Residential Electricity
1 Watt Rule of Thumb
Posted by Luke Fishback
In the spirit of sanity checking my energy saving decisions, I like to keep simple technical estimations in mind. In this post, I’ll discuss one of the most useful. If you’re not in the mood for math, here’s the bottom line: 1 Watt of energy reduction equates to approximately $1 of electric bill savings per year. So, eliminating 10 Watts of phantom load from your house will save you about $10 per year, 100 Watts produces $100 of annual savings…
Vocab Lesson: On-Peak, Off-Peak
Posted by Luke Fishback
Through recent industry events and conversations with consumers it has come to my attention that there are some electricity grid fundamentals that the industry insiders take for granted and we consumers never even consider. One such fundamental is that of baseload generation and its counterpart, peaking generation. In this post I’ll outline these principles and touch on what they mean to you, as a consumer of electricity.
Comparing Energy and Water – Why Recirculation Pumps are Over Rated
Posted by Luke Fishback
When a hot water recirculation pump in my home recently stopped working, it challenged me to figure out whether this seemingly water-saving idea really made sense. In this post I’ll present my logic for not fixing it.
So Many Metrics, So Little Cents
Posted by Luke Fishback
Continuing on the theme of the inadequacy of units of measurement, a couple of Duke professors recently revealed in their paper, “The MPG Illusion,” a very powerful misconception in the way we Americans look at fuel efficiency. In this post I’ll discuss their conclusions and discuss the repercussions for the bigger efficient energy usage picture.