by Steve Brand |
Most people are unaware that the use of electricity is a huge contributor toward air pollution. It seems so clean. We plug a cord into the wall and there are no fumes, no gas or smoke. We do not see the pollutants; however, the production of electricity is typically achieved through burning coal or fossil fuels.
In fact, electricity generated by fossil fuels for a single home puts more carbon dioxide into the air than two average cars. In addition, as resources for producing energy become less abundant along with the associated costs to bring it to your home, the cost to supply electricity to homes and businesses continues to rise.
Your home uses energy all day long, every day. It not only uses energy to keep you warm or cool, it also provides hot water and light. The electronics that control our appliances, like clocks, computers, entertainment center, etc. are consuming energy 24 hours a day. The good news is that there are ways that we can save energy and money at home and place of business.
Ideas for saving energy
Traditional incandescent light bulbs are actually small heaters that produce a little light. These types of bulbs waste a lot of energy and generate a lot of heat for the amount of light that they produce. The use of energy saving light bulbs like LED or compact fluorescent lamps offer many advantages, such as lasting ten times longer as well as saving a considerable amount of energy and money.
Although the initial cost of the light bulb is a little higher, the savings far outweigh that cost. Consider an 8 watt LED light bulb that has an equivalent light output to a 60 watt incandescent bulb and lasts a projected 20,000 to 40,000 hours. Think of the money saved in purchasing light bulbs that last a fraction of that time, let alone trips to the store and all the hassles that go along with that, not to mention the energy savings.
Many businesses still use older style T-12 fluorescent lights and/or high intensity lighting in their warehouse or parking lots. These are areas of tremendous energy usage to a business.
If we look at a standard parking lot light, it is typically a 400 watt Metal Halide light bulb with a ballast kit to ignite and keep the lamp lit. The total wattage would be 456 watts. By disconnecting the ballast and replacing the lamp with a 90 watt LED bulb, the energy saving alone pays for the installation cost in less than a year. Other benefits include an extended life. The LED lamp is more environmentally friendly and doesn’t contain toxic material and the bulbs come on instantly as opposed to taking up to 10 minutes to cycle on.
In many cases, lights are left on in businesses or at home when no one is using the area. A motion sensor or occupancy sensor will reduce unnecessary
waste by shutting lights off in localized areas that are not in use.
More Ideas
- A good quality plug strip to turn off phantom power while not being used, i.e. DVD players, TVs, kitchen appliances, computer, etc. will save you money.
- Use timers for electric water heaters or install an on-demand water heater.
- Fill the washer, dryer or dish washer with full loads, rather than doing multiple small loads.
- Do not over dry your clothes.
- Ceiling fans move trapped air, therefore you can use them instead of your air conditioner, or to help your heating/air conditioner be more efficient.
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