ENERGY-USE MYTHS EXPOSED
use...@mantra.com
Forwarded message from http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SoFlaVegans
[ Subject: Energy-use myths exposed
[ From: "Fidyl" <fi...@yahoo.com>
[ Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2005
Energy-use myths exposed
By Laura A. Bruce
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/pf/20010223c.asp
Myth: Leaving a light on uses less energy than turning it
off and on several times. Truth: Leaving an incandescent
light on uses more energy than turning it on and off as
needed. If you're using a compact fluorescent light, it
should be left on if it will be needed again within 15
minutes. Switching CFLs on and off frequently shortens
their lives.
Myth: Keeping your thermostat at the same temperature day
and night uses less energy than turning it down at night
and heating your home up again in the morning. Truth: It
takes less energy to warm up a cold home in the morning
than it does to maintain a constant temperature
throughout the night.
Myth: The higher you set your heater's thermostat, the
faster your home will warm up. Truth: It will take the
same amount of time for the temperature to reach 70
degrees whether the thermostat is set at 70 or 90
degrees. Setting the thermostat all the way up only
wastes energy and increases your heating costs.
Myth: Compact fluorescent lights are those glaring,
humming, flickering tubes seen in some offices. Truth:
There's a whole new generation of compact fluorescent
light bulbs that are suited for home use. They screw into
the same light bulb socket and produce the same quality
of light as an incandescent bulb. A CFL uses 70 percent
less electricity and lasts up to 10 times longer than an
incandescent light bulb.
Myth: It uses less energy to boil water if you start with
hot water from the tap. Truth: It essentially uses the
same amount of energy (and costs essentially the same
amount of money) whether you use hot or cold water. If
you use hot water, you've already paid to heat the water
in the water heater.
Myth: It is more energy efficient to leave your computer
running when not in use. Truth: Any time you can turn off
your computer it will save energy. However, turning the
computer off and on several times a day may cause
excessive wear and shorten its life. Many computers now
have energy-saving "sleep" features that save energy when
the computer is not being used.
Myth: Cold water from the tap will freeze into ice cubes
faster than hot water. Truth: Actually, hot water freezes
faster than cold water because it evaporates, leaving 25
percent less water to freeze.
Myth: Setting your air-conditioner thermostat to its
lowest setting when you start it will cool your home
faster. Truth: This won't cool your home any faster,
it'll just use more energy.
Source - Portland General Electric
End of forwarded message from http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SoFlaVegans
Jai Maharaj
http://www.mantra.com/jai
Om Shanti
Hindu Holocaust Museum
http://www.mantra.com/holocaust
Hindu life, principles, spirituality and philosophy
http://www.hindu.org
http://www.hindunet.org
The truth about Islam and Muslims
http://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate
The terrorist mission of Jesus stated in the Christian bible:
"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not so send
peace, but a sword.
"For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the
daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in
law.
"And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.
- Matthew 10:34-36.
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational
purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not
have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for
fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read,
considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current
e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are
not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of
which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed
that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by
subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.
Since newsgroup posts are being removed
by forgery by one or more net terrorists,
this post may be reposted several times.
Bret Cahill
< than turning it off and on several times. Truth:
< Leaving an incandescent light on uses more
< energy than turning it on and off as needed
It depends on if and how the room is being heated.
If the room is heated by electric resistance heat
then it won't make any difference.
ANY electric light bulb is just as efficient at heating the room as
resistance heating.
Indeed, some office towers leave their flouescent light bulbs on 24/7
because it's cheaper than replacing the bulbs.
Bret Cahill
operator jay
"Bret Cahill" <BretC...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1134613256.0...@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> < Myth: Leaving a light on uses less energy
>
> < than turning it off and on several times. Truth:
>
> < Leaving an incandescent light on uses more
>
> < energy than turning it on and off as needed
>
> It depends on if and how the room is being heated.
>
> If the room is heated by electric resistance heat
> then it won't make any difference.
>
> ANY electric light bulb is just as efficient at heating the room as
> resistance heating.
I'd say that the electric heating is generally more efficient. Electric
heat is generally introduced low in a room, lightbulbs are generally located
high in a room, adn heat rises.
chez-jones
Cahill <BretC...@aol.com> writes
>Indeed, some office towers leave their flouescent light bulbs on 24/7
>because it's cheaper than replacing the bulbs.
But the point is, it still saves energy to turn them off at night and
weekends. It might be marginally cheaper to leave them on, but that's
because you have to pay a contracting company $50 in labour and
overheads (involving yet more energy use) to replace each bulb. There
are ways of overcoming that, if you're committed to saving energy.
In new European offices, the lights automatically go out when you walk
out of the room. (And, before you ask, if ambient light is insufficient
they auto turn on when you enter!) I presume it's the same in the US.
--
Tom Jones
Randy Poe
use...@mantra.comusenet wrote:
> Energy-use myths exposed
I don't think I've ever heard any of these "myths".
I think the author made up "common wisdom" which
actually isn't commonly-accepted in order to have
an article to write.
- Randy
use...@mantra.com
"Randy Poe" <poespa...@yahoo.com> posted:
>
> Dr. Jai Maharaj posted:
>
> I don't think I've ever heard any of these "myths".
>
> I think the author made up "common wisdom" which
> actually isn't commonly-accepted in order to have
> an article to write.
>
> - Randy
Maybe the myths are common where Portland General Electric, the
source of the article, provides service. Over here, Hawaiian
Electric (HECO) also published similar pamphlets from time to time.
JoeSP
"Randy Poe" <poespa...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1134662276.3...@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
What easier myth to bust than the one you created yourself.
