There are a number of reasons to reduce your energy usage, but the major ones that will be covered in this section are:
1) save money.
2) improve the quality of your life.
LIGHTING
Many would have you believe that you should go out and replace all your light bulbs with CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lamps).
DON'T DO IT.
DO go and buy one CFL to use in the lamp fixture that is on the longest inside your house. Buy a name brand like GE, Philips, or Sylvania. Live with it for a while. If you like it buy more for the fixtures that are on for two or more hours at a time everyday. If you don't like it, try another brand and move the one you don't like to someplace it won't annoy you.
The bare truth about halogen lamps is that they are only slightly more c than standard incandescent, however the much longer life and improvment in color rendering are ususally worth the extra cost.
It is the reflector versions, particularly the miniature reflector (MR), that can reduce energy usage because the light can be directed were it is wanted, therefore less wattage is needed.
A new variation that is not yet easy to find and will save almost a third in energy usage is called either Infrared Conserving (IRC) or Halogen Infrared (HIR).
These work as the name implies by redirecting some of the heat that would normally be lost, back at creating light at the filament.
Check back for useful halogen lamp information.
Outdoor lighting - or why are we lighting the bellies of birds?
There is too much outdoor lighting. Period. Most of what is there is of very poor design and may be there for the wrong reasons.
This applies to both public and our private spaces including our own yards.
But wait, you say, doesn't dusk to dawn lighting prevent crime? The one word answer is NO.
It never really did. It was an easy answer to a tough problem. It was a sales pitch to sell more electricity. It was a sales pitch to sell more lights. And yes at first it might have MOVED some crime from the area that was lit to the place that wasn't. But it never prevented crime. That was and is a lie. In some cases it may encourage crime. Many schools have eliminated dusk to dawn lighting and significantly reduced vandalism.
No I am not saying outdoor lighting should be eliminated, I am saying it needs to be used wisely. Less is more.
We are wasting resources (money). We are creating glare that is more than annoying when it can lead to accidents (money or worse).
We are taking away our view of the stars. We must take back the night.
TRANSPORTATION (cars)
There is a lot of hype about hydrogen powered cars. While research needs to be done we must reduce oil usage now not DECADES from now.
There is one answer NOW. A car that uses gasoline but much more efficiently. It comes with a $2,000 (US) TAX CREDIT. It is the
Toyota Prius.
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