Ways to save energy, carbon, or pollution - NOW!

Ways to save energy, carbon, or pollution - NOW!:

1. Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs -
especially those you leave on for an extended period. LEDs may be even
better. Fluorescent bulbs may contain mercury, so dispose of them
properly.

2. Use a clothesline whenever possible to dry clothes.

3. Walk, bicycle, or use public transit instead of driving a motor
vehicle.

4. Put a solar water heater or photovoltaic array on your roof.
Besides saving electricity, it helps keep the house cool. Lobby to get
photovoltaics installed over all of our roads, where they won't shade
any wildlife habitat. Rumor has it that Israel has invented a new,
cheaper, more efficient form of PV that uses a metal instead of
silicon.

5. Grow your own food. Not only will you save energy, but you will be
able to eat fresh, organic fruit, vegetables, and maybe even a few
chickens, if you are so inclined. In general, eat food that is grown
locally.

6. Paint your house white (in southern climates, to absorb less heat
from the sun) or dark (in northern climates, to absorb more heat from
the sun). Plant deciduous trees on the south side of the house to
provide shade in the summer.

7. Turn off the pilot light on your heater during the months
(March-November?) when you don't need it.

8. Insulate your house in the attic, below the floor, and in the
walls, preferably with recycled cotton denim insulation.

9. Share your energy-saving ideas as widely as possible.

I welcome other suggestions. I will update this document as I get new
ideas.
--
I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to
humans ("pure habitat"). Want to help? (I spent the previous 8
years fighting auto dependence and road construction.)

Please don't put a cell phone next to any part of your body that you are fond of!

http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande

On May 7, 8:08 am, Mike Vandeman wrote:
Ways to save energy, carbon, or pollution - NOW!:

1. Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs -
especially those you leave on for an extended period. LEDs may be even
better. Fluorescent bulbs may contain mercury, so dispose of them
properly.

Note that some believe that the mercury associated with these bulbs
presents a bigger risk than the incandescent use of energy. Also,
these do not work with dimmers, which can save as much and provide a
convenience that many desire.

2. Use a clothesline whenever possible to dry clothes.

3. Walk, bicycle, or use public transit instead of driving a motor
vehicle.

4. Put a solar water heater or photovoltaic array on your roof.
Besides saving electricity, it helps keep the house cool. Lobby to get
photovoltaics installed over all of our roads, where they won't shade
any wildlife habitat. Rumor has it that Israel has invented a new,
cheaper, more efficient form of PV that uses a metal instead of
silicon.

Routine PVs and solar have a little way to go yet. They are not yet
really mass-produced, thereby providing the economy of scale (in terms
of energy, resources and $$$); and Solar panels also contain small
amounts of heavy metals that will need to use energy to be either
disposed or reused. I don't know about the metal PV, but there is in
development a sheet that uses no heavy metals that may be inexpensive
and easy to replace when necessary - perfect for covering a rooftop.
About 8-10 years away.

5. Grow your own food. Not only will you save energy, but you will be
able to eat fresh, organic fruit, vegetables, and maybe even a few
chickens, if you are so inclined. In general, eat food that is grown
locally.

6. Paint your house white (in southern climates, to absorb less heat
from the sun) or dark (in northern climates, to absorb more heat from
the sun). Plant deciduous trees on the south side of the house to
provide shade in the summer.

7. Turn off the pilot light on your heater during the months
(March-November?) when you don't need it.

8. Insulate your house in the attic, below the floor, and in the
walls, preferably with recycled cotton denim insulation.

Pretty flammable stuff, just like the fairly common cellulose shreds.

Bruce Jensen

On 7 May 2007 09:09:54 -0700, Bruce Jensen
wrote:

On May 7, 8:08 am, Mike Vandeman wrote:
Ways to save energy, carbon, or pollution - NOW!:

1. Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs -
especially those you leave on for an extended period. LEDs may be even
better. Fluorescent bulbs may contain mercury, so dispose of them
properly.

