Solar Status

Betterworldbuys.com founder, Katie Eames (aka this blogger), decided over the summer to move forward on a solar installation to power residential and home office electricity needs. In a blog from July, the decision making process and the solar tracker device used to determine the best location for the installation were discussed.

The last several months were spent on the lengthy and labor intensive permit process. PA’s Sunshine Fund approval finally came through last month, but then there were local permits, fees and engineering inspections to deal with. Thankfully, our contractor, John O’Boyle of Halo Energy, has handled all the logistics. Despite an additional $1000 in fees and permit costs, we are finally ready to proceed.

A new roof was laid to support the garage based installation, trenches were dug, and wiring installed. The panels are due in next week, and the project is expected to be completed by Thanksgiving. Solar power; now that is something to be grateful for!

In my last blog, I wrote about Vampire Bats, but what about some vampires still lingering in our homes after October 31st? It’s the vampire drains on our electrical bills I’m referring to.

PCWorld’s JR Rafael reported on the topic and shared that one of the worst offenders is, “A plasma TV, (which) costs a whopping $165 a year for its standby power consumption alone.” Rafael goes on to note the common energy sucking costs (“based on applying the national average electricity cost of 11.8 cents per kilowatt-hour to the electricity consumption of each device”) of other household vampires: cable box $10.33, CRT TV $5.16, VCR $3.10, Desktop computer $6.20, Laptop (fully charged) $2.06, LCD computer monitor: $1.03, Wireless router: $4.13, DSL modem: $5.16, Computer speaker system: $5.16, Inkjet printer: $4.28, DVD player: $3.60, Powered subwoofer: $15.50 and the good old fashioned Microwave oven: $2.48 (Raphael, 2008). These costs are per year but when added up and considered along with all the other plugged in appliances such as cell phone chargers, DVR’s, stereo receivers, and others, they can become a figure we would like to banish using more than garlic and wooden stakes.

A quick solution would be to rid yourself of these phantoms by unplugging appliances not in use. For other more technical solutions to ridding yourself of these unwanted energy suckers, consider purchasing items with the Energy Star approval or referring to Rafael’s article for details on some energy saving devices that might help. Additional tips are available from Lori Bongiorno at her blog "The Conscious Consumer".

Happy Hunting!