Cooler Planet

It’s great to see that our neighborhood pub uses solar energy to light its sign.  At Cooler Planet we’re starting to notice more devices harnessing solar power around town.  Have a beer for solar power . . . 

A lamp’s “color temperature” describes how warm or cool a light appears to our eye.  Traditional incandescent light bulbs emit a warm (or reddish colored) light.  Scientists measure color temperature in degrees Kelvin (K).  On a bright sunny day, the scientists would say the color temperature equaled 5,500 K, whereas candlelight would register at 1,500 K.  Incandescent lights equal 3,000 K.

The other component of a light’s quality is its color rendering index (CRI) which measures how accurately the light reflects color.  The CRI is measured on a scale of 1 to 100 and daylight and incandescent light bulbs set the standard for 100.

So the incandescent light bulb has ruled our world, setting the standard for light color since Thomas Edison mastered his invention oh so long ago.

Fluorescent lights were invented in 1976 but hadn’t made a dent in the market until recently.  Today, fluorescent light bulbs are close to par with the incandescent standard.  When shopping for a compact fluorescent bulb (CFL), look for a CRI at 82 +.  Many have a color temperature of 3,000 K.

Since CFLs use 30 to 50% less energy than incandescent bulbs, using the modern CFLs available today makes more and more sense just from a comparable color standpoint.  So go for it, rather than looking pasty in the mirror you’ll look warm and bright.  It will be our planet that stays cooler instead.

Wouldn’t it be nice to not have to flick a light switch during the day to light up a dark area in your house?  Whether your home is brand new or heritage, there always seem to be a room less well lit than others.  Solar tube skylights can turn a dim space bright.

Solar tubes are similar to a skylight but not as space consuming.  In your home, they look more like a recessed ceiling light fixture instead of like a skylight.  Solar tubes guide light from outside through a reflective tube to an interior ceiling mounted light diffuser.  (In fact, some even come with an internal light fixture so that they double as a regular light fixture during the night time.)  Solar tubes are relatively inexpensive – many models start at about $150.  

Exactly how the solar light tube originated isn’t exactly clear, it’s likely someone once had an epiphany while installing a metal chimney for a wood stove.  The hole was cut in the roof, the stove pipe inserted, and in an instant the space went from dark to bright!

Solar tube lighting is manufactured by a number of different companies; from major skylight manufacturers to specialty firms.  Generally, all solar tube products come with roof components (a light collector and roof flashing), a reflective tube to direct the light, and a ceiling fitting (comprised of a trim ring and a light diffuser).  

The easiest time to install a solar tube is when a house is being built or is being re-roofed; however, professional installers can retrofit solar tubes into a home as well.  Be sure to consider the characteristics of the side of the roof where you plan to place the solar tube.  You want to capture the light, but not place it in on the roof in a place that might make it prone to leak.  

So next time you flick on a light, think about whether a solar tube might do the trick instead.  Cooling our planet one flick at a time . . .

I learned from CNN news that this year’s Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center in NYC will be powered with 30,000 LED lights rather than its traditional incandescent bulb counterpart.  According to the report, that change alone will reduce the tree’s electricity consumption from 3,510 to 1,297 kilowatt hours per day (the daily savings is equivalent to one month of electricity needs for a 2,000 sq ft house).

LED stands for “light-emitting diode” and the bulbs made using LED technology are by far the most energy efficient type of bulb in the marketplace today — 80%-90% more efficient than a comparable incandescent bulb to be exact.  MIT has calculated that if all Christmas tree lights used in the USA were replaced with LED bulbs, the country could save nearly 2 billion kilowatt hours!

Consumer Reports examined LED light strings this month as well.  They concur that LEDs rule.  Their analysis found that although LED lights cost a bit more per string than an incandescent one, LEDs keep on working after 4,000+ hours of use while the incandescent light strings had bulbs burn out before 2,000 hours.  True LEDs were not quite as bright, still Consumer Reports recommended them noting that LEDs run cooler and decrease overall fire risk.

Yet why not take the whole tradition one step further and power those LED lights from the sun?  Solar powered LED holiday lights exist and are readily available.  Furthermore, they’re really no more expensive than their LED-plug-in cousins.  Solar powered holiday lights have an additional advantage:  you’ll never have to flip the switch to turn them on or off.   Enjoy the sparkle of the holidays with the sparkle from the sun.

Sometimes our energy use seems so insidious and almost like a diet; it’s hard to shave down calories (or power). Yet as is true with dieting, getting feedback is the key to staying with it. Gyms now offer high tech scales that not only tell you your weight, but also you body mass index and percent fat. High tech devices now exist to measure your home energy use as well, that don’t include electrician fees (or gym fees for that matter).

Electric usage meters plug into your wall socket and provide instant feedback about your kilowatt use for specific appliances. Though the meters vary in what data they provide, most will give you all the data you need to figure out your energy use throughout your home At a minimum, the meters instantly display real-time kilowatt use so you can calculate your actual electrical expense by the hour, day, week, or even a year for any device you plug in.

Knowing your kilowatt hour use and voltage means that you can forecast your energy consumption and figure out ways to kill some watts. For example, you can use the meter to assess how different appliances or types of light bulbs compare or figure out when you should replace an old appliance with a new one.

Who knows, you may decide to replace that old power sucking TV with the new one you’ve been eyeing and have it pay for itself in reduced electricity use. That’s because many newer electronics have improved efficiency. You can prioritize appliances you may want to replace, identify systems to reconfigure, and figure out the best solar photovoltaic or solar hot water system to augment your power needs. Watt else do you need?

Several electric usage meters developed for the residential market watch your watts. Check out the Kill-A-Watt or Watt’s Up meters. For photos of what a Kill-A-Watt actually looks like and to read a testimonial from someone who tested the monitor, follow this link:

http://the-gadgeteer.com/review/kill_a_watt_ez_electricity_usage_monitor

Ever find yourself frustrated with your energy conservation attempts being thwarted because someone forgot to turn the lights out?  You either find yourself flicking off lights others left on, or you yourself forget to turn off the basement or laundry room lights.

Here’s an easy, foolproof – and cool – solution:  install an interior motion sensing light switch.  Motion sensor switches turn the lights on automatically when you enter a room and turn off again when you leave.  Different types of sensors are available depending on your needs.

The simplest type of motion sensing light switch is one that screws right into the light socket.  You can install this yourself.  All you do is screw the motion sensing switch into the light fixture you want to control, and then screw in the light bulb.  Voila, now you have a light that comes on automatically when you enter and goes off again when you leave.  These switches are inexpensvie to buy and easy to experiment with.  The downside is that you cannot set the duration which is only a few minutes long.  You’ll find yourself in the dark if you aren’t moving around within the sensor’s range.

A more sophisticated type of motion sensing light switch actually replaces the regular wall switch.  These types of switches are generally commercial grade and adjust for sensitivity and duration.  Because these switches require wiring work and may require relocating an existing light switch, you will need to hire a licensed electrician to do the installation.  The upside is you have better control over the way the switch works.  Typically these switches have an on/off setting plus automatic off duration in 10-minute intervals so you can program them for ten, twenty, or thirty minutes.

If you use regular compact fluorescent light bulbs and decide to install a motion sensing light switch, then you’ll need to change to a dimmer compatible type of compact fluorescent.  Otherwise, the sensing switch which has a very small current draw will cause the conventional compact fluorescent bulb to flicker.