Electricity vs Kerosene

Kerosene is fuel oil. It's what we burned in street lamps back before Edison's light bulb. Gasoline is car fuel, back before batteries. The similarities are striking.

Boiled down, alternative energy really takes two forms, electrons or liquids. Liquids are represented by bio diesel or ethanol concepts to fill the vast network we already have for the distribution of liquid energy.

But, electrons also take advantage of a huge network for distribution.

But back in the day, we had kerosene lamps that we filled, lamp by lamp down the street, and lit. Similar to how a big shiny tanker truck pulls up to every gas station and deposits a few thousand gallons of fuel into a tank today. We then pull in, fuel up and light it with the starter.

Lets look at this in more detail:

1. People drill a hole in the ground and pump up oil and put it into a truck.
2. The truck goes to a terminal where its pumped in pipelines or loaded on ships to be sent to a refinery.
   
3. There it's refined into gas or diesel and and again loaded into a pipeline, ship or truck.
   
4. From there it makes its way to another terminal where it's put into truck that takes it to your local gas station.

Pretty much like a kerosene lantern on the streets of Philadelphia in the 1800's.

Now electrons:

1. Wind mill makes electricity that travels over wires to your home where you plug in your car.

Hmmm...let's see...I get fuel for my car from a wire at home instead of driving around looking for a refueling station? I'm pretty sure that's how the kerosene lamp died. It just made too much sense to run a wire into the lamp and put in a bulb.

If you really want to simplify it:

1. Solar panel on roof makes electrons that we convert to AC and fuel our car!

It seems kinda silly that we have been taking our lamp to a gas station for fuel doesn't it? It also seems dumb to truck the gas to the gas station. It's kinda like banking before ATMs, credit cards and online access, there were just bags of money.

So why do we still live with this antiquated fuel concept for our transportation? Two words...big oil. They are the ones who own the entire infrastructure and depend on it to generate huge profits. They need us to drive down to a station of theirs and pay the price they set. They do everything in their power to keep this status quo.

But, there will be a time when we will all laugh about the antiquated car fueling structure we hung on to for so long. We will fuel our cars at home any time we want to at a price we have negotiated or with power we have generated ourselves.

I can't wait.

Nuke or not?

It seems almost impossible that we are still having this discussion. The last Nuclear plant constructed in the US was started in 1977! That little mishap at Three Mile island? 1979. Coincidence? Not hardly. We decided, rightly or wrongly that coal was less dangerous than Nukes. (Tell that to a Virginia coal miner).

But now, with carbon reduction on the agenda, are Nukes a renewable clean energy resource? The simple answer is yes. No carbon, no soot, no mercury, no sulfur dioxide. All you get out of them is warm water discharge, steam and some nasty leftover radioactive material that lasts forever. What's not to love?

Over the years we have spent serious R&D money on Nuclear research, mostly on Nuclear fusion which is different than today's fission reactors. The difference between fission and fusion is that one is available, and the other isn't. (A few thousand nuclear scientists and researchers might disagree that it's that simple, but it is for me.)

It's worth noting that those old fission reactors provide 20% of US electricity today. We have 64 plants operating 104 reactors, all carbon and air pollution free and they haven't killed anyone yet... We are by far the largest world user with France and Japan having around 50 each. There are 436 reactors around the world currently operating. (This number does not include Nuclear ships and subs). China and India have the most under construction.

So what's the point of all the statistics? Well, Nuclear works, works well and is widespread and safe if one judges it on actual performance, not on "what ifs". But the "what ifs" are big ones.

So what if a terrorist bombs one, what if one goes rogue and melts down ala Chernobyl, what if we never find a way to safely deal with the radioactive waste?

There are 295 reactors proposed around the world with the US having 19 of those. Vietnam has 9! China has 90! So are we falling behind? Are we going to find ourselves with less cheap energy to run our economy? Can we afford the let Nuclear fall by the wayside here in the US while the world continues it's expansion? Did you know American companies Westinghouse and GE are major players in the global reactor business?

Bottom Line - After having posed all these question I only have one thought. We either should or shouldn't. This fence sitting and arguing is a ridiculous waste of time for our country. We can't accomplish much of anything meaningful if we are constantly at war with ourselves.

