What are you doing to reduce power consumption? – Page 3 – Alberta

BelowTheRadar · 2012-12-12T08:36:05Z

One thing that seems to be overlooked by the 'bug in' crowd seems to be steps in energy needs reduction. Perhaps this just isn't talked about, or more likely, this is overlooked. Most of you that read the threads of this board regularly probably know by now that I spend a lot of time and effort on becoming energy efficient and hope to be self sustaining in the near future. I like, but don't hug trees and will burn them in a heartbeat if it come down to the tree surviving or me. Call me strange but I prefer good people over good trees. There are plenty of Guru's on the net who know far more than I, so I would expect you to confirm your information before accepting it. Honestly, if the grid goes down would you rather your house burn energy like a Kenworth or more like a Honda Civic? The choice is yours.Over the last few years I have halved my electrical energy consumption based on one golden rule of renewable energy. "It costs far less to save energy that to produce it." If you periodically check the air pressure in the tires of you vehicle and/or get regular tuneups you understand the principal, at least with your vehicle. The initial expense of saving energy is a 'pay it forward' expense with the higher cost of a LED light vs incandescent or CFL. (currently quality LED lights use about 40% of the energy of a comparable Compact Fluorescent Light and about 10% of the energy needed for an Incandescent Light of equal illumination)Tuning up your car and tuning up your house are two completely different things. I'm going to ramble in odd directions but pass on some of what I know that can be shown on my electrical utility bill. Lets start with the big power hog in some homes. Ye olde boob tube! I used to have a 42" rear projection TV that hogged 400+ watts of electricity and who knows what (30 watts if I was lucky???) in 'standby' (instant on). I upgraded to a 40" LCD TV that burns 160 watts while running/playing and burns 0.6 watts in standby. Net gain = 240 watts (at least) while watching and 30 watts while idle. HINT: That 1994 Sony Trinitron CRT TV might not be the best thing for your electrical consumption especially if you are relying on off grid power. It was great in it's day but not 'today'.A typical incandescent light is little more than an electrical heater with light being a 10% byproduct. Please, read that again and let it sink in... If you doubt me at all, Google is your friend (at least in this case).I have a lamp that lights up my computer desk while I am on the computer. It burns 4 watts of power and even my aging eye's have no trouble seeing in this light. To put that into perspective (please humor me here) go and open your fridge door. Look at the light and realize I am burning 10% of the power needed for the typical incandescent refrigerator light to clearly see my 5 foot wide computer desk. In a nutshell LED lights kick butt, with few exceptions. A reasonable quality LED light uses about 10% of the power of an incandescent light providing equal illumination. You be the judge on what you want to feed during a grid shutdown.LED lights come in all flavors from really harsh 'blue' lights (you may want to stock up on dollar store lights if you really like harsh blue light, don't ask me how I know that) to warm whites to yellow light very much like incandescent bulbs that we are used to. Once you get used to white light from an LED, incandescent (yellow) light looks like it is having a nap while you are trying to see. My personal favorite 'bang for you buck' LED lights are made by "Lights of America" and are available at Walmart. Good light and low price works for me. I would strongly suggest that you unpack only one light of a given type and test it to see if you like it. Doing this will allow far easier returns than 6 opened lights of the same type if you don't like them.Replacing lights in your home. When buying LED lights to start replacing lights in your home that are used the most. Living room, kitchen, family room, perhaps den. The cold room/root cellar? Not so much and if you spend that much time in the root cellar, I really don't think I want to know the details... :roll: I think you get the picture, replace high use bulbs first and work you way down to low use bulbs last.Spring wound timers: I ran into a shocking :shock: discovery that my Microwave oven (5 years old?) uses 20 watts of electricity (often referred to as a 'vampire load') sitting on the counter doing nothing other than showing the time. Seriously, that's half the power used to light up your fridge with the door open, to illuminate a simple led clock. I'll be honest, I tried a switched power bar but kept forgetting to turn off the power bar after using the microwave. Saved energy, near zero. Having a Renewable Energy (RE) hobby I count watts. 20 watts of 'vampire load' is not acceptable to me.Solution: Building an outlet with a spring wound timer. If you have no idea how electricity works and wires seem like worms to you, get...

Dangphool

(@dangphool)

Prominent Member

Joined: 14 years ago

Posts: 774

02/01/2013 6:12 pm

@BTR
I need a translation into idiotspeak please...

