Earth Hour 2013

Cariboocoot
Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
in Energy Use & Conservation #1
Okay boys and girls it's time for the annual "feel-good" token approach to energy conservation, Earth Hour.

Everyone turns their lights off for one whole hour to pretend they're concerned about energy conservation and the environment.

This futile act of utter insignificance doesn't even rank "lip service" status.

So let's come up with some real efforts for people to try.

My first suggestion would be: shut your lights off every second you don't actually need them all year 'round.

My second suggestion would be: buy a Kill-A-Watt meter and start measuring everything in your house; see how much those phantom loads are sucking up every day and how much is being wasted by out-of-date appliances. To say nothing of careless usage.

Participating in Earth Hour to save energy is like going on a diet for 60 minutes to lose weight; it ain't going to happen.

Everyone of you who has solar power: turn on every light you've got for an hour Saturday night. Send a message that way.

Okay, rant over. For now.
(Feel free to rant yourselves; everyone on this forum is entitled to have a say in this because we are the one's really making an effort.)
· Share on Twitter

Comments

  • NorthGuy
    NorthGuy Solar Expert Posts: 1,913 ✭✭
    #2
    Re: Earth Hour 2013

    I've been on a trade show few years ago and a company (don't remember the name) was selling 2kW wind turbine (looked very slick) for $25K. A guy came to the stand and asked "how much money would I save on my electric bill?", and the salesman answered: "That is not about money. That is about feeling good for your planet".
    · Share on Twitter
  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #3
    Re: Earth Hour 2013

    BTW, those of you who use 13 Watt CFL's instead of 60 Watt incandescents have to shut your lights off for 4.6 hours to save the world, not one hour. :p
    · Share on Twitter
  • ggunn
    ggunn Solar Expert Posts: 1,973 ✭✭✭
    #4
    Re: Earth Hour 2013
    NorthGuy wrote: »
    I've been on a trade show few years ago and a company (don't remember the name) was selling 2kW wind turbine (looked very slick) for $25K. A guy came to the stand and asked "how much money would I save on my electric bill?", and the salesman answered: "That is not about money. That is about feeling good for your planet".
    I think that for $25K I can come up with some pretty good ways to feel good. I'm just sayin'... :D
    · Share on Twitter
  • solar_dave
    solar_dave Solar Expert Posts: 2,397 ✭✭✭✭
    #5
    Re: Earth Hour 2013

    I feel good every month when the utility bill comes, nothing else is required.
    · Share on Twitter
  • solarix
    solarix Solar Expert Posts: 713 ✭✭
    #6
    Re: Earth Hour 2013

    How about suggesting that everybody else spend an hour reading up (keep your lights on) on solar power?
    · Share on Twitter
  • westbranch
    westbranch Solar Expert Posts: 5,183 ✭✭✭✭
    #7
    Re: Earth Hour 2013

    I think we need to recommend that for that 'precious hour' :

    everyone TURN ON ALL their lights one at a time and Kill-a-Watt them till they get a usage number (watts) and then repeat around the house.

    That will be the best thing they can do !

    forgot : they also need to add up those watts x time used to get the Full picture...
     
    KID #51B  4s 140W to 24V 900Ah C&D AGM
    CL#29032 FW 2126/ 2073/ 2133 175A E-Panel WBjr, 3 x 4s 140W to 24V 900Ah C&D AGM 
    Cotek ST1500W 24V Inverter,OmniCharge 3024,
    2 x Cisco WRT54GL i/c DD-WRT Rtr & Bridge,
    Eu3/2/1000i Gens, 1680W & E-Panel/WBjr to come, CL #647 asleep
    West Chilcotin, BC, Canada
    · Share on Twitter
  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #8
    Re: Earth Hour 2013

    Whoops! I completely forgot to turn off my lights. :p
    That's okay; I can make up for it by not turning them on all day!
    · Share on Twitter
  • ChrisOlson
    ChrisOlson Banned Posts: 1,807 ✭✭
    #9
    Re: Earth Hour 2013
    Cariboocoot wrote: »
    Participating in Earth Hour to save energy is like going on a diet for 60 minutes to lose weight; it ain't going to happen.

