Wow you certainly do your part...It’s around 68 today
http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/commodities/energyprices.html
We haven’t seen it at the pump because we're capitalist that takith just as fast as we can givith. Although this recent perversion to socialism has left me and I’m sure the entire country skeptic. Exciting times were in with government switching roles, ideals and tradition.
As I said, I'm tired of shelling out inordinate bucks to PG&E "just on account of 'cause." So, I minimise that as much as possible. I'd say that with my office in full swing (
everything running - which never happens anyhow...) I probably draw a total of 700-800W - and that's if I'm printing, scanning, burning a CD, burning a DVD, ... -
all at once.
I'm of mixed mind about carpeting floors - while it does insulate somewhat (reducing heating/cooling costs,) that gets plenty made up for in maintaining the carpeting - it seems that makers of vacuum cleaners think using a high-current motor (10-12A being typical) is a selling point. You want to impress me? Don't bill out a motor as drawing 12A (1440W) as a selling point - make it draw half that, and make the air-moving part that much more efficient. This house being mainly hardwood and tile, I can do most of the work with a broom to gather it up, put the pile next to one of the large rugs my wife lays down (she doesn't have any padding on her feet. Mine are shot with callus...) and sweep it up in an extra couple of seconds using the vacuum when I do the carpet. I like the fact of not having to run the vacuum all over the house. Pity we rent - I'd have replaced the electric clothes dryer with a gas-fired one a long time ago (at least the stove and oven are gas - which I prefer. Not only is it more efficient, it keeps my oxygen-dependent MIL out of the kitchen when I cook!)
I guess it's just all the time I spent on farms and camping in my formative years - when you "live off the land" for a while, you tend to respect it more, and do what you can to keep it going. As I said, I'm not a "hippie throwback" - I want to preserve the environment because I want to be able to continue enjoying it, and because it makes economic sense to do so (when you add everything up.) We used CFLs all through the house before they got cheap - the first six months' power bills paid for them anyhow. They also save fuel - you don't have to run and get lamp bulbs as often, as they
do last rather longer.
I could save a lot more if these folks would let me use a proper incinerator. Two thousand degrees is very purifying, it would result in compleat combustion of rubbish (releasing little other than CO2 and water vapour,) and the ashes could be used in my wife's rosebeds. And, it would save landfill space. Anything that can't be recycled is organic, anything organic can be incinerated. Problem solved. Hell, it's how we dealt with the autumn leaf piles back home - you raked 'em up, put them in the fire pit, and burned them. I just want to have a gas-fired version of the fire pit to ensure more efficient burning. (And, it would reduce the rubbish bill if we could give them back their garbage bin. I'll still pay for them to pick up the recycling - although it took me
four years of yammering to get a second bin for that out of the City. You'd think they'd be happy to have given me one... And that's for the stuff that isn't worth enough to recover the fuel cost of taking it in - I take in what I can for project money - drinks bottles & cans, brass, bronze, copper, aluminum, stainless, ...)
Don't appeal to people's "better nature" - frankly, these days, most people don't have one. Appeal to their pocketbook - that's more universal, and just about everyone will respond to that. Make sense?
