The suggestions here are good, and I do not mean to be quite as obnoxious as this will sound - but, the main reason people cut their land lines today is because we all carry cell phones. So, a family that has two adults carrying iPhones with monthly bills likely totaling over $200 (combined) manage to dump their $30 land line. Wow.
Call me crazy, but replacing a $30 land line with $200 of cell phone bills does not equate to "savings" in my book.
Ignoring my obnoxious comments - the article has excellent suggestions and information.
I recently used my kill-a-watt to do an analysis of my refrigerator's usage to see if it was worthwhile to upgrade to an Energy Star model. After measuring a weeks kilowatt hours I determined that switching from my 15 year old model that draws 155W when running to a new Energy Star model that draws 60W was only going to save about $25 per year for a payback period of 83 years.
@Limekiller: I have used a Kill-a-Watt to actually measure energy use, as well, and the potential energy savings are often exaggerated, as you discovered. If your fridge is 20+ years old, it is likely (though not guaranteed) you will save money by replacing it, but there are many factors involved.
One of the often discussed items that use enormous electricity are the dozens of devices sucking power in the house that are not doing anything. This is generally a product of having homes on "AC" power when nearly all electronics use "DC" and must convert that power. While it is a great idea to unplug this power converters and devices when not in use, when you actually measure their power draw it becomes apparent that they do not waste nearly the electricity that is often advertised. Some do - but they are rare. Still, unplugging them when not in use is still a brilliant idea, if possible.
this is worse than the US banning full size bulbs in ceiling fan light fixtures. i have to use those cutsie 25w POS bulbs that don't light a room for shizpoo and then i have to bring in another lamp. yeah, really saving money there jerks.
lampshade: is it on? bulb: awww c'mon. don't make me.
I've had a couple CFL's burn out on me within days of installing them. Not very good for something that's supposed to last a really long time. And then the whole disposal issue is a real pain in the backside...
I'd buy this if only to prevent bulbs shattering. Safety bulbs with a coating to catch any breaks are expensive, and this could be re-usable. For things like trouble lights, where some sweat can explode the bulb, and there almost always being a chance of dropping, these would be perfect.
@pagan_god: I once watched a Public Television Science Show where the host tried to break a lightbulb to show the filament. He placed it in an manila envelope and hit it with a hammer. After the 4th try, he finally did it. And he was hitting it with a 16oz hammer. They are pretty strong when cold. They are less so when warm/hot.
@Kaiser-Machead: Except where they meet the socket metal and snap off forcing you to get out pliers, a broom, and a few other things to unscrew the damn thing.
@Illiterate?EmailMeForHelp_GitEmSteveDave: If it took four tries, it was because he was trying to _not_ destroy the filament, not because the bulb was shrugging off the hammer blows like they were being administered by a feather duster. Yes, you would have a hard time crushing a small bulb within your hand (no, don't give it a try), but hammer on one side and table on the other results in a very uneven distribution of force. The only reason they don't always break when you drop them on a hard floor is because they don't have much inertia when they're only falling a few feet.
@dufus: Well you can't use an incandescent in the bathroom either. At least not in the United States. Of course I've seen them in bathrooms thousands of times, but it's supposed to be against electrical code to have anything but florescent in there.
@Morgan Breden: Houses or institutional buildings? Because I could buy that whole "flourescent in the bathrooms" thing a lot more if it referred specifically to dorms and hospitals and such. If it was against code, every Lowe's and Home Depot in the country wouldn't have vanity fixtures set up with incandescents.
Now, are you maybe getting incandescents mixed up with halogens? Because I could totally see them not wanting to have you use those near a steamy shower.
Here's an idea: start taxing lightbulbs based on lumens per watt. That promotes innovation and punishes the inefficient.
I think that's more sensible than creating artificial markets for aftermarket "bulb enhancers", or worse, creates a black market for banned bulbs that undermines the energy savings while lining the pockets of criminals.
They force sellers to and makers to stop selling them, they will ban the import of them and after a couple of years the frosted light bulb will disappear.
Banning frosted incandescent bulbs? What are they gonna do? Goosestep up to their porches and smash them out of their sockets hooligan style? Maybe people should be able to use these inefficient bulbs if they so choose.
Why so dickish Europe? I know Microsoft hates you, but do you want the rest of us to hate you too? Suck on your mercury!
@Kaiser-Machead: They'll probably do the same thing as up here, where they won't be illegal to use, but stores won't be able to sell them. I wonder what the black market's going to be on bulbs in a couple of years.
@Kaiser-Machead: that's the direction everyone is going in. forget freedom, we must be efficient. why should the government care if you prefer incandescent over CFLs?
your freedoms are inefficient, therefore are void.