So let's have the largest Nuclear reactor expansion of all time to help save the earth from climate calamity. Or, let's stop all efforts and focus our energy on other...well...energy.

Geothermal - I want some

As we complete the cooling season here in Dallas, I am still pining for a geothermal heating and air-conditioning system. In some ways it's more compelling that a photovoltaic (PV) electricity system. Here's why....

Basically the system is a heat pump connected to holes in the ground. Heat pumps have been around for ages and are generally perceived as more efficient than regular AC compressors and furnaces. And more expensive to purchase and install.

What geothermal does is marry a high efficiency heat pump to a source for steady temperatures from the ground. We have local companies that do this by drilling deep but small diameter holes and running a plastic pipe to the bottom and back to form a ground loop (300 feet). Depending on the size of the system, (mine is five ton), they would drill one hole per ton.

They need 20 feet between each hole and they connect them all together and to a pump to circulate fluid to transfer the ground temperature to the pump. The ground is a steady 68 degrees all year round here in Dallas. This fluid is used to cool the air or warm the air in the heat pump. (It's actually way more complex, but that's the gist of it).

So on a hundred degree day the heat pump, (bad name), takes 68 degree water and uses it to cool the house rather than using a compressor to cool whatever the latest freon equivalent is... That's right, no compressor! No noise outside, no ugly box, no unreliable and expensive outside gear to make coolness.

On a chilly winter day, all the heat pump has to do is get the 68 degrees up to your thermostat setting using natural gas or electric. As a side benefit, you can also put your water heater in the loop so it isn't heating up colder water all the time.

All of this combines to save around 50% on heating and cooling costs per my contractor. Now my guess is your mileage may vary but...that's a huge amount! My AC compressor is rated at 14 SEER and the heat pump is around 27 SEER. The heat pump is a variable device meaning I could safely close off rooms and the heat pump adjusts its output without harm to itself.

50% of my heating and cooling bill would be around $1320 in electric and $450 in gas for a total of $1,770 savings a year. Now the bad news. The cost for the system is $36,000. There is a 30% federal tax credit that brings the price down to $25,200. That translates to a 14+ year payoff at today's utility rates. If I were forced to replace my current traditional system with a similiar system it would cost me $10,000, I know because my neighbor just priced out the same size system for her house.

That means the geothermal system would cost $15,200 more and that would take 8+ years to pay off at today's rates. If I financed that at 8% for 30 years it would be $110 a month or $1320.00 a year. If I could get low cost financing, like 5%, then my yearly cost would be $996 for a really good positive net effect.

It's important to note that is just the dry numbers. Reducing my carbon output 50% is a big deal as is spending less money on utility bills and spending more money on my home. In the future, the reduced electricity use would make a PV system much smaller and cheaper.

Bottom Line - This concept's time has come but we need a little maturity in the market to get prices down and make this a no-brainer. Right now its a good deal if you have the money or the equity in your home to borrow against. We all agree that energy prices will also go up, and then the deal would get even sweeter.

I hope my old system breaks down again soon...(what am I saying?)

Saving a LOT of money

I just returned from Oklahoma City and an overnight stay at my brother in law's house. He installed central AC about 9 months ago and I was anxious to review their electric bills. (Is that weird or what?)

The bottom line is, going from window units to central AC will save them 55% on their energy costs and pay back the initial investment in 13.5 months. That's impressive.

What are "degree days"?

I am sorry to say that this is important to saving energy. The reason I'm sorry is because it's so darn complex.

The reason we care about "degree days" is because our home's climate control system dominates our energy use. Everything else is secondary. So to properly evaluate our heating and cooling energy use we need to somehow establish a way to compare one day to the next, or week, or month or year. If we spend a bunch of money on conservation how do I really know I have done some good and quantify it.

Degree days was developed just for that purpose and is used by commercial building operators to compare their building's energy use. Before we move on let me make sure I have established the need.

Today, my air conditioning energy use was largely dictated by the weather, minute by minute. Just using the high temperature of the day doesn't really define the amount we use. It's the temperature ALL day that counts. Was it a hot night? Did it warm up fast? Did it cool down slow? All of these contribute to how hot a day it really was. In fact, one could look at the temperature every second of an entire day.

