Fuel and Energy Alternatives

Today I got a letter in the mail from Progress Energy about their Energy Wise program where homeowners can voluntarily allow them to install equipment which would allow them to switch off some of our appliances (air conditioning/heater/water heater) during peak demand times. In exchange for this they are offering up to $75 yearly credit. The peak demand times vary by the appliance (heater/water heater was 6AM-9AM and a stretch in the evening 5PM-9PM I think) (air conditioning was about 1pm-6pm) Now, they say in the notice that it’s entirely voluntary and it would be switched off for 15 minutes at a time for no more than 4 hours. (This last part was not written clearly, does that mean no consecutive blocks of 15 minutes and the total would be no more than 4 hours, or is it possible that it could be consecutive blocks up to 4 hours(?)) I’m all for saving power. I’ve got a kill-a-watt meter and from time to time audit things around the house. We’ve tried to resist going to the air conditioning this year and last…. unplug the water heater when we’re away for long enough and really try to save where we can.

(more…)

This is a neat project. A site called hackaday posted this project. It’s essentially a homemade wind generator (generates electricity from wind.) It’s not one of those large windmill style turbines that you might have seen. This is a vertical design. They’ve sliced pvc pipe lengthwise in half to catch the wind. One advantage of a design like this is that it would work with wind from ANY direction. Their design drives a small DC motor. (DC motors can be used two directions…. hook up a current and get motion or supply motion and get current…)

(more…)

I’ve been on my own personal campaign to tighten up air leakage around our house. Busy caulking windows and trying to find ways to blunt that cool air from getting in and the warm air from getting out.

This evening I was thinking about the power outlets. I’ve noticed that some of our outlets on the exterior walls are a bit drafty. Since you want to be careful around an electrical outlet I’ve been wondering about safe ways to insulate around the outlets. Fortunately I’ve found some very good tutorials on what to look for and how to do it.

(more…)