Archive for the ‘Electricity’ Category

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Hopi Orange, Well, etc.

21 May 2009

Twelve Hopi Orange Winter squash came up a couple of days ago (out of 16 seeds planted), and are looking big and vigorous.

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Also, received my 1¼” sandpoint from Lehman’s today, all ready for me to drive my new well next week, which I’m taking off. Also got the couplings and drive cap, so all I need to drive the well is the pipe, which I’ll get locally. I’ll worry about the pump later. The water table is definitely less than 20′ down here — sometimes it’s only about 3′.

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Also, the dehumidifer in the basement started running this week, and will probably run constantly for the next 5 months. Late last summer, I turned the humidistat up to 60%, so it’s running less than it used to. And the catbird in the back yard returned and started singing this week, so…when the dehumidifier starts running and the catbird starts singing, it’s safe to plant tomatoes.

Posted in Electricity, Energy, Gardening, Water | Leave a Comment »

March Electrical Usage

4 April 2009

We used only 349 KWH of electricity last month. I have no idea why it went down so much. Of course we’re trying to conserve, but we had the three two-bulb 48″ fluorescent fixtures on over the seedlings for a good part of the month, so I expected it to go up.

There were significantly fewer degree days last month than a year ago, so maybe how much we run the furnace is more important than everything else. I also suspect some sort of error on the part of our utility company, such as charging us too much for the previous month, for example.

Anyway, not knowing why we had an exceptionally low month doesn’t do me much good. It’s all guesswork. I think there may be some kind of meter that will tell me more detailed electricity usage on specific circuits — would be nice to have one of those.

One thing that stands out when looking at the electricity usage chart is that our highest electricity usage months are in the summer, which is a pretty clear indictment of central AC. We’ll have to watch it this summer. We also might consider replacing our current AC attic vent fan with a few of those solar-powered ones.

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Electricity

11 March 2009

We’re trying to reduce our electricity usage for several reasons:

  • It costs money and we’re learning frugality
  • It won’t be as cheap or reliable in the future, so we’re learning to do without it before we have to do without it
  • We want to use no more than our global share; we want equity of resource use with the world. It’s just right.
  • More electricity used means more coal used which means more mercury in our water and more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (Wisconsin produces about 60% of its electricity from coal-burning power plants).

What we’ve done to reduce electricity use:

  • We’re burning wood instead of using the furnace (the fan on the furnace uses quite a bit of  electricity)
  • We put a blanket on our water heater (we had already turned down the temperature on our water heater for child safety)
  • We’re trying to use less hot water by:
    • Washing hands in cold water
    • Rinsing washed dishes in cool water
    • Taking shorter, cooler showers. This is the toughest one for me in the Winter.
  • We put power strips on the television, stereo, battery chargers, shut them off at night and turn them on when they’re next needed.
  • Aggressively turn out lights

We started making this effort last fall. For October through December, we received one bill, which averaged 521 kWh/month. January was 549 kWh and February was 613 kWh. I was happy with 521 kWh, but we don’t know why it’s going up since then.

What we plan to do:

  • This Spring we’ll be moving our freezer from the garage to the basement. The garage gets hot in the summer, the basement doesn’t. Of course, the basement is also warmer than the garage in the Winter, but I think there will be a net savings. I also want to consider gradually phasing out the freezer by doing more canning. There are also much more efficient models than the one we have now.
  • Minimize A/C use
  • Put a timer on the water heater. Could shut it completely off for at least 6 hours a day.
  • Make a solar shower for summertime use in the back yard.

Posted in Conservation, Electricity, Energy | Leave a Comment »

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