Degree days essentially takes the temperatures from the entire day, usually in half hour increments, and calculates the number of "units" accumulated through the day and that's the degree days. A "unit" would be a degree for a half hour which is 1/48th of a day. But of course its not that simple.

If you keep your house at 75 degrees on a 75 degree day you would have zero (nada) degree days. Why? Because the calculation is based on how much YOU would have used based on your thermostat. If you set your thermostat at 72, then the house would have to be cooled 3 degrees on that 75 degree day thus accumulating 3 degree days of cooling.

Bottom Line #1 -With degree days you have an accurate amount to determine the demand for energy for heating and cooling. This is very useful to compare July 2008 with 2009. For example...

The average high temp in June 08 was 96 degrees, and 94 in 09. So June was cooler this year right? Well actually, there were 284 cooling days based on my 75 degree thermostat setting in June 08. In 2009 June was 292. So June 09 was actually the hotter month. It made sense my June 09 bill was higher in KWH used, than last year.

But there is even another step. We can divide the cooling KWH used by the degree days and get a rough efficiency number thats useful for comparing months. Dividing the current month by the same month last year gives me a percentage improvement number.

Bottom Line #2 - When I compare the months, I can see the results of my energy saving efforts that are focused on climate control in my home. New insulation, sealing, more attic vents etc all are contributing to a higher efficiency number.

This link takes you to a handy site where you plug in your zip code and thermostat setting and it will give you your personal degree days. http://www.degreedays.net/

Washing machine update

My old top loading machine takes 40 minutes to do a load of laundry. Compare that to 90 minutes for the average front loader.

I guess the next question is...how long to dry?

My dryer takes 40 to 45 for average clothes and around 60 minutes for towels. The front loader takes at least 60 minutes for any load. If you're doing consecutive loads it doesn't really matter since the washer is still the pacing item.

Another "feature" of your front loading washer is that once you start a cycle...you can't stop. If you push the wrong button...you will wait for 90 minutes to start over.

Bottom Line - The new front loaders use time to get water and electricity savings. They also are easier on clothes and use less detergent. But, the expenditure of time (productivity) to go green is generally not a good idea. The manufacturers need to do better.

My diswasher is an enigma

I have a fancy Euro dishwasher from ASKO. I put it in in 2001 to match all the other stainless steel stuff. I didn't really care about the energy use then.

Fast forward to today.

I call ASKO North America to get the energy use numbers on this dishwasher. I can't test it myself because the unit is hard wired in...

They don't have the numbers! Their manuals etc all talk about energy savings etc but no numbers. Hmmm, this makes me suspicious. I wonder if their proud proclamation of now being Energy Star compliant is new for the product or just new for them. I wonder if the old product I have is an energy hog. I wonder if the unit is efficient but they want me to buy a new one on the promise of more efficiency.

(Btw, I had no trouble getting energy use numbers on my old refrigerators.)

Bottom Line - I have to test the dang thing and that isn't going to be easy. These Euros are always preaching about their energy consciousness, so why can't I get some numbers?

Update: Same day.

I found a Canadian website that had old Energy Star figures for my dishwasher. It uses 1.29 KWHs per wash. That doesn't tell you how much it uses without electric heat dry. However it is interesting to note that Energy Star numbers have changed over time. It's also interesting to know ASKO "didn't have them" but Canada's Energy Star did.

Does that mean if I buy an Energy Star appliance today thinking it adds value to my home and they change the rules later I no longer have an Energy Star appliance? Or an Energy Star home?

I'd like to know how much I save by using air dry, Ill bet it's a lot. As for water use and savings, I still cant find that. Btw, the new units from ASKO use .853 KWHs per wash.

TXU conspiracy?

Remember my post about my signing up for a new electricity provider? I now know why deregulation isn't really working in Texas.

First it's worth noting that I signed with Direct Energy. They told me they would be sending me a welcome packet and I had three days to agree to switch. No welcome packet arrived. I called, they hemmed and hawed and said they would in fact be able to send another one. It never came. My electricity switched over on the third of this month.

Now to TXU. I get a bill that includes June and the balance of July with a $200 cancellation fee. Now I have had auto bank withdrawal on the account for years but they didn't withdraw June?

