Thursday, May 21, 2009

Life Continues

We got our first 2 string beans harvest already. I am beginning to think that we didn't plant enough plants because that won't be enough for a meal.

Maybe once everything gets going, it will make a difference! All the plants have gone through a bit of shock being transferred outside. I do expect them to bounce back soon.

Meanwhile, I've been investigating some sites that have charts showing the energy usage of household things ie. appliances, computers, treadmills etc.

Was I ever shocked to find that my treadmill uses around the same amount of energy as a dryer!

And our desktop computer uses 4 times the amount of an average laptop and computer speakers drain quite a bit as well!

I took my laptop out west and left it at the ski condo so that I could use it there and I am currently on our desktop. I'm thinking that the laptop is coming home with me.

Other options would be to use D's laptop which would mean changing when I blog, do banking etc. A relatively small issue compared to the power savings.

I would encourage everyone to look at their local power utility website as a starting point to get more info about this. We cannot change when we don't have adequate info.

D's car brake lines were replaced yesterday to the tune of around $833. His friend, after being told about D's previous experience buying a car from a neighbour did not seem phased at all.

The next step will happen next Monday when D's friend will be taking the car to his mechanic for an opinion.

4 comments:

  1. Desktop computers are a big power hog. Last year, some executive at my company had this idea that we should replace all employee laptops with desktops to save a few hundred dollars on each machine. However, a quick "back-of-the-envelope" calculation will tell you that you will lose all those savings due to increased electricity usage over 3 or 4 years.

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  2. Hi S.B.

    I honestly didn't know that about desktops. I've had laptops for the past 15 years.

    Since D requires his desktop for certain things, I doubt we will be getting rid of it but at least now, we will be aware of our usage.

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  3. Why do you run on a treadmill? Why not run outside? I don't run on the treadmill because it makes me feel like a hamster and time seems to go by much slower than outside.

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  4. Hi Money Minder!

    I am one of those crazy people that actually like running on a treadmill. I can do it without thinking of running. It's meditative for me! Crazy, I know! I've trained for 2 - 10 km races on it. D, on the other hand, feels the same as you.

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