The December 2008 Energy Update

  • I need a better weather station to start measuring things around here at a few places and log to my computer. I have one that I check periodically, but I don't have a good way to measure averages.

    Look into Oregon Scientific or LaCrosse. The OS ones are nice because all seperate pieces communicate wirelessly. Whereas the LC units connect via wire to a centralized unit (thermometer) and that transmits wirelessly or wired to the base. The base then logs to your computer and there are some good tools both in the *nix and Windows community that do a good job at historical looks.

    Oh and isn't the normal household now 2-4 people 8-10 computers? maybe not all running... but you may need those parts some day 😛

    The other thing a lot of people are not aware of is the power draw from standby electronics... vcr\oven clocks and alarm clocks etc. Not a big daily usage... but large over time.

  • I had a house in Houston that had exceptionally good insulation. My electric and gas bills for 1,600 square feet in that house were lower than they had been for my 800 square feet apartment that I lived in immediately prior. If I remember correctly, it was about half of the prior bill. Same city, same power company, and so on. The big change was the insulation. On a cold day, the inside surface of the apartment walls would be cold, while in the house, the inside surface would be room-temperature to the touch. I don't know the exact R value, but it was way up there.

    The problem with the house being that well sealed was that moisture, from the shower, etc., didn't vent well, so some of the inside walls ended up with rot problems in very short order.

    - Gus "GSquared", RSVP, OODA, MAP, NMVP, FAQ, SAT, SQL, DNA, RNA, UOI, IOU, AM, PM, AD, BC, BCE, USA, UN, CF, ROFL, LOL, ETC
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    "Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everyone agrees it's old enough to know better." - Anon

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