Note that some believe that the mercury associated with these bulbs
presents a bigger risk than the incandescent use of energy.

Not if disposed of properly. It's better to have the mercury
controlled, than loose in the environment.

Also,
these do not work with dimmers, which can save as much and provide a
convenience that many desire.

Dimmers don't save energy.

2. Use a clothesline whenever possible to dry clothes.

3. Walk, bicycle, or use public transit instead of driving a motor
vehicle.

4. Put a solar water heater or photovoltaic array on your roof.
Besides saving electricity, it helps keep the house cool. Lobby to get
photovoltaics installed over all of our roads, where they won't shade
any wildlife habitat. Rumor has it that Israel has invented a new,
cheaper, more efficient form of PV that uses a metal instead of
silicon.

Routine PVs and solar have a little way to go yet. They are not yet
really mass-produced, thereby providing the economy of scale (in terms
of energy, resources and $$$); and Solar panels also contain small
amounts of heavy metals that will need to use energy to be either
disposed or reused. I don't know about the metal PV, but there is in
development a sheet that uses no heavy metals that may be inexpensive
and easy to replace when necessary - perfect for covering a rooftop.
About 8-10 years away.

5. Grow your own food. Not only will you save energy, but you will be
able to eat fresh, organic fruit, vegetables, and maybe even a few
chickens, if you are so inclined. In general, eat food that is grown
locally.

6. Paint your house white (in southern climates, to absorb less heat
from the sun) or dark (in northern climates, to absorb more heat from
the sun). Plant deciduous trees on the south side of the house to
provide shade in the summer.

7. Turn off the pilot light on your heater during the months
(March-November?) when you don't need it.

8. Insulate your house in the attic, below the floor, and in the
walls, preferably with recycled cotton denim insulation.

Pretty flammable stuff, just like the fairly common cellulose shreds.

Good point. Can it be fireproofed?

Bruce Jensen
--
I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to
humans ("pure habitat"). Want to help? (I spent the previous 8
years fighting auto dependence and road construction.)

Please don't put a cell phone next to any part of your body that you are fond of!

http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande

Mike Vandeman wrote in
:

On 7 May 2007 09:09:54 -0700, Bruce Jensen
wrote:

On May 7, 8:08 am, Mike Vandeman wrote:
Ways to save energy, carbon, or pollution - NOW!:

1. Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs -
especially those you leave on for an extended period. LEDs may be
even
better. Fluorescent bulbs may contain mercury, so dispose of them
properly.

Note that some believe that the mercury associated with these bulbs
presents a bigger risk than the incandescent use of energy.

Not if disposed of properly. It's better to have the mercury
controlled, than loose in the environment.

Also,
these do not work with dimmers, which can save as much and provide a
convenience that many desire.

Dimmers don't save energy.

Actually they do. Dimmers circuits are constructed from SCR's and
triacs. Both of these semiconductor devises are switched on for a
portion of the 60Hz cycle. Thus saving energy.


2. Use a clothesline whenever possible to dry clothes.

3. Walk, bicycle, or use public transit instead of driving a motor
vehicle.

4. Put a solar water heater or photovoltaic array on your roof.
Besides saving electricity, it helps keep the house cool. Lobby to
get
photovoltaics installed over all of our roads, where they won't
shade
any wildlife habitat. Rumor has it that Israel has invented a new,
cheaper, more efficient form of PV that uses a metal instead of
silicon.

Routine PVs and solar have a little way to go yet. They are not yet
really mass-produced, thereby providing the economy of scale (in terms
of energy, resources and $$$); and Solar panels also contain small
amounts of heavy metals that will need to use energy to be either
disposed or reused. I don't know about the metal PV, but there is in
development a sheet that uses no heavy metals that may be inexpensive
and easy to replace when necessary - perfect for covering a rooftop.
About 8-10 years away.

