eco

[northan]

I got a free wireless energy meter yesterday from Npower.
Very Very shocked how much juice I was wasting.

The meter gives an indication on how much you are using and have used over the day in Kw/hr, kgc02/hr and £/hr. The last one is of particular interested for the missus.
I'm was spending around average 10p and hour. I cut that already to an average of 6p an hour, around a pound a day. Considerable saving over a quarter.

I know this is a tech site and it's obvious that tech needs its juice to work, but what do we do in our homes that helps to save our planet?
I have a standby saver connected to my telly + peripherals, energy saving bulbs around the house (yes I hate them but they are getting better) obviously double glazing and insulation but is there anything else?

My town (Bordon/ Whitehill) has been giving the go ahead to be the first eco town in the country, a new bio fuel generator is being built now to supply energy for a few houses. New smart homes are being built and existing houses can be retrofitted to be more energy efficient. (the whole town is getting free broadband a wifi too )

Is there anything more that we can do? I love tech, but not to the cost of my pocket.
Does anyone have some clever tech on their homes, please let me know.

[elootos]

(05-11-2010 11:20 PM)northan Wrote:  Does anyone have some clever tech on their homes, please let me know.

You can't beat the classic tried n' tested switch

Seriously, it does seem that going green isn't exactly financially rewarding just yet, everything I've tried to reduce power consumption seems to cost more money so for now I just use as little equipment/lights as I can (apart from the server and 3 media center PCs in the loft, ahem.)


The subject of efficiency does bring me on to someone who I've come across recently and is a true genius of efficiency; Theo Jansen. If you watch some of his Youtube videos you'll see he creates these incredible animals made from plastic that survive just on wind alone. He's created valves and bottles that store the wind so they can move themselves when there is none, and even created sensors so they can know when they are near water/land. There's even a binary counter so they can work out where they are and a stake in their tails so they can pin themselves to the ground in high wind. Intelligent structures all from plastic tubing and ingenius design; no electricity, fuels, waste, pollution, byproducts whatsoever. A true visionary of how we should be focusing on design to make our lives more efficient. Incredible stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcR7U2tuNoY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b694exl_oZo