Ha! I was right. (kind of).
My hubby and I were trying to figure out whether or not the new dimmer switches we'd installed would actually save $$$.
My concern was that the current (and therefor the cost) would stay constant and just the resistance would be altered. Hubby didn't seem to know either way. Neither one of us are electricians.
Turns out that the old technology (called variable resistance) did indeed convert some of the resistance to heat instead of light, which kept your power consumption the same. Now, however, new dimmers are wired to interrupt the current to reduce the light, rather than converting the resistance to something else.
So yes - new dimmers do save you money!
5 Ways To Reduce Food Waste
I love my dog - he helps me go green:
1) Let your dog clean your plates (literally, or scrape the food into his dog dish). Some restraint is necessary here because a dog that is overfed table scraps can become unhealthy pretty quickly.
2) Cook, and buy, less. I know, I know... this is really hard: "better to have too much than to run out." Hmmm. Maybe, as a society, we eat too much anyway? Dunno. Just puttin' it out there...
3) Compost (this is tricky if you live in an apartment, unless you're really really into plants).
4) Use leftovers. My hubby shakes his head at me for keeping odds and ends in the fridge, but sometimes the next day the kids will eat them. Once they're a few days old then I either let pooch or the trash can have 'em. At least this way they've had a shot at being used, rather than just being discarded.
5) Freeze what you can. I was habitually buying too much fruit and seeing some of it spoil until it occurred to me that I could freeze some to use in smoothies.
(My dog is shaking his head at me... he thinks items 2 through 5 are silly...)
1) Let your dog clean your plates (literally, or scrape the food into his dog dish). Some restraint is necessary here because a dog that is overfed table scraps can become unhealthy pretty quickly.
2) Cook, and buy, less. I know, I know... this is really hard: "better to have too much than to run out." Hmmm. Maybe, as a society, we eat too much anyway? Dunno. Just puttin' it out there...
3) Compost (this is tricky if you live in an apartment, unless you're really really into plants).
4) Use leftovers. My hubby shakes his head at me for keeping odds and ends in the fridge, but sometimes the next day the kids will eat them. Once they're a few days old then I either let pooch or the trash can have 'em. At least this way they've had a shot at being used, rather than just being discarded.
5) Freeze what you can. I was habitually buying too much fruit and seeing some of it spoil until it occurred to me that I could freeze some to use in smoothies.
(My dog is shaking his head at me... he thinks items 2 through 5 are silly...)
Two Tiered Triumph
Wow... nickle and diming really does add up. I've been obsessive about conserving electricity, and this month's hydro bill shows our consumption at roughly half of what it was last time I checked, putting us within the low rate category for BC Hydro's proposed two tier rate system.
Now if only we were on the brink of warm and bright summer, instead of cold dark winter...
(sigh!!!)
Now if only we were on the brink of warm and bright summer, instead of cold dark winter...
(sigh!!!)
There Aren`t That Many Plastic Bottles In Landfills...
Ha! I knew that banning water from vending machines was a, um, "less than perfect" solution (don't get me started on that one again ;-)
According to a Global TV news story tonight, plastic water bottles don't take up much of our landfills at all, and most are already reused in British Columbia.
Here's a breakdown they gave for some of the local landfill contents:
wood waste - 22 %
paper and cardboard - 14 %
food waste - 13 %
plastic bags - 1%
plastic water bottles - less than 1 %
I find the paper and cardboard stat a little frustrating. I know there are people who don`t have the space to compost, but anyone can keep a box or bin in the corner to stash paper products for recycling. Why there isn`t more of a spotlight on that 14% landfill content is beyond me.
Leave our healthy bottled water alone!!!
According to a Global TV news story tonight, plastic water bottles don't take up much of our landfills at all, and most are already reused in British Columbia.
Here's a breakdown they gave for some of the local landfill contents:
wood waste - 22 %
paper and cardboard - 14 %
food waste - 13 %
plastic bags - 1%
plastic water bottles - less than 1 %
I find the paper and cardboard stat a little frustrating. I know there are people who don`t have the space to compost, but anyone can keep a box or bin in the corner to stash paper products for recycling. Why there isn`t more of a spotlight on that 14% landfill content is beyond me.
Leave our healthy bottled water alone!!!
Windows Windows!!
The first day of autumn is here with a vengeance!!
Ok not quite, but boy is it cooling down. I may have to plug in the electric oil heater in the bedroom to deter Hubby from turning on the furnace ;-)
He's not totally "ungreen" though, in spite of his trigger happy ways with utilities. He's the one who wants to replace our windows. If we did that, then we wouldn't have to turn our furnace on as often, or up as high. I'm just cringing at the cost.