The German and the Japanese Governments are providing their citizens
huge tax incentives to install PV. Lobby our government to do the same.
The price will fall once mass production begins


5. Grow your own food. Not only will you save energy, but you will
be
able to eat fresh, organic fruit, vegetables, and maybe even a few
chickens, if you are so inclined. In general, eat food that is grown
locally.

6. Paint your house white (in southern climates, to absorb less heat
from the sun) or dark (in northern climates, to absorb more heat
from
the sun). Plant deciduous trees on the south side of the house to
provide shade in the summer.

7. Turn off the pilot light on your heater during the months
(March-November?) when you don't need it.

8. Insulate your house in the attic, below the floor, and in the
walls, preferably with recycled cotton denim insulation.

Pretty flammable stuff, just like the fairly common cellulose shreds.

Good point. Can it be fireproofed?

Yeah, but many of the chemicals used in fireproofing (fire retardants
actually) can in themselves be quite nasty.


Bruce Jensen


--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

On May 8, 5:32 am, Chris wrote:

On May 7, 8:08 am, Mike Vandeman wrote:
Ways to save energy, carbon, or pollution - NOW!:

1. Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs -
especially those you leave on for an extended period. LEDs may be
even better. Fluorescent bulbs may contain mercury, so dispose of them
properly.

Note that some believe that the mercury associated with these bulbs
presents a bigger risk than the incandescent use of energy.

Not if disposed of properly. It's better to have the mercury
controlled, than loose in the environment.

I absolutely agree, but you have to get around that other way of
thinking.

Also,
these do not work with dimmers, which can save as much and provide a
convenience that many desire.

Dimmers don't save energy.

Actually they do. Dimmers circuits are constructed from SCR's and
triacs. Both of these semiconductor devises are switched on for a
portion of the 60Hz cycle. Thus saving energy.

That is what I had understood as well, although you described it
better than I could :-)

4. Put a solar water heater or photovoltaic array on your roof.
Besides saving electricity, it helps keep the house cool. Lobby to
get photovoltaics installed over all of our roads, where they won't
shade any wildlife habitat. Rumor has it that Israel has invented a new,
cheaper, more efficient form of PV that uses a metal instead of
silicon.

Routine PVs and solar have a little way to go yet. They are not yet
really mass-produced, thereby providing the economy of scale (in terms
of energy, resources and $$$); and Solar panels also contain small
amounts of heavy metals that will need to use energy to be either
disposed or reused. I don't know about the metal PV, but there is in
development a sheet that uses no heavy metals that may be inexpensive
and easy to replace when necessary - perfect for covering a rooftop.
About 8-10 years away.

The German and the Japanese Governments are providing their citizens
huge tax incentives to install PV. Lobby our government to do the same.
The price will fall once mass production begins

Again, I agree. I intended to watch the NOVA program on PBS about
this very topic last night, but only was able to record it - I hope to
get to it this week.

Here at Alameda County offices, we have quite an array over the
parking lot - I understand that the meter turns backwards now pretty
quickly. I am curious how long, if ever, this system will take to
"break even" financially.

I've seen some very good articles lately about geothermal heat pumps
as well - another technology that is ripe for the exploitation but
hasn't quite caught fire yet.

8. Insulate your house in the attic, below the floor, and in the
walls, preferably with recycled cotton denim insulation.

Pretty flammable stuff, just like the fairly common cellulose shreds.

Good point. Can it be fireproofed?

Yeah, but many of the chemicals used in fireproofing (fire retardants
actually) can in themselves be quite nasty.

OTOH, new/good wiring in new homes according to code is unlikely to
create much of a fire hazard - and until we learn to build with fire
resisitant materials, houses will be mostly tinder anyway. Might be
worthwhile to just live with it and be reasonably careful (I haven't
burnt down my house yet with those Christmas Eve bonfires!).

