Linked by David Adams on Mon 26th Oct 2009 19:32 UTC
The "wall wart" is one of humanity's worst inventions (not counting all of the inventions that are actually intended to kill and maim each other, I'll admit). AC-plug power supplies are a cheap workaround to various engineering, economic, and regulatory problems that manufacturers face, and they solve those problems by pushing them off onto end users. So what can we do about it? OSNews takes a look at an ingenious workaround to the Wall Wart problem, and some hopeful trends that might make them a thing of the past.
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RE[5]: Energy wasted in two ways.
by sbergman27 on Mon 26th Oct 2009 21:48
in reply to "RE[4]: Energy wasted in two ways."
Member since:2005-07-24
650 kWh/month is quite a lot to my standards.
I was wondering if someone would challenge me on that.
Is that amount used by your household, or by you only?
Well, its me, my dog, and my cat.
We have a 2 person household, and need 250 kWh/month, so that's 125 for one person. We use electricity for "normal use", and for "warm water". No air conditioning is needed where I live, and we do not heat electrically.
Here, we do need A/C. (Thermostat setting is 80-82 degrees.) I keep the hot water turned off except for about 0.5 to 1.0 hours a day. (I turn it on 30 minutes before my shower, and turn it off afterwards. It's set to 115 degrees F, which is as low as the thermostat goes.) We need heat during the winter, too. Heat pump. I live in a townhouse, and keep the upstairs doors and vents blocked off, year round. Windows are blocked off with 0.5 inch styrofoam... except for the sliding section of the patio door. We pretty much live downstairs. The heatpump had a pretty good (10.5 EER) rating back when it was intstalled. And the charge is still good as measured by the sweat on the evaporator return line in the summer.
Our household total energy consumption (every form of energy the household consumes) is approximately 500 kWh/month. So if you don't use any other form of energy than electricity, and you are more than one person it's probably OK.
Yes, everything is electric here. But it would be nice if you would elucidate the rest of us on exactly how you manage a two-person household on 250 KWh/month. It would be appreciated, and potentially beneficial.
Edited 2009-10-26 22:07 UTC
RE[6]: Energy wasted in two ways.
by ohbrilliance on Tue 27th Oct 2009 07:50
in reply to "RE[5]: Energy wasted in two ways."
Member since:2005-07-07
But it would be nice if you would elucidate the rest of us on exactly how you manage a two-person household on 250 KWh/month. It would be appreciated, and potentially beneficial.
I'll chip in here. I use about 80 kWh per month in my apartment (staying alone). My strategy is to be conscious of power-guzzlers and only switch things on as I need them. My wireless router and fridge stay on round-the-clock. I switch on the TV, laptop and 1-2 lights for a few hours each day. Water heating on when I shower, washing machine once a week. I'm living in Singapore but my apartment is cool enough to be comfortable with a fan. Heating of course is never needed.
I could switch off the router during the day, but that involves climbing under my desk.
Member since:
2006-01-19
650 kWh/month is quite a lot to my standards.
Is that amount used by your household, or by you only?
If it's for a 5 Person Household, I would say it is not particularely energy-saving, but OK.
We have a 2 person household, and need 250 kWh/month, so that's 125 for one person. We use electricity for "normal use", and for "warm water". No air conditioning is needed where I live, and we do not heat electrically.
Our household total energy consumption (every form of energy the household consumes) is approximately 500 kWh/month. So if you don't use any other form of energy than electricity, and you are more than one person it's probably OK.