Replace them we will, however; hopefully by Christmas we'll have new, energy efficient, double paned glass throughout the house. Hopefully the savings in our hydro and gas bills will make the new debt more bearable (plus I'll be able to blog about how green we are!!) lol
Ok, Jeanne... get on with it!! You have enough quotes already - just hire someone...
Ok not quite, but boy is it cooling down. I may have to plug in the electric oil heater in the bedroom to deter Hubby from turning on the furnace ;-)
He's not totally "ungreen" though, in spite of his trigger happy ways with utilities. He's the one who wants to replace our windows. If we did that, then we wouldn't have to turn our furnace on as often, or up as high. I'm just cringing at the cost.
Replace them we will, however; hopefully by Christmas we'll have new, energy efficient, double paned glass throughout the house. Hopefully the savings in our hydro and gas bills will make the new debt more bearable (plus I'll be able to blog about how green we are!!) lol
Ok, Jeanne... get on with it!! You have enough quotes already - just hire someone...
International Walk To School Week
Translink is letting elementary and secondary school students ride for free from October 6th to 10th in honour of International Walk to School Week. This will be the second year that Translink has shown their support for this green initiative.
Thanks Translink, and here's to many more years to come!
Thanks Translink, and here's to many more years to come!
CFLs, Here We Go!
Today at Costco we bought some compact fluorescent light bulbs.
Recently we've installed some dimmer switches in a couple of rooms (as well as two new bathroom fans complete with timers... LOVE the timers :-) We were looking forward to replacing our old light bulbs with the new CFLs, but apparently you can't use the type we bought with dimmer technology.
However you CAN use them in recessed fixtures, so they'll be going in our hallway. I can probably put the rest in various locations in the basement as well (we bought a package of ten).
Hopefully tomorrow I'll get them installed, and we can start saving more energy :-)
Recently we've installed some dimmer switches in a couple of rooms (as well as two new bathroom fans complete with timers... LOVE the timers :-) We were looking forward to replacing our old light bulbs with the new CFLs, but apparently you can't use the type we bought with dimmer technology.
However you CAN use them in recessed fixtures, so they'll be going in our hallway. I can probably put the rest in various locations in the basement as well (we bought a package of ten).
Hopefully tomorrow I'll get them installed, and we can start saving more energy :-)
Another Upside To White Wine ;-)
Ha!! Drunk, drowned fruit flies... heh heh.
Fortunately I didn't have to waste too much wine to catch them ;-) Hubby's beer I can live without (blech) but catching the flies doesn't work quite as well with beer as it does with the wine.
You pour about 1/2 cup of wine in a glass, dip your finger in a teeny bit of dish soap, and then touch the surface of the wine (the soap breaks the surface tension of the wine so that the flies sink and drown, but you only need a tiny bit).
Then you leave the glass wherever the fruit flies accumulate, and let the vino work it's magic (oh and pour yourself a glass while you wait ;-)
Fortunately I didn't have to waste too much wine to catch them ;-) Hubby's beer I can live without (blech) but catching the flies doesn't work quite as well with beer as it does with the wine.
You pour about 1/2 cup of wine in a glass, dip your finger in a teeny bit of dish soap, and then touch the surface of the wine (the soap breaks the surface tension of the wine so that the flies sink and drown, but you only need a tiny bit).
Then you leave the glass wherever the fruit flies accumulate, and let the vino work it's magic (oh and pour yourself a glass while you wait ;-)
A Down Side To Compost, And Getting Rid Of Fruit Flies
Somehow or another the lid to my balcony compost tub got sealed shut (I know who did it, but I'm not naming names ;-)
This is NOT cool. Ordinarily I leave it cracked open, which allows the flies to come and go without accumulating (the practice of leaving things sealed so that fruit flies don't get in never seems to work for me - I guess they sneak in when I open the lid to add compost?)
Anyway, I should have know better when I took some compost out to the balcony yesterday, and found the balcony tub stuck shut. That should have been my cue to take the sealed tub down to the garden and away from the house before opening it. But nooooo...
Instead, (WHOOSH!!) I was nearly knocked off my feet by the cloud of fruit flies that erupted from the tub when I opened it. Not a big deal, except the kitchen door behind me was open.
(sigh)
Since then I've had a gang of about 30 or so flying around in my kitchen, which prompted my Google search of today: "how to get rid of fruit flies".
The beer with dish soap strategy appears to be working (I have beer in a wine glass, with a bit of dish soap around the rim). I got a big kick out of reading the oven idea as well. Hilarious.
