Dinogy - Energy Blog » Archives for August, 2006

Sean McCarthy recently took out an ad in the Economist magazine urging scientists to test his claim that he has created free, renewable, clean, and consistent energy from magnetic fields. Read the story in the Observer:

McCarthy claims it provides five times the amount of energy a mobile phone battery generates for the same size, and does not have to be recharged. Within 36 hours of his advert appearing he had been contacted by 420 scientists in Europe, America and Australia, and a further 4,606 people had registered to receive the results.

Via: 37 Signals

Entries are now being accepted for the 4th annual competition from the EPA called P3: People, Prosperity and the Planet Student Design Competition for Sustainability.

EPA will award as many as 50 grants up to $10,000 each to student teams. The money will be used to research and develop sustainable solutions during the 2007-08 academic year. In spring 2008, the teams will be invited to bring their designs to Washington, D.C. to compete for EPA's P3 Award, which includes an additional award worth up to $75,000 to further develop and implement the project in the field.

The P3 competition is open to teams of students attending colleges, universities and other post-secondary educational institutions. Teams have until December 21, 2006 to submit their entry.

You can check out past winners on the EPA website. Via

Sneakyuses.com is sponsoring the first annual Energy-Saving Video Competition. Videomakers can now use their creativity to help save our resources and win prizes. They can enter by uploading short video clips to Recycle Group at YouTube.com.

The Recycle Reuse Rethink Energy Usage showcases creative methods of conserving our resources with clever reuse of ordinary objects

Videos must be posted on YouTube.com in the Recycle Group before December 15th.

Awards include a DVD player, a portable MP3 Player with thumb drive and a USB WiFi adapter. Winners will be announced in a YouTube video - and at Sneakyuses.com - on January 15th 2007.

Via the Make Blog

Need to know what the average cost of electricity is in the US? Check out the Dept. Of Energy's chart. As of this writing the average price for residential power is 10.6 cents per kilowatthour (report released on Aug 11, 2006).

The chart also breaks things down by state and region. Check out the current price of electricity per region:

Switching to flat screen LCD monitors can save you more than space on your desk... They also run at typically one third the power of those big clunky CRT monitors.

For instance my ViewSonic VX2025WM 20" monitor consumes around 35 Watts of power. That is pretty good for a monitor of that size. Compare that to a Sony Trinitron Multiscan 520GS 21" CRT Monitor, which consumes 160 Watts under normal operation.

Using the average price of electricity in the US 10.6 cents per kilowatthour we can figure out how much it cost to run each monitor a year.

CRT: 160W * 8 hours * 365 days = 467200 Watt hours / year
LCD: 35W * 8 hours * 365 days = 102200 Watt hours / year

Now if we divide those numbers by 1000 we get the values in Kilowatt hours (KWh).

CRT KWh = 467200 / 1000 = 476.2
LCD KWh = 102200 / 1000 = 102.2

Now to figure out the cost multiply by the price per kilowatthour:

CRT $ per year = 476.2 * 0.106 = $49.52 / year
LCD $ per year = 102.2 * 0.106 = $10.83 / year

So using the two example monitors you would save $38.69 and 365,000 Watts each year.

According to the Tampa Bay Business Journal FPL Group is now the worlds largest producer of wind power.

FPL (NYSE: FPL) currently operates 47 wind farms throughout the United States with a gross capacity of 3,912 megawatts, according to company officials. That's enough to power nearly 1 million homes of average size.

Since July 2005, FPL has added more than 790 megawatts of new wind power, and has more than 310 megawatts under construction and expected to reach commercial operation by the end of the year. Company officials say they expect to expand by at least 1,500 megawatts, excluding acquisitions, by 2007.

Air Conditioners can consume lots of power during the hot summer months. Here are some tips to help your air conditioner use less power, and save you some money.

• Install in a shady location. If the sun is heating up your Air Conditioner it is going to have to work harder. Go for a shady spot, that spends the least time in the sun - perhaps the North.
• Use weather stripping to ensure a snug seal between the air conditioner and the window. You can buy self adhesive weather stripping at your local hardware store for a few bucks - it will save you many more. While your at it, weather strip all your doors and windows for savings all year round.
• Close blinds and curtains.
• Use ceiling fans, to help circulate the air.
• Clean the Air Filters. If your air conditioners air filter is dirty it may cause the AC unit to work harder.
• Seal off rooms that don't need to be cooled. If you use the air conditioner in your bedroom keep your door closed. If your cooling a large area close doors to rooms that don't need to be cooled.
• Make sure you have the right size air conditioner. You can use a BTU calculator to find the right size for your environment. Consumer Reports has an excellent one.
• Buy an Energy Star Compliant Model. Look for the Energy star logo before you buy. Many AC units have energy savings modes that can help save power as well.

Have your own air conditioner energy saving tip? Go ahead and post it in the comments below.

Ever Wonder how a Windmill works? Check out the US Government's National Wind Technology Center's web site:

So how do wind turbines make electricity? Simply stated, a wind turbine works the opposite of a fan. Instead of using electricity to make wind, like a fan, wind turbines use wind to make electricity.

Welcome to Dinogy a blog about energy conservation. We hope to publish lots of tips for saving energy as well as follow the latest trends and products relating to power and energy consumption.