I moved into my apartment in Maryland on May 19. We didn’t have any hot days this summer, and it never even occurred to me that I would want to turn the air conditioning on. I did use a floor fan for several hours in July.
I have used about 1,000 kWh of electricity over the past four months.
I love how the “All Neighbors” is a dirty, coal-gray color on the bar and the “Efficient Neighbors” is a nice, lovely green color.
But he is BLUE! 🙂
Blue is the new green.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PSNL1qE6VY&feature=player_detailpage#t=158
Not to change the subject, but this is pretty funny:
[Jesus]
Jesus 2 hours ago
0
9
Your doctor says you have cancer so you get a second opinion and that doctor says you have cancer so you get a third opinion and so on. All the doctors say you have cancer until you get to the 97th doctor and he says you don’t have cancer. You decide he is right because doctors make lots of money treating cancer and they are all motivated by greed. So you do nothing about your cancer and then you die a short time later from cancer.
[Marc]
Marc 1 hour ago
6
0
The analogy is wrong. The doctors are all screaming “the only cure is electro shock therapy and a lobotomy.” Congrats. Jesus, you fit right into the “fixed” camp.
[Morgan Wright]
Morgan Wright 1 hour ago
8
2
Your doctor says you don’t have cancer so you fire him then your second doctor says you don’t have cancer and writes a paper saying you are fine, but none of the journals publish his paper because they depend on government funding which demands that you have cancer, and they try to tax you for your cancer, even though you have no tumor or anything. The doctors who say you don’t have cancer are all fired and blacklisted, now 97 doctors who work for the government try to take your tumor out but they can’t find it so they make up a bunch of BS reasons why you have a tumor that nobody can see. And if you say you have no tumor, they call you a holocaust denier. One doctor even sails an icebreaker all he way to Antarctica to find your tumor and gets stuck in the ice looking for it.
[mark]
mark 59 minutes ago
0
0
Agreed Jesus- no matter how many scientists disprove the man made global warming hoax, no matter how much flawed data is exposed, no matter how much the ice caps grow- people still believe in it. They found that 100th doctor to claim it exists.
brilliant reply morgan,i like that.
HOW GLOBAL WARMING HAS PERSONALLY AFFECTED ME
The Climategate emails that surfaced in late November 2009, and five years of government efforts to justify fraud as consensus science . . .
Opened my eyes to the reason for an unexplained “news black-out” in late August 1945, formation of the UN in late October 1945, and the promotion of FALSE consensus models of nuclei and stars in 1946:
Stalin, or a selfish alliance of “Better Red Than Dead” Bankers and Communists, took totalitarian control of science and the world to save the world and themselves from nuclear annihilation by hiding the source of energy in cores of nuclei and stars.
http://orach24463.wordpress.com/2014/09/21/the-peoples-climate-march-is-not-about-saving-the-planet-it-is-about-power-to-the-elite-not-the-people/
The comical part of this human tragedy is just this:
By trying to hide the FORCE that destroyed Hiroshima, the unholy alliance of Bankers and Communists allied themselves against the FORCE that:
Breathed life in the universe
Made the chemical elements
Sustained life’s origin and evolution
World religions had identified as GOD
.
Nobody is still alive today from the 1945 decision to hide the source of energy that destroyed Hiroshima in 1946:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10640850/Solar_Energy.pdf
Since the force that destroyed Hiroshima is also the force that breathed life into the universe, made the chemical elements, and sustains every atom, life and world – conceivably even the benevolent force religious leaders referred to as God – we need to forgive those who deceived us and try to restore integrity to government science and constitutional limits on government.
@Morgan Wright says: September 23, 2014 at 12:28 pm “The doctors are all screaming “the only cure is electro shock therapy and a lobotomy.”
The problem is the medical doctors are “new experts” that have rejected all previous knowledge of medicine and the treatment the doctors are all screaming about: “electro shock therapy and a lobotomy” is not a cure, but just a way to get you to use clinics to make their ‘Hysterical Society’ friends wealthy requiring you to mortgage your house with a prognosis of death anyway.
Looking at the All Neighbors figure, does Al Gore live near you?
That is interesting stuff Steven. However, having one use less energy doesn’t impress me in the slightest. I couldn’t care less how much energy someone uses. If one wants to use more energy and pay for that energy, all the power to them. Use as much as you wish. This idea that conserving energy, or conserving water, is some sort of noble gesture is complete hogwash and doesn’t matter a hoot to anything. Energy is to be used, water is to be used. That’s their purpose.
Not wasting natural resources and money is obviously good policy for everybody.
Just because my electricity usage may be higher than yours, perhaps even WAY higher than yours, who is to say that I am “wasting” that electricity? Perhaps I am getting very good use of that energy. I can tell you right now that I am certain that I use a whole lot more energy that you do, and I would contend that I do not “waste” much of it at all. I use it sparingly for those things I deem important to me and to my life. That is NOT a waste!
