About Conservation

[SparWeb]

Hi all,

Though most of us here are tinkerers at heart, I thought it would also be helpful to post a bit of info I've collected about my efforts over the past 2 years to cut down on my energy consumption.

Step 1: Install a programmable thermostat (cost 50$, saved 500$/year):

This has been the most successful change.  I have measured a 50% reduction in annual energy consumption due to this device.  My 1800 sq.ft. house is heated with natural gas by a 57,000 BTU furnace.  The insulation coefficient of the walls & floor are approximately R20, the roof is R34.  I am now using 76 GJ (gigaJoules) of natural gas per year to heat the house.  Previous occupants of the house consumed over 150 per year.  I've programmed the thermostat to turn the heat down to 16C during working hours, when I'm not home, and overnight, when I don't care.  Living near Calgary, Canada, I don't need the furnace only between May and September.  Winter temperatures are often mild, but every winter has many spells of -20C or below, which consume the lion's share of energy.

Step 2: Install compact fluorescent light bulbs (cost 40$, saved 0$):

This has been a bit disappointing.  Summer electricity consumption is hardly affected by light bulbs - the sun goes down at 10PM in June.  Winter's additional electricity consumption is dominated by electric heating of animal water troughs (to prevent freezing), and running the furnace blower motor.  Lights are on more often, but the CFL's just trim the margins.

Step 3: Buy a compact car (cost 4000$ used VW Golf, save 400$/year):

Mixed results, here.  I can't drive the mini car in the winter.  Even with snow tires, it's too light.  During summer months it consumes 25% less fuel, but is less reliable than my sedan.  The engine in my sedan, BTW, produces more than 2X more power, using just 25% more fuel.  The efficiency is surprising.  Both vehicles show a 10% decrease in efficiency during the winter, due to various combinations of winter tire resistance, slippage on snowy surfaces, auxiliary loads (lights, heat), and perhaps off-peak sensor settings (the sensors and computers are tuned to maximize fuel economy in California, after all).

Conclusion:

After doing a bit more math, I estimate that I am putting 25% less CO2 into the atmosphere due to my efforts.  Future attempts to cut down on my electricity consumption (the water heating is a killer) would make the greatest impact.

Blame:

Split 50%-50% between climate and lifestyle choice.  I'm not sure what would be easier: make Alberta 10 degrees warmer, or make me move back to the city.  

Steven

[Countryboy]

May I recommend a trick for heating water troughs?

Bury a vertical 55 gallon drum with the top flush with the ground.  The ground temperature at the bottom of the drum stays below freezing temperature, and it will heat the entire barrel.  Place a water dish on top of the buried barrel - the heat from the ground will keep the water from freezing.

[scottsAI]

Hello SparWeb,

TO FROST-PROOF WATER TROUGHS

http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/resmgmt/publist/500series/590304-6.pdf

Refrigerator

Not mentioned. One of the big loads. How old? Can you add insulation around it?

Mine, the heat exits out the bottom back , top outside of fridge was 81'F.

Cut a hole in the wall to the cold air return. Sealed with bubble wrap, warm air can only go out the hole. Top of fridge is now 69'F. I did not do a power study before. Modeling the fridge suggest 14% reduction. I would like to add insulation around the fridge, but the wife does not want to look at it...

Last power failure I added insulation, power was not off long enough to find out if it helped.

How goes your work on modeling a Permanent Magnet Alternator (PMA)?

I have figured out a model for the blade, PMA, battery interaction, would be cool to add a good PMA model to it. Looking into a blade model, found several 2d, wind turbine requires a 3d model.

Have fun,

Scott.

[Norm]

 How many times does the average homeowner check

the bottom door gasket of a refrigerator?

              ( :>) Norm

[jimjjnn]

I check and clean my door gaskets twice a year while I clean the condensor coils on the back. Only buy fridges with coils on the back. No extra cooling fans needed and the coils take less than a minute to clean. Had a fridge with coils underneath. 1/2 hour to clean and then still junk in the coils.

[SparWeb]

Thanks to everyone for the responses.  Watering livestock is a difficult task in the winter, and what works for some folks won't for others.  I live on flat terrain, with a deep well, and no free water sources (in the winter, that is), and temperatures can dwell below -20C for days at a time.  Ground heat keeps my garage slightly warm, but not enough to keep water from freezing in there.  A water trough exposed to the wind?  No way.  Even a buried water trough would need a circulation system and a heating element to thaw the crust.  Passive systems do not work, here, sadly.