I call TXU to straighten this out. After the auto system doesn't recognize the last four digits of my SS number I finally get a human. She says they have had "lots of trouble with the automated system" and she will make sure the amount is withdrawn. I then explain how I don't owe the $200 cancellation. It's a minimum one year program I signed up for in November 2006!

She places me on hold, for a long while and then the phone rings and someone new picks it up!? I explain what happened and then start over. He then transfers me to billing, I start over, they transfer me to a "specialty agent, I start over, he says he is in sales and I need a specialty agent and transfers me...to voicemail. Not anyone's voicemail, just the general mail box. I leave a message while laughing.

Then I start the clock at 1:03. Call back, start over, transfer to Jem, boy is she. Puts me on hold and then comes back and asks me if I am still in Texas and then puts me on hold? Now can you think of a good reason for her to ask me that other than to determine if I have transferred electricity use to another company in Texas? 1:07 she comes back and says she needs to transfer me to Specialty Accounts, I protest to no avail. On hold, music, connect...to the voicemail box again.

I re-call, its now 1:12 and ask for a supervisor. Puts me on hold 1:14, music at 1:16, Alessandro answers at 1:18. By 1:30 he is getting this figured out and agrees I don't owe the $200 and says it will come off my bill, I say great, what's my confirmation number...he cant give me one. He can give me an "investigation number" and assures me it's fixed.

I mention the auto bank draft problem and he is surprised because the reason they didn't draft it was because I was closing the account. That's what they always do...

I pay the bill with him, less the $200, which he can give me a confirmation number for immediately.

Any doubts this isn't over yet?

Bottom Line - I spend years with TXU as a customer. The minute I sign somewhere else their customer service goes down the tubes...coincidence? I spent 36 minutes after the first three transfers getting this far. Any chance "specialty accounts" is how you get rid of a non-loyal customer like me?

Just for laughs I call the PUC to see if I have a legitimate complaint and get their automated system that directs me to the Electricity line that directs me to the Internet and if you push a button its puts you back at the beginning. I went to the web site and sent them an email and asked them to call me.

Any chance the PUC employs ex utility people?

I have green electrictiy!

I finally did it, made the big leap. I changed electricity providers to an all wind power renewable energy plan. And I saved money!

Here in Texas we deregulated electricity. There are four (I think) non-competing companies that deliver the stuff and about a million who sell it. Given the competition etc our rates are higher than most??? I can't really explain why but I would guess that deregulation has so many regulations that each seller's costs are higher than a single large company.

But, the good news is we have clean renewable energy choices! For a long time there was one company, Green Mountain, that really touted clean energy. There wasn't much competition so they were always 3 - 4 cents higher per KWH. Their energy mix was 20% wind and 80% hydroelectric.

But yesterday I was pleased to find at least six solid companies offering 100% renewables plans. I shopped them, built a spreadsheet to consider fees added to rates for my average usage and picked a couple leaders. I called and attempted to negotiate an even better deal but couldn't. I tried competitive rates etc but everyone manning the phones didn't have any authority to match rates.

A couple of additional things spurred my decision. First, my new green plan is cheaper by far than my old "brown" plan. My rate is 11 cents a KWH and my old rate was 14.24 cents per KWH! I also fixed that rate for 12 months as I believe natural gas prices aren't going to stay this low and that also affects coal prices. So I locked in now prior to the main summer cooling season.

Being able to do pure wind was a bonus. Having seen all the windmills in western Texas I am a big proponent, and, I want my money to go to building more of those rather than more dams.

It's also worth noting that a penny per KWH for me is $165 a year, based on last year's usage.

Bottom Line - Now is a great time to lock in rates and they are low enough to go renewables and still save money!

But now I have green energy. Can I stop being electricity use conscious? I guess, in a way, I could. But my conscience wouldn't be clear. I am using electricity from the grid regardless of source but my money goes to the wind provider. If I now used more electricity there would be more demand on the grid overall and to supply that, there has to be more generation built. But what we want is to have them decommission coal plants while building more renewable energy.

If we can all just cut 30%, regardless of source, we can get there. If we use too much energy, just because its green, we actually defeat the bigger purpose of transitioning all energy to renewables.

