Energy Efficiency, vol. 1

An article from this weekend's Post and Courier which hints at just a small portion of the vast potential to meet our energy needs through energy efficiency. Read more about energy efficiency here, or here. Pull the plug to save money on home electronic devices By ERNEST SCHEYDER Associated Press Saturday, April 11, 2009 NEW YORK — For Ben Veligdan, a music teacher in Brooklyn's Coney Island neighborhood, opening the electric bill became a monthly surprise. There's no way more than $100 a month for him, his wife and a cat could be normal, right? So Veligdan, 26, looked around his modest one-bedroom apartment for the culprit and decided unplugging his computer when sleeping or working would be a start. His electric bill fell almost immediately. Many electronic items still draw power when they're turned off. It's a phenomenon called "phantom" load, and it sucks about 5 percent to 10 percent of the energy used in America's homes each year. That's the same amount of power generated by 17 coal-fired plants annually, according to Brian Keane, president of the energy-efficiency think tank SmartPower. .... read more.