10.3.06

Eco experiment

I like to think that we are pretty eco-aware and do our bit, but I'm sure we use more electricity than we need to (especially on computers - although I tend to use a laptop) so I'm gonna try clocking it for a while just to see.
I got the idea from
'Living the Good Life' - an experiment where an Australian family tried going self sufficient for six months a couple of years back.

Anyway......this is what they suggest:

Conduct your own power experiment
Take meter readings over a few days or a week to identify how much power you are currently using. Enlist the family to try and reduce power as much as you can over a week and record daily readings, eg 7.00am each morning. We've been doing this for several years now and have gone from using 20-25kwh daily down to an average of 5 kwh.

Some of the things we (they) have done are ...

-we use solar hot water
-flouro bulbs (and turn them off when not in use)
-clean the condenser behind the fridge (around 5% more power efficient)
-made a gridded hole under the fridge so that cool air is drawn up from under the floor and over -the condenser to increase its efficiency (around 10-25% more power efficient)
-use a Sabco mop/broom instead of the vacuum cleaner
-use a laptop rather than a desktop computer (90% more power efficient)

Hum..... I wonder if it counts if you save electricity on heating, cooking and TV because you opt for the pub for the evening?

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