I hope the wind is blowing in West Texas today, I have ice cream in the freezer!

Hunting Vampires

As part of my ongoing energy savings project I am confronted with the Vampire. This means I have to hunt down stuff that sucks power doing nothing...I think.

That's where I am at the moment, trying to define what a true Vampire is in electrical terms. Most would define it as standby power. There's no clock or anything useful going on. It's just sitting there waiting for you to ask it to do something, usually with a remote.

If I use that definition strictly, I have numerous devices, but I just suspicion it's not a lot of energy. I am measuring each of these devices and totaling their collective power use. I will post results soon.

What's tricky, or maybe it just needs a different name, is that stuff that has a minor function like a clock or a battery charger that keeps the battery charged. I have a rechargeable hand vacuum that we use about every two weeks. But am I paying to charge it all the time? That's probably worse than a Vampire. I suggest we call them Zombies. They wander around all the time wasting energy while doing very little real work.

Bottom Line #1 - Whatever we call it, if it runs 24 x 7 we need to look at it closely. There are very few things that we need around the clock, so if we are powering it, we are wasting energy.

Lightbulbs...replace with green alternatives...or not?

I have a confession to make, I have 123 sockets inside my house and 37 outside. Together I have 160 different sockets that require light bulbs. No wonder they have to strip mine coal...just for my house!

That means that lighting for me is an ongoing project that started eight years ago when I remodeled this house. I used my first Compact Fluorescents (CFLs) then. I have learned a lot about bulbs since.

I have four kinds of switches for those bulbs. On-off, dimmable, motion sensing, and three way. Unfortunately, this is important to your green bulb choices.

First the easy part…there isn't, that I can find, any energy saving bulb technology, including CFLs and LED bulbs that work properly with motion or light sensors. If you find some, let me know as my exterior security lights are motion sensing and on at least until bedtime. That's expensive. Those cool indoor switches for a closet etc that come on when you enter? Won't work either.

On-off switches are pretty easy once you know what the rules of thumb are:

1. Don't buy bright white or natural light CFLs, the light is terrible unless used behind a softening shade. Buy soft white. (2700k).
2. Buy more output in lumens than the incandescent bulb you are replacing. The CFLs are always weaker than advertised.
3. Note that any sockets you have that require a smaller, shorter profile incandescent (refrigerator bulbs, ceiling fans, sconces) usually can't be replaced effectively with a fluorescent because they always have the integral transformer that makes them too long. This also applies to the newer CFLs that look like spotlight bulbs, beware of can lights etc because the bulb will stick out below the trim. Measure first, buy second.
4. Home Depot, Wall-Mart etc only carry a small subset of what's available in the market, lighting stores and online sources have a much wider array and the newest stuff.

Three way switches are getting easier. There are decent CFL, soft white, three way bulbs for lamps. If your shade is the kind that clamps on the bulb, it won’t work and if you have "harps" to connect the shade to the lamp, it must be wide enough to take the larger CFL. Some CFLs come with small brackets to help make the harp work but I haven't ever needed them.

Dimmed switch sockets are becoming much easier to retrofit. The new dimmable soft white CFL bulbs are great as long as they fit your fixture. It's worth noting that a dimmed incandescent saves energy too. However, because of the way they light, a half dimmed bulb uses more than half power.

There are some new dimmable CFLs that are housed in the "spotlight" looking form factor. I have two from different manufacturers. They are specified in both light color, and light amount, to replace halogen PAR type bulbs. They don't and aren't. They are a very disappointing product. They do dim, but only partially. They are of course too long and stick below my can light trim and the light quality is weak at best.

They might be good for something but PAR halogen lamp replacement isn't one of them.

Bottom Line #1 - Buying energy saving bulbs is way harder and you need to be informed to get a satisfactory result. Your switch type and bulb size dictate a lot.

Each CFL contains a very small amount of mercury. If you break a bulb you can capture this mercury and apply it to your fish directly and cut out all the middle men. Actually, you do want to dispose of these bulbs properly. Home Depot, Wall-Mart etc have recycling bins just for this purpose and will take bulbs you bought anywhere. If you break one, just sweep it into a zip lock baggy and take it to the Depot.

