Archive for energy

Energy efficient gadgets

February 20, 2007 at 8:09 pm · Filed under Life style, energy

Energy Savings Trust logo

I’m attempting to compile a list of resources for finding out about energy efficiency as applied to gadgets, computers etc. I’ve noted that the UK has for a long time had an efficiency ratings scheme for white goods (fridges, washing machines etc.), I think it’s about time we had the same thing for electronics…

Here’s a company making a start – VeryPC market a couple of PCs that don’t use more than a high-powered laptop (40 – 60W).

An article from ZD-Net discussing the factors which affect power usage.

Have a look at some of the interesting devices on display at greatgreengadgets.com. It’s a US-based site so their reference to the government attempts at promoting energy efficiency in regards to electronics – EPEAT and Energy Star – isn’t going to be directly applicable to everyone; but are interesting none-the-less.

Here in the UK, our government is also muttering about “doing something about efficiency”, in the form of conferences and the Energy Savings Trust. This is a start, but hardly provides very much information, compared to the EU-wide Energy Label system for white goods.  This actually provides some info about the energy usage and a graded rating label for direct comparisons – but why don’t we apply the same system to all electrical goods?

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Home resource and energy audit

January 28, 2007 at 6:32 pm · Filed under Life style, energy, home

Many years ago I took part in a school project that involved doing an energy audit. We measured various heat loss parameters for the main building and took meter readings over a period of time.

So I thought I’d do the same thing for my house. I’ve not yet worked out the details of how to calculate heat-loss values for the different parts of the building, but have started to monitor (and graph) my electricity, gas and water usage (now that I’ve a water meter). This Excel spreadsheet template is a first step at monitoring resource usage over time.

It’s possible to also calculate the equivalent CO2 usage but this isn’t straight-forward for electricity (depends upon generation method, transmission losses for your area etc.). I have included a calculation for gas, however. See the Resurgence pages for information on how to calculate CO2 emissions for various energy sources.  Their calculators cover a large range of energy use but offer quite a course resolution (typically one year).  My spreadsheet offers as detailed a look at resource usage in your home as you wish :-)

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Electricity Usage Monitoring

January 4, 2007 at 7:29 pm · Filed under Energy supply, energy

The Electrisave display

I bought an Electrisave wireless monitoring device a while ago (now costs between about £60 and £70). It works by beaming a signal from an induction device connected to my power line to an LCD display in my lounge. I can view the instantaneous (well every 6 sec or 1 min) cost, usage or CO2 output in addition to temperature and humidity (useful heating regulation info).

Although I’d already replaced most of my lights with energy efficient versions and tended to turn devices off, it’s still been a useful guide. In particular, it’s made me think about my baseline energy usage (about 300W) and the huge amount of power that the washing machine, kettle etc. use. Will most definitely be looking for energy efficient versions when replacing (the UK has a reasonable system of labelling white goods with energy efficiency ratings – would be nice to know about the miriad other gadgets too).

Perhaps a campaign to persuade gadget reviewers to test the power usage of the items they review is needed? My PC/server tends to be on all the time (for TV recording etc.) and it would be useful to have readily available info about the expected power consumption of it’s innards.

Knowing your base-line usage may also be useful when deciding if to buy a home generation device – if you know that there will be a consistent 300W requirement then the choice may be easier/better informed.

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Off-setting

December 23, 2006 at 3:32 pm · Filed under Policy, energy, renewable energy

Now here’s a slightly tricky subject. There are an increasing number of ways to offset your CO2, but how to know which is best or even if your chosen method is effective? It’s a complicated subject and still much debated in scientific circles. To date, I’ve signed up with BP’s Target Neutral campaign, which allows you to offset vehicle emissions by helping them pay for projects (mostly renewable energy related in poorer countries). However, I think I could do better – not least in handling the issues mentioned earlier.

Areas still to work on:

  • Select the most appropriate method of offsetting.  The UK government has re-kindled the discussion regarding how to define (effective)  offsetting by issuing some guidelines that affect the 60-odd companies based in the UK.  Only 4 fulfilled all their criteria apparently!
  • My central heating is gas powered, an obvious item to offset.
  • Work travel. I’d like to work out how to pursuade my HR dept. at work to link my CO2 emissions gained during business travel to a cunning scheme from the Charities Trust that allows you to donate directly via the PAYE system to any UK registered charity.
  • Holiday travel. Well, this one is a special case of the previous – I’d just have to sort out payments myself.

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