@mr_deadpool: Because at some point the whole of society has to quit being juvenile and naive about the impact we have on the planet and start taking responsibility for what we take, use, and trash. Unfortunately the fewer rules we have as a people an the more materialistic and superficial we become, the more we are apt to abuse whatever freedoms we have to the point of creating a toxic situation, although using outdated technology like frosted bulbs is more a privilege than a right and using some of the alternatives is a far wiser and cheaper choice in the long run.
@jessedybka: So the mafia will be stocking up on frosted light bulbs? I pity the poor drug importer or pimp who will be affected by this sudden political turn.
@JoeKhurr: To the point of creating a toxic situation? Like people suddenly throwing away a few hundred thousand mercury filled CFLs into the dump because they're too lazy to recycle properly? Or, there is no market for recycling the bulbs?
This is also the same EU that has emissions standards that greatly exceed those in the US for cars btw. Ever see how much soot is allowed to escape from a diesel vehicle there?
I put together a makeshift "ecostrip" using x10 and my Harmony remote that kills all the power to my TV and home theater equipment when I turn the system off and the opposite when I turn it on.
The beauty of it is that I can still use my remote to turn the thing off and on. Its perfect.
T-Mobile offers "loyal" customers unlimited minutes for $50.
Netflix and Handbrake FTW. Want to really get the most out of Netflix. Get a show in, burn it using Handbrake, and return it. This cuts down on disks lying around doing nothing. You can watch your shows whenever you want. This of course doesn't work for Blu-Ray titles, but it's nice to get 20 to 40 more disks a month.
Attraction memberships. As a father, I make it a habit for the family to get out of the house and do stuff. One of the boys favorite thing to do is go to museums, the zoo, or parks. However, a lot of places have entrance fees. You can eliminate that by joining a membership. Depending on how many times you go, you can save hundreds of dollars. Added in the fact that my sons have my old hand-me-down cameras, they spend extra hours on Photoshop editing their photos and posting them on their own Flickr account. This sounds like its expensive, but it really isn't. Especially in contrast to how expensive toys and video games are.
Which leads me to Gamefly. I pay about a fourth of what I would buying games. The boys usually play a game, finish it, and it's never heard from again. This way, they get a game in the mail, rip it open, play it, beat it, return it. Probably at the cost of $12 per game.
@NewSchoolTermNewUsername: I do the Netflix + Handbrake/Ripit thing as well. I keep the movies on two hard drives. I don't say it too loudly, because someone might scream thief :P
If you have an African elephant that has a serious cocaine addiction, detoxing can be dramatic if you decide you can't afford to keep it satisfied in today's economy, so you can always stock up on a potent alternative, like 1-(1-phenylcyclohexyl)piperidine.
You know, I see people talking about tankless water heaters, but let's be honest here.
If you live in an area where you could lose power/water due to natural disasters, the 40-50 gallons of water you have in that heater may be the only potable water you have for a few weeks. In case of a disaster that's a couple weeks worth of drinking water.
As for the CFLs, CFLs tend to put out poor light until they heat up. If you're like me where most of your light use is: Turn the switch on, find something, and tun the switch off, you end up looking around wondering if you're going blind because the damn light is so dim. I'm sorry, I probably have the lights on in my place for less than an hour total each day. I shower, brush, etc in the ambient light in the morning.
I find it easier to cut bills by simply cutting consumption period. I don't need the lights that much, so I don't use them. I unplug computers/electronics when they're not in use regularly.
What I'm currently trying to figure out is the tradeoff between paper towels/wash cloths. Which is worse?
@Lite: .... Like a BOSS!: You could theoretically just get a plastic tank to keep potable water in if that's your biggest concern. I keep 10 gallons on hand at all times. I don't really consider my hot water as potable, even though it probably is drinkable. Hot water leaches minerals from pipes and most hot water tanks have some level of corrosion on the inside.
Also you will find with CFLs that the better quality light you get, the better the ballast inside is. The better the ballast, the quicker the warm up time. If that's a concern of yours, pay the extra dollar or two for the name brand bulb.
And definitely go with wash cloths and rags. I made the switch two years ago. I bought fifty cotton shop towels from the hardware store for about $5. I keep some for clean up use and others for food and hand drying use. When those get too ragged looking, they go in the cleaning pile. Yes, it uses water and resources to clean them... but I can usually toss them in with a load of laundry that's going to be washed anyway.
@Scott Jackson: Right, but environmentally is it better to flush the detergent down the drain? I live near water, so water pollution is one of my big concerns.
09/07/09
Call me crazy, but replacing a $30 land line with $200 of cell phone bills does not equate to "savings" in my book.
Ignoring my obnoxious comments - the article has excellent suggestions and information.
04/30/09
09/07/09
One of the often discussed items that use enormous electricity are the dozens of devices sucking power in the house that are not doing anything. This is generally a product of having homes on "AC" power when nearly all electronics use "DC" and must convert that power. While it is a great idea to unplug this power converters and devices when not in use, when you actually measure their power draw it becomes apparent that they do not waste nearly the electricity that is often advertised. Some do - but they are rare. Still, unplugging them when not in use is still a brilliant idea, if possible.
