Nagel Family Website

As I’m wrapping up switching from incandescent bulbs to CFL’s, I had to replace some dimmers with plain switches. I like to turn the power off when I do this, but it’s such a pain because I never know which circuit breaker to turn off.

So now, as I’m finding the right ones, I’m also writing the circuit breaker number on the back of the faceplate.

So next time, I can simply remove the faceplate, then go downstairs and only turn off one circuit breaker, instead of turning of each one and having to reset all the clocks in the house.

This entry was posted by Eric on Tuesday, March 20th, 2007 at 10:34 am and is filed under Energy, Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

I came across this site, www.freeaire.com, which pumps in outside air into walk-in refrigerators to keep them cool during the winter months. Why not do this with my conventional refrigerator? Heck… with some of the nights we’ve had here, the outside air could’ve kept my freezer cold enough! I’ll have to keep looking…

This entry was posted by Eric on Saturday, March 17th, 2007 at 9:55 pm and is filed under Energy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

I read about this Biodiesel deal this morning, and immediately thought of the Great American Streetcar Scandal in which “General Motors, Firestone Tire, Standard Oil of California and Phillips Petroleum [formed the] National City Lines (NCL) holding company, which acquired most streetcar systems throughout the United States, dismantled them, and replaced them with buses in the early 20th Century”.

I’d like to think this won’t happen again, but with Bush in the White House, I wouldn’t be surprised if AgriFuel Co. is a front for Exxon Mobile & friends. I can’t seem to find anything about this company, other than the fact that they buy up other Biodiesel companies (they bought another yesterday, too). And Metalico is buying AgriFuel, which makes me wonder why AgriFuel is doing any acquisitions now. However, Metalico is publicly traded (MEA), so at least the SEC is watching over them.

This entry was posted by Eric on Tuesday, March 6th, 2007 at 9:38 am and is filed under Business, Energy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

The Complete Guide to Living with CFLs has some good tips in there… many I’ve known, but some new ones for me, too.

Generally speaking, you shouldn’t use CFLs in ceiling fans. They move around too much, and you’ll be disappointed when your bulb wears out prematurely.

We haven’t replaced the fans properly yet… Becca has an LED light, we have a CFL but no enclosure, and Morgan still has an incandescent. We’ll be hitting up WalMart tonight to see if we can find bulbs that fit… I’m still going to opt for the CFL in the ceiling fans.

And then we have to get some for the outdoors… but if the bulb is fully enclosed, why do they have to be special? I’ll have to look into that more.

This entry was posted by Eric on Friday, March 2nd, 2007 at 11:00 am and is filed under Energy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Saturday night I spent some time changing the lights in our house. It took a bit longer than 18 seconds per bulb, but 97% of the lights have been changed. The ceiling fans are proving to be a problem, as the bulbs are too tall. I haven’t gotten outside yet, either.

But, so far, I’ve eliminated 986 watts from the lights in our house. There was a slight setback as I replaced a switch in the wall and electrocuted myself a couple times… Laura said the power was off, but she lied. For some reason, she found it amusing each time my arm jumped back; it was more amusing (to her) when the sparks shot out. Well, glad I’m good for something to her.

So with 2 more switches to replace (turning dimmers into on/off switches), and a few more bulbs to buy, the house is actually brighter than before, and using less power! The bulbs from Walmart.com work great! While the 6-pack online is near $15, in the store, I got a 6-pack for $10. Actually, I got 5, 6-packs (I had 29 bulbs to replace). And some candelabaras, which they don’t sell online, but they do in the store. Walmart had this real nice display showing the lights, but you couldn’t turn them on to see how they looked. I guess they’re really saving energy, if the displays don’t even work

Search for CFL Bulbs on WalMart.com here:

This entry was posted by Eric on Monday, February 26th, 2007 at 9:29 am and is filed under Energy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

According to 18seconds.org, NY State isn’t very green - we rank 45 out of the 50 states. Worse, the WNY area is one of the least “green” areas in NY State.

Granted, you have to be real tolerant to put up with LED lights. I can deal with them, but Laura’s cursing under her breath. But the CFL lights look great, IMO. If you recall, we’re switching our house over to CFLs & LEDs.

Some households won’t switch because of the upfront cost… it’s like $2 - $3 per bulb, instead of $0.60. But you save money every month on your energy bill, and the bulbs last longer.

What if there was a program which pays for and replaces all of your bulbs for you - choosing the best bulbs for your situation. In addition, it monitors your past 4 electric bills, gets an average, or looks at last year’s bill, to figure out what your bill “should be” in a given month. So say you replace 18, 60-watt bulbs, costing you $34.92 (buy at WalMart). At $0.10 kilowatt / hr, you’ll save $9.85 per month. In 3-1/2 months, the bulbs are paid for.

So, if there was a government-sponsored program, where the upfront cost of the bulbs are covered, even at a crazy 24% APR, you could pay this off in 4 months! Then… there’s money in your pocket.

Now, I’m sure there’d be all sorts of fraud in this system, but I’m sure there’s a way to do it.

This entry was posted by Eric on Friday, February 23rd, 2007 at 9:00 pm and is filed under Energy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.