But that's why everyone is so breathlessly waiting for LED to become affordable. No mercury. But based on my test of four different LED bulbs, they have many of the same problems as CFL's. They don’t dim, the light quality is harsh in many cases, and they are odd form factors due to heat dissipation requirements (that I don't really understand). The promise is they will provide more light for less watts and last a long time. But, they are currently very expensive. They can be justified in commercial applications where there are large numbers left on for long periods of time (12 hours etc.) but not for most homeowner applications.

Bottom Line #2 - LEDs wont be an answer for us homeowners for awhile...(if ever).

I bought a bulb at the Depot recently from Phillips that is a halogen replacement that's advertised as 30% cheaper to run. And it's a halogen bulb! So it's dimmable etc...Works great but I can’t vouch for its lower energy use.

Bottom Line #3 - The energy savings from CFLs is impressive, the better ones last a long time and costs have come way down. They make a difference everywhere they work as well or better than an incandescent. If they don't, don't compromise the quality of light or appearance just for the sake of feeling green. Our homes and especially the lighting go a long way towards our quality of life and sense of well being. It's been proven, we are emotionally light sensitive. Let the manufacturers figure out how to give us what we need and want, and don't feel guilty about not having CFLs everywhere.

Recessed lighting

When I purchased my house it had many old style recessed ceiling fixtures. After the remodel, I had added a large number of new recessed lighting in the form of "can" lights. All of these fixtures, old and new, penetrate into the attic space.

I also had new insulation added which was blown-in cellulose. After reading the fine print on my new can lights (25 total) it says you can't pile insulation on them or next to them! Too hot, so we don't.

Now, jumping forward to today, it's apparent I have made a huge energy mistake. I have holes cut in my ceiling where thin metal boxes with holes in them for ventilation pass air in large volumes from my attic to my living space. The good news is, TXU sends me a picture of the coal mining family that I am responsible for feeding and clothing.

So, how to fix it?

In most of these cans I use hot halogen bulbs. The option of ignoring the fine print and just covering them up doesn't exist. Next I hear that some people build insulated boxes around the fixtures in the attic...but you still have to cut a hole for ventilation??? That's a lot of work and expense for insulated but unsealed lights.

So I look up my manufacturer and what do I discover? They make cans that are air sealed and can be covered with insulation!

Bottom Line #1 - Can lights can be a real problem and if you are considering them for your home get the sealed ones that can be in contact with insulation (IC rated).

Now I have considered changing all my bulbs to cool running fluorescents and just covering the cans, but that seems irresponsible to any new home owner who might put halogen fire starters back in....

The new can themselves are cheap, $12 each. The decorative trim rings however are around $25. It turns out I could switch the fixture and use the same trim ring! Sweet! But what will the electrician cost? Can I save that much money and how could I figure that out? Hmmmm...

Bottom Line #2 - This will takes some more work but...it does illustrate how easy it is to just waste energy, unintentionally.

My coffee maker sucks...power

I am in the middle of a project to reduce my gas and electric use. I will publish more on that later, but for just a moment, I want to talk coffee. The most popular beverage in the world...and apparently the most expensive. If Juan Valdez were here I'd show him my electric bill.

We have a new Cuisinart coffee maker that uses 126 kilowatt hours a month! About $15! We run it four hours a day every day. Excluding the A/C and the refrigerators, it ranked second only to my electric clothes dryer for the month. I was shocked!

So of course I did a little research. Did you know there are no Energy Star ratings for coffee makers? Consumer Reports doesn't even rank them for energy use?

An internet source says we burn about 400 million in electricity a year making coffee. We use the equivalent of one decent sized coal fired electrical generation plant a year!

Bottom Line - We do care about how much energy a coffee maker uses because we use them often and for long periods of time. Our solution was to just buy a nice insulated carafe. (Already recommended by coffee connoisseurs to eliminate scorching). We brew, (10 minutes), pour the coffee into the carafe, turn off the burner. The coffee is now closer to me and hot! The pay back on that little purchase is less than three months.

If I were buying a coffee maker, I would buy one with the insulated carafe already part of the set up...and turn off that burner before we cut the top off of another coal bearing mountain in West Virginia!