04/23/09
04/23/09
04/23/09
"EEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyow...!"
04/23/09
lampshade: is it on?
bulb: awww c'mon. don't make me.
04/23/09
04/23/09
04/23/09
04/23/09
04/23/09
04/23/09
04/23/09
04/23/09
04/23/09
04/23/09
04/24/09
If it took four tries, it was because he was trying to _not_ destroy the filament, not because the bulb was shrugging off the hammer blows like they were being administered by a feather duster. Yes, you would have a hard time crushing a small bulb within your hand (no, don't give it a try), but hammer on one side and table on the other results in a very uneven distribution of force. The only reason they don't always break when you drop them on a hard floor is because they don't have much inertia when they're only falling a few feet.
04/23/09
They're gonna have to make them a BIT more durable. You can't even use them outside or in wet locations like the bathroom.
04/23/09
04/23/09
04/23/09
04/23/09
04/24/09
Houses or institutional buildings? Because I could buy that whole "flourescent in the bathrooms" thing a lot more if it referred specifically to dorms and hospitals and such. If it was against code, every Lowe's and Home Depot in the country wouldn't have vanity fixtures set up with incandescents.
Now, are you maybe getting incandescents mixed up with halogens? Because I could totally see them not wanting to have you use those near a steamy shower.
04/23/09
I think that's more sensible than creating artificial markets for aftermarket "bulb enhancers", or worse, creates a black market for banned bulbs that undermines the energy savings while lining the pockets of criminals.
04/23/09
04/23/09
04/23/09
04/23/09
They force sellers to and makers to stop selling them, they will ban the import of them and after a couple of years the frosted light bulb will disappear.
04/23/09
04/23/09
Why so dickish Europe? I know Microsoft hates you, but do you want the rest of us to hate you too? Suck on your mercury!
04/23/09
04/23/09
04/23/09
04/23/09
your freedoms are inefficient, therefore are void.
04/23/09
04/23/09
04/23/09
04/23/09
This is also the same EU that has emissions standards that greatly exceed those in the US for cars btw. Ever see how much soot is allowed to escape from a diesel vehicle there?
04/23/09
04/21/09
The beauty of it is that I can still use my remote to turn the thing off and on. Its perfect.
04/21/09
Netflix and Handbrake FTW. Want to really get the most out of Netflix. Get a show in, burn it using Handbrake, and return it. This cuts down on disks lying around doing nothing. You can watch your shows whenever you want. This of course doesn't work for Blu-Ray titles, but it's nice to get 20 to 40 more disks a month.
Attraction memberships. As a father, I make it a habit for the family to get out of the house and do stuff. One of the boys favorite thing to do is go to museums, the zoo, or parks. However, a lot of places have entrance fees. You can eliminate that by joining a membership. Depending on how many times you go, you can save hundreds of dollars. Added in the fact that my sons have my old hand-me-down cameras, they spend extra hours on Photoshop editing their photos and posting them on their own Flickr account. This sounds like its expensive, but it really isn't. Especially in contrast to how expensive toys and video games are.
Which leads me to Gamefly. I pay about a fourth of what I would buying games. The boys usually play a game, finish it, and it's never heard from again. This way, they get a game in the mail, rip it open, play it, beat it, return it. Probably at the cost of $12 per game.
04/21/09
04/21/09
04/21/09
If you live in an area where you could lose power/water due to natural disasters, the 40-50 gallons of water you have in that heater may be the only potable water you have for a few weeks. In case of a disaster that's a couple weeks worth of drinking water.
As for the CFLs, CFLs tend to put out poor light until they heat up. If you're like me where most of your light use is: Turn the switch on, find something, and tun the switch off, you end up looking around wondering if you're going blind because the damn light is so dim. I'm sorry, I probably have the lights on in my place for less than an hour total each day. I shower, brush, etc in the ambient light in the morning.
I find it easier to cut bills by simply cutting consumption period. I don't need the lights that much, so I don't use them. I unplug computers/electronics when they're not in use regularly.
What I'm currently trying to figure out is the tradeoff between paper towels/wash cloths. Which is worse?
04/21/09
Also you will find with CFLs that the better quality light you get, the better the ballast inside is. The better the ballast, the quicker the warm up time. If that's a concern of yours, pay the extra dollar or two for the name brand bulb.
And definitely go with wash cloths and rags. I made the switch two years ago. I bought fifty cotton shop towels from the hardware store for about $5. I keep some for clean up use and others for food and hand drying use. When those get too ragged looking, they go in the cleaning pile. Yes, it uses water and resources to clean them... but I can usually toss them in with a load of laundry that's going to be washed anyway.
04/21/09