JoeSP
<use...@mantra.com use...@mantra.com (Dr. Jai Maharaj)> wrote in message
news:20051214ZAoKE0329uWGDa@SpiU...
> Energy-use myths exposed
>
> Forwarded message from http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SoFlaVegans
>
> [ Subject: Energy-use myths exposed
> [ From: "Fidyl" <fi...@yahoo.com>
> [ Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2005
>
> Energy-use myths exposed
>
> By Laura A. Bruce
>
> http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/pf/20010223c.asp
>
>
> faster than hot water. Truth: Actually, hot water freezes
> faster than cold water because it evaporates, leaving 25
> percent less water to freeze.
>
Hmm, 25% evaporation before it freezes? In a freezer where humidity is
always near 100 percent? In fact, the myth is that this happens
consistently when experiments are carried out. I suspect the results are
different, based on different types of tap water.
In fact, this is a well-documented phenomena known as the Mpemba effect.
Google it for lots of reading. I believe it happens sometimes due to the
additive effect of several factors working together:
1) Convection. A container of warm water induces more airflow around it,
therefore increasing the rate of heat transfer out.
2) Supercooling. Hot water has fewer gases dissolved in it, and will
conduct heat transfer better, therefore solidify at a higher temperature
than cold water before nucleation occurs.
3) Thermal transfer rate. Warm water transfers heat faster than cold water,
thus cooling faster.
4) Self-diffusion of warm water is faster. Molecules in warm water move
faster, forming ice crystals faster than cold water.
5) Hot water triggers the thermostat to turn on the refrigeration pump,
cooling the freezer down to the lowest temperature in it's cycle. Cold water
is less likely to do this.
Many more reasons are given here:
http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/water/explan4.html
Besides all this, how is it an energy-use myth? Who uses hot water to make
ice cubes in hopes of saving money on the monthly energy bill?
JoeSP
"operator jay" <no...@none.none> wrote in message
news:D%eof.382$dr5...@fe19.lga...
>
> "Bret Cahill" <BretC...@aol.com> wrote in message
> news:1134613256.0...@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>> < Myth: Leaving a light on uses less energy
>>
>> < than turning it off and on several times. Truth:
>>
>> < Leaving an incandescent light on uses more
>>
>> < energy than turning it on and off as needed
>>
>> It depends on if and how the room is being heated.
>>
>> If the room is heated by electric resistance heat
>> then it won't make any difference.
>>
>> ANY electric light bulb is just as efficient at heating the room as
>> resistance heating.
>
> I'd say that the electric heating is generally more efficient. Electric
> heat is generally introduced low in a room, lightbulbs are generally
> located
> high in a room, adn heat rises.
What does mean, "more efficient" when electricity is twice more costly to
heat than natural gas?
Steve Spence
It isn't in all areas. Natural gas, vented, loses some heat to the
outdoors, so it's not 100% efficient in turning fuel into btu's.
Electric is 100% efficient in turning watts into btu's. A few areas have
ultra cheap electric costs.
1 kWh = 3413 BTU
1 Therm of Nat gas = 100k BTU
Massena NY is $0.04 per kWh, so nat gas would have to be less than $1.20
/ therm to compete.
--
Steve Spence
Dir., Green Trust, http://www.green-trust.org
Contributing Editor, http://www.off-grid.net
http://www.rebelwolf.com/essn.html
Bret Cahill
<> < energy than turning it on and off as needed
<> It depends on if and how the room is being heated.
<> If the room is heated by electric resistance heat
<> then it won't make any difference.
<> ANY electric light bulb is just as efficient at heating the room as
<> resistance heating.
< I'd say that the electric heating is generally more efficient.
Maybe more comfortable but it doesn't save electricity to turn off the
lights.
< Electric heat is generally introduced low in a room,
Where the air is cold and far from the thermostat. In other words, the
electrical resistance heater must heat the entire room.
The heat is also generally near a window where it promptly leaves the
building.
< lightbulbs are generally located high in a room, adn heat rises.
If the light bulb is near the thermostat it actually saves a little bit
of juice by skewing the system a little.
Bret Cahill
Dan Bloomquist
Steve Spence wrote:
>
> It isn't in all areas. Natural gas, vented, loses some heat to the
> outdoors, so it's not 100% efficient in turning fuel into btu's.
> Electric is 100% efficient in turning watts into btu's. A few areas have
> ultra cheap electric costs.
Is this about cost or efficiency? In today's world gas heating is
definitely 'more efficient'.
Best, Dan.
--
"We need an energy policy that encourages consumption"
George W. Bush.
"Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a
sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy."
Vice President Dick Cheney
Androcles
"Bret Cahill" <BretC...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1134613256.0...@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
If the lifespan of a fluorescent tube is 5,000 hours and you have
20,000 tubes, you need to replace one tube every 15 minutes.
Cobo Hall in Detriot has a team of tube changers in full time
employment.
Consider that in the cost of 24/7 unused heating.
Androcles.
G. R. L. Cowan
>
> Steve Spence wrote:
> >
> > It isn't in all areas. Natural gas, vented, loses some heat to the
> > outdoors, so it's not 100% efficient in turning fuel into btu's.
> > Electric is 100% efficient in turning watts into btu's. A few areas have
> > ultra cheap electric costs.
>
> Is this about cost or efficiency? In today's world gas heating is
> definitely 'more efficient'.
Less wasteful of primary joules, more so of lives
(http://tinyurl.com/apsbj ).
--- Graham Cowan, former hydrogen fan
http://www.eagle.ca/~gcowan/Paper_for_11th_CHC.html
boron as energy carrier: real-car range, nuclear cachet