tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7085122402641722162.post5812763161050921767..comments2024-02-27T00:24:54.517-08:00Comments on Electric Mini: How many light bulbs does it take to plug in an electric car?The Norby'shttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04485407536555106838noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7085122402641722162.post-91292185541590544542010-08-19T22:21:31.257-07:002010-08-19T22:21:31.257-07:00Very interesting analogy! While every light bulb m...Very interesting analogy! While every light bulb matters, and people absolutely should be turning off lights they leave on for no reason at home, and elsewhere, for most American homeowners, there are three areas where doing just a little, could save a lot of electricity (and money) which could then be used to power and electric car.<br /><br />1. Reducing the use of home central AC (turning up the temperature a few degrees), and/or "toughing" it out a bit (go ahead, live dangerously and try to survive with an in-house temp of 77, 78, 79, or, gulp, 80) in order to truly minimize how often you turn it on, can save you a ton of kWh, which could be better used for an EV.<br />2. If you have an electric dryer, hanging out some of your clothes to dry can save also save you a lot of kWh for your EV.<br />3. Buying a highly efficient fridge and doing the right things (keeping the freezer full, vacuuming the dust from the coils regularly)<br /><br />I'm not going to do the specific math on Central AC, electric dryers, and fridges -- but for most people they are primary electric energy hogs in the house.<br /><br />It's worth it to save the kWh for an EV. That's because, comparatively speaking, a kWh is much more valuable as a source of fuel for an EV than for a central AC unit -- at least for most of us. 5 to 6 kWh replaces a gallon of gasoline for most of us, or about $3. Compare this to the 50 to 60 cents it would cost me (in Xcel territory in Colorado) to pay for those kWh to run our central AC for about one hour.<br /><br />Basically, 50 cents of AC = to $3 worth of gasoline -- and imagine if gasoline prices pushed to $4 or even $5 per gallon!Christof Demont-Heinrichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14127210363139764239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7085122402641722162.post-87964852349204422432010-08-15T15:41:35.941-07:002010-08-15T15:41:35.941-07:00Tom,
Thanks for backing me up in the comments sec...Tom,<br /><br />Thanks for backing me up in the comments section of the examiner interview!<br /><br />I'm pretty sure most people could pay for their electric car energy use just by being a bit more energy aware at home. <br /><br />3 years ago we changed out about 70, 50 watt halogen bulbs in recessed 4in cans with a completly dimmable 8 watt ccfl bulb from litetronics.<br /><br />http://www.1000bulbs.com/product/7808/FC08-MB800DP.html<br /><br />These bulbs are working great and I have only replaced 4 out of 70 in 3 years.<br /><br />That savings alone (42 watts times 70= 2.94KW per hour. averaging 4 hours a day thats more energy saved than I use in the Mini-E.<br /><br />When you get into appliances the savings can be even more dramatic.<br /><br />Cheers!<br />PederThe Norby'shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04485407536555106838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7085122402641722162.post-80589770455336261002010-08-15T12:57:28.325-07:002010-08-15T12:57:28.325-07:00Great Post Peder! It's something when you brea...Great Post Peder! It's something when you break it down like that. How many people waste electricity by leaving a light on unnecessarily because "It's just one light bulb". It would be easy to save enough energy to power your EV just by paying more attention to your home energy usage. However you really can't "cut down on your gasoline use" unless you drive less. I like the topic, I think I'll do a blog post on this in the future. Thanks for the idea!<br />TomTom Moloughneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00302557992187975325noreply@blogger.com