Save Energy--Tips

Help me fight climate change The swaying palms, the gentle surf lapping upon the sandA gentle breeze so keen to please slowly gusts across our land Our island home is all we have known as centuries rolled byOur island people stood alone on reefs so barren and dry.But as years go by we wonder why the shoreline is not the sameThe things we knew as always true somehow do not remain The breakers break on higher ground - the outer palms are falling downThe taro pits begin to die and the village elders wonder why.For what is happening to the beautiful isles we know?Tuvalu, Kiribati and Tokelau - the Marshall isles, that place of smiles The rising sea will reclaim our ground - nothing but water will aboundOur people forced to leave for higher ground.Look Around now and Help me fight climate change. Wanna make a difference? Mail me and ask How?

ElectricityElectricity consumption in households differs immensely throughout the world. Even within the OECD (industrialised countries), an average European household consumes 4,667 kWh, whereas a household in the US consumes 11,209 kWh and in Japan 5,945kWh per year . A US household uses three times more electricity for lighting, and twice as much in refrigerators than in the EU. This does not necessarily reflect a difference in comfort. As we will explain, there are high efficiency appliances that consume two to 10 times less electricity for an equal functionality, and that are most often also of higher quality. Using only highly efficient and money saving appliances can reduce the electricity consumption of an average household to as low as 1,300 kWh/y, without any loss of comfort. This is almost 10 times less than the US average.

1. Use efficient lightingReplace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents (CFLs). Compact fluorescents use four times less energy, and last eight times longer (8,000h instead of 1,000h) than incandescent light bulbs. For example, a typical 75W incandescent bulb will be replaced by an 18W compact fluorescent. The compact fluorescent will be more expensive to buy, but you will need to replace it eight times less often and it will use less electricity, which often makes it the biggest electricity saver in your house. At a minimum, we recommend replacing the bulbs in all lamps that are used for 30min/day or more.Fluorescent tubes are even more efficient than compact fluorescent lamps, and last even longer (10,000-20,000h). Only use tubes with a modern ballast starter that avoids flickering and lights immediately - good ones add another 20 percent efficiency. Another option is a CFL with a dedicated fixture. The electronic ballast which is part of the fixture lasts 40,000 hours and bulbs can be replaced separately at lower cost. Both CFLs and fluorescent tubes are available in a dimmable fixtures. This can increase comfort, save even more energy and extend the lifetime of the bulb.Especially avoid halogen floor lamps, which typically have a power of 300W or more, produce lots of heat and are actually so hot (some 500° Celsius) that they can cause serious burns and start fires. Besides, on hot summer days they are very uncomfortable to be around. A CFL floor lamp only uses 50-80W at 40° Celsius. They can save loads of energy and even your life.Also pay attention to the light fixtures. Clever use of reflectors, and directional lamps to get the light where you need it can save you another 50 percent energy cost and improve your comfort! Well thought out use of efficient lights can thus reduce electricity needs up to 8 times.CFLs at the end of their operating life should be disposed of properly so the mercury inside can be recycled. To be clear, even if not recycled, CFLs are still the better choice, since the inefficiency of incandescent and halogen lights causes far greater environmental damage - including mercury emissions from coal fired power plants. (But please do recycle the CFLs.)Also, conversion to efficient lighting often leads to an increase in the use of light. To some degree, this can be a positive effect, as it can increase comfort and your well-being. But it can also lead to wasting light, such as leaving lamps on when there is no need to (e.g. when you leave the room). This is reinforced by the misconception that turning CLFs on and off is expensive. As a general rule, always turn off the lights when you leave the room or the house.