Bruce Jensen

On 08 May 2007 12:32:56 GMT, Chris wrote:

Mike Vandeman wrote in
:

On 7 May 2007 09:09:54 -0700, Bruce Jensen
wrote:

On May 7, 8:08 am, Mike Vandeman wrote:
Ways to save energy, carbon, or pollution - NOW!:

1. Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs -
especially those you leave on for an extended period. LEDs may be
even
better. Fluorescent bulbs may contain mercury, so dispose of them
properly.

Note that some believe that the mercury associated with these bulbs
presents a bigger risk than the incandescent use of energy.

Not if disposed of properly. It's better to have the mercury
controlled, than loose in the environment.

Also,
these do not work with dimmers, which can save as much and provide a
convenience that many desire.

Dimmers don't save energy.

Actually they do. Dimmers circuits are constructed from SCR's and
triacs. Both of these semiconductor devises are switched on for a
portion of the 60Hz cycle. Thus saving energy.

That depends on when they were made. Also, compared to fluorescents,
they DON'T save energy.

2. Use a clothesline whenever possible to dry clothes.

3. Walk, bicycle, or use public transit instead of driving a motor
vehicle.

4. Put a solar water heater or photovoltaic array on your roof.
Besides saving electricity, it helps keep the house cool. Lobby to
get
photovoltaics installed over all of our roads, where they won't
shade
any wildlife habitat. Rumor has it that Israel has invented a new,
cheaper, more efficient form of PV that uses a metal instead of
silicon.

Routine PVs and solar have a little way to go yet. They are not yet
really mass-produced, thereby providing the economy of scale (in terms
of energy, resources and $$$); and Solar panels also contain small
amounts of heavy metals that will need to use energy to be either
disposed or reused. I don't know about the metal PV, but there is in
development a sheet that uses no heavy metals that may be inexpensive
and easy to replace when necessary - perfect for covering a rooftop.
About 8-10 years away.

The German and the Japanese Governments are providing their citizens
huge tax incentives to install PV. Lobby our government to do the same.
The price will fall once mass production begins


5. Grow your own food. Not only will you save energy, but you will
be
able to eat fresh, organic fruit, vegetables, and maybe even a few
chickens, if you are so inclined. In general, eat food that is grown
locally.

6. Paint your house white (in southern climates, to absorb less heat
from the sun) or dark (in northern climates, to absorb more heat
from
the sun). Plant deciduous trees on the south side of the house to
provide shade in the summer.

7. Turn off the pilot light on your heater during the months
(March-November?) when you don't need it.

8. Insulate your house in the attic, below the floor, and in the
walls, preferably with recycled cotton denim insulation.

Pretty flammable stuff, just like the fairly common cellulose shreds.

Good point. Can it be fireproofed?

Yeah, but many of the chemicals used in fireproofing (fire retardants
actually) can in themselves be quite nasty.

That's what I thought. I added " (unless being flammable is a
problem)".
--
I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to
humans ("pure habitat"). Want to help? (I spent the previous 8
years fighting auto dependence and road construction.)

Please don't put a cell phone next to any part of your body that you are fond of!

http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande

"Mike Vandeman" wrote in message
...
Ways to save energy, carbon, or pollution - NOW!:

1. Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs -
especially those you leave on for an extended period. LEDs may be even
better. Fluorescent bulbs may contain mercury, so dispose of them
properly.

2. Use a clothesline whenever possible to dry clothes.

3. Walk, bicycle, or use public transit instead of driving a motor
vehicle.

4. Put a solar water heater or photovoltaic array on your roof.
Besides saving electricity, it helps keep the house cool.

DO NOT do this because it might help keep the house cool. I have solar
panels on my roof to heat the pool water, and there is no benefit from the
perspective of keeping the house cool. At least, there is no discernable
benefit.