So…..growing indoor pot? 😉
Don’t sweat it, squid! You don’t have to answer.
Well, my point is this. Demonizing the use of energy is stupid. Energy is for using. Our planet is awash with energy, far more energy than could ever be consumed by us silly humans. Energy “conservation” is ridiculous and stupid. Just as water “conservation” is stupid on a planet that is practically made of water. “Conservation” is not where this conversation should be, and quite frankly, I get a little bit pissed off every time I see someone going down that stupid path. Energy is LIFE, energy should be used and utilized more, not less. We should be continuing to improve our energy systems, producing and distributing more and more of it. Energy “conservation” only leads to stifle our lives, makes energy units more expensive and ultimately less efficient, not more. I do not applaud anyone that “conserves” energy, I have disdain for such persons, especially in a country where we are fortunate enough to be able to take advantage of robust energy supplies and systems. They should be exploited for benefits (countless), not “conserved”. Energy should be utilized to improve the lives of everyone on this planet. If that means wasting some energy, then I say, “waste away”. It is a case of “use it or lose it”.
And please, don’t confuse what I have said here with the topic of pollution and other such things. That is a different conversation entirely. I, of course, believe in being the best stewards of our planet as is reasonably possible, but energy “usage” is not to be confused with this. Energy should also be “used” to assist us with being good stewards of our planet, that’s yet another purpose it is there for.
squid2112,
That is why Dr. Petr Beckmann started Access to Energy
What freed humans from slavery (especially women) was cheap energy: Easy to use stoves and ovens, microwaves, Vacuum cleaners, freezers, frigs, dish washers, clothes washers and driers. Women no longer have to spend their entire lives shopping for or growing, preserving and preparing food and clothing.
http://archive.mises.org/9113/access-to-energy/
Tony (Steve) is just pointing out the hypocrisy of the greenie watermelons. Al the Gorical being a prime example of said hypocrisy.
Al Gore’s ‘Inconvenient Truth’? — A $30,000 [a year] Utility Bill or 221,000 kilowatt-hours in 2006.
Steve is using ~ 3400 kilowatt-hours a year or 65 times less energy than the Gorical.
On that basis WHO should the Greenies be listening to? Certainly not Al Gore.
………
OT: Seems a college kid just got killed by a bear While Hiking in NJ
Fox Attacks 2nd-Grader, 3 Others on Connecticut Playground
The Bambi Syndrome meets reality.
What Steven is also showing is how cool it was this summer. As with myself, we used air conditioners only due to ozone problems because my husband has lung damage.
Otherwise, we never used air conditioners this year at all, not even in the computer room. It was very cool all summer.
I am south of Steve in mid NC and we never used A/C this year. RIght now it is a chilly 57.3 °F at 9:30 AM.
36 degrees here last night! I have never ever seen Fall come so fast, the trees were turning during the last weeks of summer.
This scares me because I lived up here in NY during the previous 30 year cold cycle and my husband went to school at RIT at Rochester, NY during that cold Arctic era and he could jump out of his sixth floor dorm window into snow banks back then!
We are both preparing for a brutal winter as are all my neighbors who see the same troubling signs. There is zero support for the concept of ‘global warming’ up here in the northern mountains.
From 1975 to 1980 I worked just up the street from RIT. I even took a couple evening courses there.
It is funny to hear u all talk of the cost of cooling … in the great white north u can just open a window (usually) but the heating costs are $400 to 500 a month come the November to March period.
The nice thing about NC is I haven’t turn the A/C on for over a year and haven’t turned on the central heating for over two. A few space heaters at night where the plumbing is has so far worked fine. We set the central heat so the pipes won’t freeze but opening windows has worked so far.
I have lived in my house 13 years now, 12 of them married to the same lady. And my bills this summer were a LOT lower than in previous years. I have yet to break $200 (and my wife loves it cool), while in past years, $300+ was not uncommon.
I hope you saved that extra money you are going to need it to pay the heating bills this winter.
Did I say she likes it cool? She opens the window when it is 10 degrees outside! Heating has not been our problem. 😉
Departed Anderson Sunday at 23:30 Temp 54 F. Arrived Shelbyville, TN Monday at 06:00 Temp 52 F. Took mandatory 10 hour break on return at Franklin, KY temp when I woke up at 18:30 Monday temp was 74 F. Arrived back at Anderson at 01:30 Tuesday morning (Had stopped along the way and gotten the truck and trailer washed at the Blue Beacon in Whiteland, IN) temp 47 F. Wife had the furnace on for the first time when I came home.
