What's this electric thing in my closet?
13 years ago
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Comments (24)
- 13 years ago
- 13 years ago
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Electric Cars -- A good thing?
Comments (22)The all electric car will not decrease our dependence on foreign oil, or for that matter, domestic oil. BTUs (British Thermal Units) burned per mile may be greater that a gasoline fuled car. If you start at the power plant and compute system efficency, it is not very good. fuel is burnt in the plant to generate electricity. The conversion of energy to electric power in the best plants do not exceed 36%. Some car engines are approaching this efficiency. The power is tranformed to very high voltage for cross country tranmission, and then stepped down to local distrubution voltages, and finally stepped down again just before feeding a house. I don't have all the numbers for these transmission losses, but if you believe one ad, it runs to near 50% loss. I think its in the neighborhood of 20% to 30% loss. And now, the energy arrives at the battery. (There are losses within the home plus charging equipment. Let's say we have a relly efficient charger on the order of 92% and the line losses is 1%. This works out to a 91% efficiency.) There is a big loss in charging a battery and another loss when the battery discharges. This can be as great ss 50% loss overall, but let's be generaous and say it is only a 25% loss. The setimated overall efficiency between burning fuel in the power plant to energy used to urge the car down the road is 0.36 x 0.70 x 0.91 x 0.75 or 17%. In other words, 17% of the energy burned in a power plant is utlized to pushing the electric car down the road. (It's actualy less than this. I was generous with some of the estimates.) I can't see how this reduces energy consumpion per mile! All the elctric car has done is to transfer its energy comsumption to the power plant and the delivery system is not efficient. This is why I believe that the hybrid car presents the better solution. Overall, it is much more efficient than an all-electric car when you compare BTUs burned per mile, and it retains some of the advantages of the gasoline or diesel engined autos. Baker Electric made eletric autos ca 1920 - 1920s and these flopped. Since that time, huge advancements have been made in electical - electronic controls, but the basic battery chemistry and thermodynamics have changed little, so it is still an uphill battle. Electric vehicles do have and will have their place in urban life in the future; It won't be a direct replacement for the personal automobile as we know it today....See MoreWhere to place electric toothbrushes and other buzzing things?
Comments (14)Lots of good ideas. I investigated electrical code and the local code does not specifically prevent outlets in cabinets or drawers. Therefore, they are permitted. That opens up many possibilities. I do not like a flexible wire to a drawer. Under the sink is good for others, not for our particular family, but a really good inspiration. Now it seems a recessed medicine chest or niche would suit. Currently there is a mirror mounted flat to the wall. I could build a medicine chest with the mirror. Even better, a smaller recess on the wall next to the vanity with a door or mirror. ANY surface or cabinet will accumulate the maximum amount of sthuff. A small cabinet will attract less. Next project after tiling the bath surround is building a new vanity carcass with drawers, no doors. Everyone gets a drawer for their things. Aside: we have our first aid box and family medicines in a kitchen cabinet, not in the bathroom medicine cabinet. It allows a larger group of supplies and you don't have to interrupt the person in the bathroom for critical needs....See MoreElectrical in water closet?
Comments (6)The technical code term for a toilet is "water closet". What you are referring to is a "water closet compartment", which may sound strange and redundant to most people ;) "Outlet" is broad term covering receptacles, lights, and exhaust fans. The separate fan for the toilet compartment (with a door) is generally required, and I am sure you will want a light.... I know you are talking about a receptacle, but for future reference... You are correct that there are no codes either requiring a receptacle in that location or preventing it. (Except for inside the actual water closet) There are toilets with heated seats and bidet functions. I would suggest a receptacle with an integrated USB charger so that you can read the morning paper via Smart Phone... or play Mine Sweep or sink some battle ships to pass the time ;D ...That way, when you yell Bombs Away, they won't be sure of what you are referring to. GFCI protection is required for all bathroom receptacles now, regardless of proximity to water....See MoreHawaii Electric Hot Water Heater in Bathroom Closet
Comments (5)Here's my take: 1. It may be getting to the end of its useful life, but it sounds like there is nothing wrong or malfunctioning at the moment. My water heater is 17 years old and is still functioning just fine, although I realize it's living on borrowed time. So when it fails, I'm ready to replace it. 2. Your 12 year old water heater will already have a good level of insulation, and, since a new one would be running on electricity also, a new tank is unlikely to be much more efficient. Recent efficiency gains in water heater technology mainly have to do with tanks that have combustion systems, like natural gas. So I doubt that you will see big energy savings from switching to a "more efficient" unit...perhaps a couple of percent, if that. If you switch to a smaller tank, there will be some savings because a smaller tank has less surface area to transfer heat, but the savings will not knock your socks off in your climate. 3. What mainly drives costs is that the groundwater coming in to the water tank must be heated from its inlet temperature to about 120 degrees F. In places that get cold in the winter, that inlet temperature can be below 40 degrees F, which means that the water temp must be increased by at least 80 degrees F; however, you are in the warmest part of the U.S. and your groundwater is close to 80 degrees F already, which means that you only need to use about half as much energy to get the water up to 120 degrees F. And, since your water heater is located inside the living space, the standby losses will be less than someone like me who lives in a place that can approach freezing in winter and has a water heater in an unheated space. 4. It's true that water heaters can lose efficiency over time, particularly if you have hard water and you get mineral scaling building up on the heating elements. However, it's quite simple to replace the heating elements and rejuvenate your tank for not much money: Heating element replacement 5. There's nothing wrong with having an 80 gallon water heater for two people. There are only two of us in my house and ours is 75 gallons. And when two of us take showers, one after the other, we start to run out of hot water. What I recommend is you look at what the energy efficiency label says on your existing tank about annual operating costs, and compare it to the label on a couple of possible replacement tanks. Then compare the amount of annual savings to the total cost of replacing your existing tank now to see how many years (or decades) it will take to break even. I'm not saying that your plumber is lying to you, but he does have a financial incentive to convince you that there will be big savings to switch out your tank soon. My advice is to wait until the old tank fails and and then get a new, efficient one. How big will depend on your lifestyle, and how long your shower runs daily. If you never run out of hot water, you could certainly downsize some, but don't end up decreasing it by a huge amount or you may end up unhappy....See More- 13 years ago
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