If I don't want a "deep-cell marine" battery than what am I looking for? This was to be used in our small holiday trailer as the one that came from the dealer does not last very long running the furnace fan and a few lights.

Do I take something that says, "deep-cell" but not "marine"?
Can you please provide links from canadian tire or princess auto as when I went to the specialty site you linked; I had to know what battery I wanted just to search for it. And they have a lot of selection 😥

Should I use 1 12v or 2 6v or is that even allowed by physics?

Please speak slowly.

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Anonymous

(@anonymous)

Illustrious Member

Joined: 15 years ago

Posts: 11254

02/01/2013 8:15 pm

Here are a couple of links you might find useful.

http://www.trojanbattery.com/
http://www.rollsbattery.com/

Some info on types of batteries can be found at :
http://www.affordable-solar.com/store/solar-off-grid-remote
(select battery types in the right hand plane)

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BelowTheRadar

(@belowtheradar)

Reputable Member

Joined: 13 years ago

Posts: 353

Topic starter 03/01/2013 11:27 am

Hello Dangphool,

"What you want" is probably 2, 6V 'golf cart' batteries that you will hook up in series. A simple video ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkO7HJFvp5o
The reason I would suggest 2 golf cart batteries is they are quite common and as a result fairly inexpensive. A single 12V battery with equivalent power storage capacity would be an expensive monster of a battery and a back breaker (that's your back!) to install and or remove.

I know I must sound like a broken record but again I'll preach in favor of some solar power mounted on the roof of your trailer for two reasons.
1) If your solar panel equipped trailer has been parked unused for a week or so with some good sunny days your batteries should be fully charged. The amount of charge actually making it to your RV batteries while driving is somewhere between pathetic and dismal.
2) If the solar panel/s you purchase is/are anything near respectable (even 30 watts helps a fair bit) you will find that your usable battery life will be extended.

If solar is out of the question I would suggest charging with your vehicle and booster cables which is a faster charge than your battery wants (ouch!) but better than running the battery to near zero charge.

If you want more specific information concerning dealers please PM me as I don't want to turn this post into an 'infomercial'. LOL

Cheers!

Than= I’d rather be rich than poor.
Then= I first became hungry then I ate.
There = She is there now.
Their = They have their things.
They're = They're going to the mall.
To = They came to the house.
Too = That's too bad.

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Dangphool

(@dangphool)

Prominent Member

Joined: 14 years ago

Posts: 774

03/01/2013 6:47 pm

Thanks for that. I'm not sure if the missus would approve of solar panels on the roof as we were worried about drilling holes etc. That is a story for a different thread however.

In regards to this OP, got our epcor bill; first time we hit $100 since moving in 6 months ago 😯
I guess it does hurt to leave the garage lights and Christmas lights and tree on all night 😳

I'm going to have to be more conscientious next year and hook up a timer and switch to motion sensor lights instead.

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BelowTheRadar

(@belowtheradar)

Reputable Member

Joined: 13 years ago

Posts: 353

Topic starter 04/01/2013 2:17 pm

Princess Auto gets some "FUSION" brand "Solar Motion Security Lights" in for about $30 from time to time. I have 2 of them, one for about 6 months and the other for about 18 months. I am very happy with both of them. They run on rechargeable AA batteries (included), are very simple to install providing you are not a danger to yourself with a screw driver.

They produce 60 Lumens of light which isn't enough to read the newspaper but more than adequate to flip a steak on the BBQ or avoid stepping on an object laying on the lawn. There is good light for a 30ft (10m) circle but it's bright enough to easily get a key into a door lock 40ft (13m) away. While I have seen the lights turn on 'mysteriously', we do have some cats that hunt mice at night in the area.

I like this product so much I'll probably buy a similar unit for use in a garden shed and never have to worry about leaving a light switch on in there.

For me, it's all about making life simple.

BTR

Than= I’d rather be rich than poor.
Then= I first became hungry then I ate.
There = She is there now.
Their = They have their things.
They're = They're going to the mall.
To = They came to the house.
Too = That's too bad.

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Dangphool

(@dangphool)

Prominent Member

Joined: 14 years ago

Posts: 774

05/01/2013 3:45 pm

thanks, will watch the store next my workplace...

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