When I bought my house (about 8 miles from Boulder, Colorado) 15 years ago, the first summer was so hot inside — even with every window open and multiple fans running — that I had to have central air conditioning installed. Used it every year since then, except this summer. When it got warm enough this year I turned off the heating/cooling system. Usually I switch the system directly from heating to cooling (vice versa in the fall), but I was curious about how much A/C cost to run, so I decided to see how long I could go before I had to turn it on. Never happened. I did have to turn on the bathroom vent fans a few times to draw cooler outside air into the house, but I never did turn on the A/C. About two weeks ago it got so cold that I had to turn the heat on for a couple days. Comparing last summer’s electric bills with this summer’s bills shows that running the A/C costs about $90/month. I have no doubt that money will be spent on heating this winter.
In Yuma, my air conditioning is your furnace. It stays at 79, however. My wife will use a fan if the humidity is up. As soon as the highs peak at 80 degrees in the fall we turn off the AC. We did not use the heating side of the AC at all last winter. At times we used ceiling fans, in fact, and opened up the house to the outdoors. Our small yard became an extension of the living space by design. For about 4 months we did not even hit 100 Kilowatt-hours per month. We skipped solar and made our house very energy efficient. Arizona Public Service charges us a small fee because we are too efficient and people like us cause them to keep generating plants on idle which is inefficient, the notice said. There is also a fee if you want to pretend your electricity is solar generated.
For the record, solar energy does not belong on the Southwest Desert. Efficiency drops off as summer temperatures rise on the solar panels. Solar steam generating plants have to have the water heated by electricity early in the morning to get the process started and they suffer from frequent break downs. Minor detais. There isn’t enough wind to make that worthwhile and there may not be any commercial windmills in Arizona. If so, they are a tax write off.
I live in Texas. I respect my AC and I use my AC and I don’t feel shame at all.
Tfhey’ll have to pry my AC from my cold dead hands. Steven, is your apartment total electric or gas heat, HW heater and range?
All electric. Never use AC or heat
What they will take if they have their way is your electricity to run it.
Another comment on energy:
If you look at the history of scientific discovery it is very slow until the 15th century and the beginning of the Renaissance and Gutenberg’s invention of movable type presses (1440). In the 17th century you started getting the scientific giants like Isaac Newton who laid the foundation of modern science. In the 18th century you get the Engineers and the first Industrial Revolution with modern manufacturing began with steam engines replacing animal labor. James Watt came up with the first practical steam engine and Richard Trevithick (England) and Oliver Evans (Philadelphia) invented a high-pressure engine.
Around the same time, in 1797 Charles Newbold patented the first cast-iron plow. In 1819 the U.S. food canning industry was established.
In 1830 it took about 250-300 labor-hours to produce 100 bushels of wheat from 5 acres.
In 1840 Farmers made up 69% of labor force
……………………………………………………..
THIS is the time period the Luddites want to force us back to — if we are lucky.
……………………………………………………
By 1850, the McCormick reaper was patented, steel plows were being manufactured, a practical grain drill, mowing machine and threshing machine were patented. Mixed chemical fertilizers were sold commercially and irrigation was used in Utah.
In 1870 Farmers made up 53% of labor force
By 1890 most agricultural machinery that was dependent on horsepower had been discovered and it only took 40-50 labor-hours to produce 100 bushels of wheat with gang plow, seeder, harrow, binder, thresher, wagons, and horses.
By 1910 tractors were coming into use and farmers made up only 31% of labor force.
In 1930 one farmer supplied 9.8 persons
In 1950 – One farmer supplied 15.5 persons
1960 – One farmer supplied 25.8 persons
1970 – One farmer supplied 75.8 persons
……………………………………………………
As more and more uses were found for mechanized power more and different types of equipment was patented and commercially manufactured. This meant more and more man-hours were freed up for thinking and inventing instead of scrambling to feed yourself and your family.
The liberation of the mind in the Renaissance leading up to the invention of the practical steam engine in the late 1700s that liberated the body started the avalanche of inventions that lets us enjoy a life that is not Nasty, Brutish and Short.
Without mechanical energy we are back to muscle energy, either ours or animals – NO THANK YOU!
Hmmm…I wonder, could the fascination with Steampunk is somehow related.
Possible. And then there are the Ren Faires and the Society for Creative Anachronism.
Most of the SCA people I know would be dead within a week, if they actually ended up in a truly Medieval setting.
You are one efficient dud! What do you do, keep it dark?
I have managed to get mine down to that “Efficient neighbors” level but going lower is a real tough one… Finally figured out how to measure the wattage of any one device by just timing the three dots on the utility’s electric meter, plus a stopwatch, neat, and the big one it point out is the refig, almost half. Maybe time for a smaller more efficient one I guess and I do agree, waste not when possible.
Oops. How about ‘dude’ instead. That wasn’t a good key to not get down!