Oh yeah, and I've discovered that moving slowly also helps if you're trying to swat them. Inch your way ever so carefully as close as you can get, and then WHAM!!!!
heh heh
This is NOT cool. Ordinarily I leave it cracked open, which allows the flies to come and go without accumulating (the practice of leaving things sealed so that fruit flies don't get in never seems to work for me - I guess they sneak in when I open the lid to add compost?)
Anyway, I should have know better when I took some compost out to the balcony yesterday, and found the balcony tub stuck shut. That should have been my cue to take the sealed tub down to the garden and away from the house before opening it. But nooooo...
Instead, (WHOOSH!!) I was nearly knocked off my feet by the cloud of fruit flies that erupted from the tub when I opened it. Not a big deal, except the kitchen door behind me was open.
(sigh)
Since then I've had a gang of about 30 or so flying around in my kitchen, which prompted my Google search of today: "how to get rid of fruit flies".
The beer with dish soap strategy appears to be working (I have beer in a wine glass, with a bit of dish soap around the rim). I got a big kick out of reading the oven idea as well. Hilarious.
Oh yeah, and I've discovered that moving slowly also helps if you're trying to swat them. Inch your way ever so carefully as close as you can get, and then WHAM!!!!
heh heh
Indoor Carrots
Hey!!! They're starting to look like carrots!!! (I'm referring to the seeds I planted in the window box in my laundry room).
Well... let me clarify. If you didn't know what carrot tops looked like before they're at the "big and bushy like in the store" stage, you wouldn't know what these where. However if you've grown carrots before and know what they look like when the greens are about an inch tall... voila!!
I estimate they should be ready to eat in, hmmm, a month? LOL dunno. We'll see. Like I've said before, it's a good thing I'm not living off this 100 Mile diet ;-)
Well... let me clarify. If you didn't know what carrot tops looked like before they're at the "big and bushy like in the store" stage, you wouldn't know what these where. However if you've grown carrots before and know what they look like when the greens are about an inch tall... voila!!
I estimate they should be ready to eat in, hmmm, a month? LOL dunno. We'll see. Like I've said before, it's a good thing I'm not living off this 100 Mile diet ;-)
Two Tiered Panic
Yikes!!! Just checked our hydro bill, and our consumption is about TWICE the upper limit for tier one. How on earth can I cut our electricity use in HALF? Sheesh.
I already hang most of the clothes to dry, and I'm the "turn the furnace down" drill sergeant. Hmmm. I guess it's going to be a nickel and dime adventure...
I hereby accept the challenge!!!
(wish me luck!! eeek!!)
I already hang most of the clothes to dry, and I'm the "turn the furnace down" drill sergeant. Hmmm. I guess it's going to be a nickel and dime adventure...
I hereby accept the challenge!!!
(wish me luck!! eeek!!)
Two-Tiers, Anyone?
My ability to make lemonade out of lemons with this one will be tested: BC Hydro is about to implement a new billing system whereby they charge for services on two different levels based on the customer's energy consumption.
Tier-one power could be priced at about 6.15 cents per kilowatt hour, as opposed to tier two power, at 7.21 cents per kwh in October, increasing to 8.27 cents per kwh in April. The BC Utilities Commission has proposed that tier one have a maximum usage limit of 1,350 kilowatt hours per two month billing period, down from Hydro's original suggestion of 1,600.
I like a challenge.
It is a good idea in that it encourages people to use less electricity, although according to the the survey they've done of average consumption levels, as a detached home owner I'm sunk and destined to pay the higher rate of tier two.
To be honest, I have no idea how many kilowatt hours we consume every two months, but I'm going to pull out the bills and have a look. It's going to be tough because we're heading into shorter days and I'm a bit of a light junkie, but I'm willing to give it a try.
Tier-one power could be priced at about 6.15 cents per kilowatt hour, as opposed to tier two power, at 7.21 cents per kwh in October, increasing to 8.27 cents per kwh in April. The BC Utilities Commission has proposed that tier one have a maximum usage limit of 1,350 kilowatt hours per two month billing period, down from Hydro's original suggestion of 1,600.
I like a challenge.
It is a good idea in that it encourages people to use less electricity, although according to the the survey they've done of average consumption levels, as a detached home owner I'm sunk and destined to pay the higher rate of tier two.
To be honest, I have no idea how many kilowatt hours we consume every two months, but I'm going to pull out the bills and have a look. It's going to be tough because we're heading into shorter days and I'm a bit of a light junkie, but I'm willing to give it a try.
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