    I don't think the purpose of Earth Hour is to save energy by turning lights off. It's to raise awareness and bring the fact to people's attention that they need to do their part to keep humans from ruining the planet we all live on, and have no way to escape from. This is their official video that they put out on it this year:

    [video=youtube_share;2UywrjnOaUE]http://youtu.be/2UywrjnOaUE[/video]

    Despite the fact that some may find it useless or stupid, it is a serious issue. Life as we know it, at the present rate of consumption of the planet's resources and human population is not sustainable, long term. Those of us who live off-grid know that you can't just throw solar or wind power at the problem - it has to start with energy efficiency and conservation. And that's the symbolism of Earth Hour.

    Isabel Lucas, a devoted conservationist of the WWF (as well as being an Australian actress) organized the first event in Sydney, Australia in 2007 with the help of Leo Burnett. In 2008 35 countries and over 400 cities worldwide participated in the event.

    The event is largely ignored in North America (which is not surprising). However, in my wife's native country of Sweden and most of the rest of Scandinavia and Europe, entire cities go dark for one hour - even places like the Danish Royal Palaces go dark. But you'll typically find that most Europeans are more energy conscious than North Americans, and in Sweden they take things like this very seriously. Mona Salin announced a few years ago that Sweden would become the first petroleum free country on earth by 2020. And as of today, the country of Sweden is about 50% of the way to that goal.
    --
    Chris
    · Share on Twitter
  • waynefromnscanada
    waynefromnscanada Solar Expert Posts: 3,009 ✭✭✭✭
    #10
    Re: Earth Hour 2013

    Forgot all about it, but on the other hand, none of the electricity I normally use results in any pollution, and does not consume any non-renewable energy supplies to produce.
    Does this mean I get a free pass to Heaven when I croak?
    · Share on Twitter
  • ChrisOlson
    ChrisOlson Banned Posts: 1,807 ✭✭
    #11
    Re: Earth Hour 2013
    waynefromnscanada wrote: »
    Forgot all about it, but on the other hand, none of the electricity I normally use results in any pollution, and does not consume any non-renewable energy supplies to produce.
    Does this mean I get a free pass to Heaven when I croak?

    No. There are no free passes to anywhere. It just means that if you can get the message out there that it's important, that your great grandkids might be able to still live on the planet.
    --
    Chris
    · Share on Twitter
  • Photowhit
    Photowhit Solar Expert Posts: 6,006 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #12
    Re: Earth Hour 2013
    ChrisOlson wrote: »
    No. There are no free passes to anywhere. It just means that if you can get the message out there that it's important, that your great grandkids might be able to still live on the planet.
    --
    Chris

    Dang I thought Chris was going to correct you. It takes energy to make all those pieces of your energy puzzle. Most of that came from fossil fuels. Off grid with batteries to recycle, you may not even recoop the energy that you take from the system to make the pieces.

    Lets all think things through, in 120 years of cheap oil we have used and depleted around 50% of the resource and the rest of the resource will take more energy to bring the resource to market. With out cheap oil and other fossil fuels, we are already overpopulated for what we can produce with know renewable sources.

    If you want to "save the planet" or at least make the planet a place that your kids will want to live in encourage them to have fewer children and encourage them to adopt rather than add to. Kinda what we are doing, taking a resource and extending it.

    FWIW - I thought the "hour out" was to be reminded of the 20% of the worlds population that lives without electric.

    We are truely blessed.
    Home system 4000 watt (Evergreen) array standing, with 2 Midnite Classic Lites,  Midnite E-panel, Magnum MS4024, Prosine 1800(now backup) and Exeltech 1100(former backup...lol), 660 ah 24v Forklift battery(now 10 years old). Off grid for 20 years (if I include 8 months on a bicycle).
    - Assorted other systems, pieces and to many panels in the closet to not do more projects.
    · Share on Twitter
  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #13
    Re: Earth Hour 2013

    interesting as this would've fit well with what i was talking about in another thread with all of the rf pollution. radio and tv stations won't go off air though and we can't expect the human services of police, fire, and medical to stop so my goal of seeing no man-made rf pollution to see the real noise floor will not happen.
    · Share on Twitter

Categories