Another thing to think about, solar panels for the pool demand the pool pump
be running during the day, but the utility company wants the pool pump to be
off during the day. I'm not disputing that solar panels for the pool are
good, I really enjoy mine and I get several additional swimming days -- I
estimate I get about 120 extra swim days -- per year and I can keep my pool
heated to 86+ for a very long time with solar while my neighbors get less
than 80 unless they turn on the heater. On the hottest days of summer, I
actually have to shut the solar panels off because the pool water can easily
get to 90+.






Lobby to get
photovoltaics installed over all of our roads, where they won't shade
any wildlife habitat. Rumor has it that Israel has invented a new,
cheaper, more efficient form of PV that uses a metal instead of
silicon.

5. Grow your own food. Not only will you save energy, but you will be
able to eat fresh, organic fruit, vegetables, and maybe even a few
chickens, if you are so inclined. In general, eat food that is grown
locally.

6. Paint your house white (in southern climates, to absorb less heat
from the sun) or dark (in northern climates, to absorb more heat from
the sun). Plant deciduous trees on the south side of the house to
provide shade in the summer.

7. Turn off the pilot light on your heater during the months
(March-November?) when you don't need it.

8. Insulate your house in the attic, below the floor, and in the
walls, preferably with recycled cotton denim insulation.

9. Share your energy-saving ideas as widely as possible.

I welcome other suggestions. I will update this document as I get new
ideas.



Assuming YOU came up with this list, you have finally made a suggestion that
has environmental merit. Maybe there's hope for you after all.

"Bruce Jensen" wrote in message
oups.com...
On May 7, 8:08 am, Mike Vandeman wrote:
Ways to save energy, carbon, or pollution - NOW!:

1. Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs -
especially those you leave on for an extended period. LEDs may be even
better. Fluorescent bulbs may contain mercury, so dispose of them
properly.

Note that some believe that the mercury associated with these bulbs
presents a bigger risk than the incandescent use of energy. Also,
these do not work with dimmers, which can save as much and provide a
convenience that many desire.


I use dimmers an nearly every light bulb in my house -- with the obvious
exception of the fluorescents. I find the dimmers especially useful in the
bathrooms because we can set the light output to that of a night light if we
get up in the middle of the night to use the toilet. There's nothing worse
than waking up in the middle of the night and burning holes in your retnas,
except that peeing on the floor could be worse.

We also set the light in the television room to "theater lighting" when we
watch TV. Instead of having full lighting, we have about 25 watts or less
from the overhead. The effect is nice and the energy consumption is very
low.

I have been doing this for about 20 years ...

On May 8, 8:45 am, "Jeff Strickland" wrote:

4. Put a solar water heater or photovoltaic array on your roof.
Besides saving electricity, it helps keep the house cool.

DO NOT do this because it might help keep the house cool. I have solar
panels on my roof to heat the pool water, and there is no benefit from the
perspective of keeping the house cool. At least, there is no discernable
benefit.

Jeff - So absorption of the solar radiation, conversion to water heat
and transfer of this heat to the pool does not *noticeably* siphon
away any of the heat that would otherwise conduct through the roof?
It sounded like such a good idea!

BJ

"Bruce Jensen" wrote in message
ups.com...
On May 8, 8:45 am, "Jeff Strickland" wrote:

4. Put a solar water heater or photovoltaic array on your roof.
Besides saving electricity, it helps keep the house cool.

DO NOT do this because it might help keep the house cool. I have solar
panels on my roof to heat the pool water, and there is no benefit from
the
perspective of keeping the house cool. At least, there is no discernable
benefit.

Jeff - So absorption of the solar radiation, conversion to water heat
and transfer of this heat to the pool does not *noticeably* siphon
away any of the heat that would otherwise conduct through the roof?
It sounded like such a good idea!

BJ



I suppose that when there is enough solar heat to warm the pool water, there
is so much OTHER surface area of the house that is being soaked in sunlight,
that a relative small square footage of roof top covered in black panels
doesn't have much of an overall effect.