light test stand, here we see it switched off;

CFL Light Comparison Switched Off

By comparison when we fitted the 60-LED warm white light LED bulb into the test stand you can see how much space it saves, it has a very low profile and doesn’t take up anywhere near as much space as the CFL.

Warm White LED Bulb Switched Off

Here we see the CFL switched on, this particular bulb was equivalent to a 60W incandescent;

CFL Light Comparison Switched On

Here we see the 60-LED count bulb switched on, it produces a warm white light roughly equivalent  to a 30W incandescent bulb.

Warm White LED Bulb Switched On

SO…. To sum things up, we love our new warm white light LED bulb, we feel that its brightness of 240 lumen is perfect for a desk lamp or office light and we will be using it to light up our workspace for all our green blogging happy in the knowledge that our LED light is super efficient and energy saving!

For more information visit LightInTheBox.com;