I have considered a solar heater panel, with a small pump circulating the water whenever a temperature differential can be measured, but it's only a "pipe dream" for now.  The heating element would still be necessary.

I plugged my ammeter in behind the fridge this afternoon.  After a day or two of collecing data, I will clean the back, and see if an effect can be measured.

[thefinis]

On the cfl's they have been a disappointment to me too. The ones I get do not seem to last and this means that I am not really saving money or energy due to the energy it takes to make them and transport them. In cold times the old fluorescents added light and heat(they were very efficient at heat generated for power used) so were not as wasteful as it might seem just count them as electric heat. Could this be counted as energy savings by getting double use? In warm times when the ac is needed the cfls cut the heat load and power use meaning a double savings.

Finis

[DANO]

Hey Sparweb....My two cents...I also did the cfl thing and had great results...changed out all the incandescents about a year ago, maybe 12 or so and have been on a "budget" plan with Indiana-Michigan Power at $60/month...surplus kept growing and I haven't had a bill for the last two months.  My new amount will be only $42/month.  So, between the cfl's and using plug strips to actually turn some toys OFF my savings per month is just over 25%....

[Bruce S]

Sparweb;

   I would have to agree with Danno. I originally started sawpping out regular bulbs due to the long life, but once the power saving started showing up, I started swapping all the incans out.

I will agree though that in hostile environments such as high mositure or extreme cold areas they may not be the best thing.

While we lived in Lakeshore MI, we always kept a 100 watt bulb with a metal shade on it on and pointed towards to water pump pipes to keep them from freezing.

I the high moisture area of our laundry , I stopped using screw in CFLs as they would just stop working after being around the moist air for a short period of time. I thought maybe it was the cheap ones I was trying , but even the better ones and newer ones do the same. I switched to a 18" tube type and it's been working perfect for 3 months now.

Since you are on a flat area , perhaps to save even just a little fuel you could build a solar box to have the water flow through before going into the trough?

If that works for the daytime maybe having the element heating in the solar box for the night time could possibly help as well.

Thickly insolated solar heater box would also help to  maintain the heat a little longer, your biggest problem could possibly be the animals meesing with the box.

Good to see the other items working out..

today morning wake up temp = -16C

Cheers

Bruce S

[ghurd]

Step #2, about the CFLs, seems flawed.

They can't save much if the lights are not on much.

They can't save the power the furnace and troughs use.

They still saved what they saved.

And I'm not having any problems with CFLs. As long they are not enclosed in the fixture.

Not even problems with the cheap ones.

G-

[DANO]

Just a quickie on the numbers...prior to cfl's we used +/- 1100 KWH/month and now use in the low 800 KWH/month and for Bruce...I live between Benton Harbor and Millburg, MI...small world.  The numbers are averages based on my actual bill.  One nice thing about Indiana-Michigan Electric (AEP) is you can check your past usage for the preceding 36 months...that is if you weren't already monitoring it..

[Bruce S]

DANO;

 Real small world, St. Joe was where I learned to ice fish on the lake:--0

I learned real fast just how hard it is to grow grapes for Welch's grape anything, and how hard it was to make a $1 picking cherries and laying irigation pipes in Stevensville :--(

We actually lived just outside Baroda, at went the Lakeshore Senior High ( Darn good football team ( ALL state at lot of times, and REALLY BIG farm boys in them parts)

7-acre grape orchard, wish I had it to buy back:-) .

Stay Warm!!

Bruce S

[BigBreaker]

You could float a perferated cover on the trough to hold in the heat.  Animals are smart enough to poke their snout against the cover to let water through.

[SparWeb]

Thanks for all the ideas.  I wasn't expecting so many thoughts about watering systems - I would have elaborated if I had.  The current system is already well insulated and only has a small opening to drink thru.  It's off the ground on an insulated pad and the heating element is on a timer so that it's not heating the water uncecessarily.

We will be installing another hydrant, and along with it there may be an opportunity to improve the system's energy consumption.

What I said before: "...CFL's just trim the margins..." refers to the net effect on lighting.  Lighting accounts for about 25% of my electricity consumption, but these bulbs only work in certain places, don't fit in all enclosures, are affected by humidity (but not cold - they're fine in the garage), etc.  I can't totally convert without removing about 10 ceiling light fixtures in the house and buying new ones.  In all, only 1/4 of the bulbs can be changed without a major investment.

So what's 25% of 25%...?  Times a saving of 75%...?  Marginal.  My goal is to cut my energy consumption in HALF.

Wish me luck!