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Old 03-16-2019, 08:45 AM   #1
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Questions

A place to ask or answer questions you already knew, or wondered about.

For starters here are a few:
1. To avoid the nuisance of turning our garage light on or off... especially when my hands are full, I leave a 40 watt bulb turned on 24/7. How much does this convenience cost per year? $.12kwh.

2. Does turning a bulb on and off, cause more strain on the bulb life, than leaving it on?

3.. Leaving battery powered items plugged in.
a. Electric toothbrush
b. Leaving the 110V plug in transformer plugged in to the outlet to recharge electronics. Does it use any electricity if the rechargeable phone or other item is not plugged in, but the transformer/charger is? Ie: when is electricity flowing?

4. Re: Automobiles. Water cooled engines. Considering the heat and condensation, why doesn't the radiator require filling more often.
.................................................. ...........................

And... one answer to a question on a different thread.
Q: how to fold fitted sheets?
A. roll them into a ball like we do.

Looking forward to answers to my urgent questions, and prepared to answer similarly off the wall stuff you always wondered about.
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Old 03-16-2019, 08:59 AM   #2
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Those are all questions that cross my mind every single day, maybe not exactly as you pose them, but very similar. Especially the one about fitted sheets.

DH/me horrible, horrible sin is leaving the TV on indefinitely everyday. I am embarrassed to admit this. The soft hum of talking heads and bits of news, sports, movies etc is no excuse to do this. And this habit is the worst energy consumer in our house. This behavior is probably the most negative impact of RE on us.

My question since I'm not 100% sure constant TV is most energy consuming, what is (in daily life)?
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Old 03-16-2019, 09:10 AM   #3
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1. 40w x 24 hrs x 365 = 350.4 kw hrs; 350.4.kw hrs x $.12/kw hr = $42.05 total per year to burn the bulb 24/7
2. I suspect it does, as the thermal cycling would weaken the filament. But with bulbs so cheap, this reduced life cost is in the negligible category.
3. Some transformers have small internal leakage, that is why they are warm to touch even when not transforming 120vac to 5vdc or whatever small DC voltage. I also consider this in the negligible category.
4. Cooling system on modern cars is a sealed system. Old cars with non-pressurized cooling systems did lose coolant over time.
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Old 03-16-2019, 09:11 AM   #4
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Good calculator : https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/s...iance-and-home
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Old 03-16-2019, 09:12 AM   #5
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More and more, those 40W bulbs are LEDs which would use notably less electricity of the course of a year.

They put out an equivalent of light that 40W bulb would but use a fraction of juice.
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Old 03-16-2019, 09:13 AM   #6
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A place to ask or answer questions you already knew, or wondered about.

For starters here are a few:
1. To avoid the nuisance of turning our garage light on or off... especially when my hands are full, I leave a 40 watt bulb turned on 24/7. How much does this convenience cost per year? $.12kwh.

About $42. Swap out the light bulb, a 40W equivalent LED would only cost about $7.
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Old 03-16-2019, 09:18 AM   #7
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"Looking forward to answers to my urgent questions, and prepared to answer similarly off the wall stuff you always wondered about."


> Temperature required to bake 15 minute brownies in 9 minutes?


> Natural elements that when mixed together will yield Gold?


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Old 03-16-2019, 09:25 AM   #8
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> Temperature required to bake 15 minute brownies in 9 minutes?

Not being a Suzy Homemaker, I'm not certain, but I would think you can't, as raising the temperature outside the brownie for a shorter period will not allow the inside to get to the proper temperature...though you may burn the outside in the process.

> Natural elements that when mixed together will yield Gold?

Au is an element on the periodic table, so it cannot be derived via mixture.
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Old 03-16-2019, 09:25 AM   #9
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3.. Leaving battery powered items plugged in.

b. Leaving the 110V plug in transformer plugged in to the outlet to recharge electronics. Does it use any electricity if the rechargeable phone or other item is not plugged in, but the transformer/charger is? Ie: when is electricity flowing?
Yes, but hardly any. A few cents worth a year.

https://www.howtogeek.com/231886/tes...ot-using-them/
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Old 03-16-2019, 09:47 AM   #10
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Old 03-16-2019, 09:58 AM   #11
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2. Does turning a bulb on and off, cause more strain on the bulb life, than leaving it on?

Most of my incandescent bulbs have flashed and burned out when being flipped on. I deem that to the sudden surge of power, and resulting fast temperature change of the filament. Whether filament weakening is cumulative with time, I would guess yes. None of the few incandescents I have on dimmer switches, and which I bring up to power gradually, have burned out in 25 years of daily use.
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Old 03-16-2019, 10:16 AM   #12
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2. Does turning a bulb on and off, cause more strain on the bulb life, than leaving it on?

Most of my incandescent bulbs have flashed and burned out when being flipped on. I deem that to the sudden surge of power, and resulting fast temperature change of the filament. Whether filament weakening is cumulative with time, I would guess yes. None of the few incandescents I have on dimmer switches, and which I bring up to power gradually, have burned out in 25 years of daily use.
To add to this, one thing I have always noted about incandescent bulbs: They almost never "burn out" while they are in use. Almost every time I've ever seen one burn out is right when you are turning it on; you get that very brief flash of light before going dark again. That strongly suggests to me that yes, the act of turning it on "stresses" the filament more than leaving it on.

But as has been said above, if one wants to keep a bulb on 24/7, definitely replace it with an LED bulb. A 40-watt (0.04 kilowatt) incandescent will use one kWh every 25 hours. So every 25 hours, that's 12 cents. With 8,760 hours in a year, you use 350 kilowatt-hours a year, and as stated above, 350 x $0.12 is about 42 bucks a year. A 40-watt equivalent LED should cost $5 or less, but it uses 6-7 watts compared to 40 and so its operating costs are maybe 15-20% of an incandescent. It would pay for itself within about two months, probably.
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Old 03-16-2019, 10:22 AM   #13
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A place to ask or answer questions you already knew, or wondered about.

Sounds like the purpose of e-r.org itself.
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Old 03-16-2019, 10:30 AM   #14
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........ a 40W equivalent LED would only cost about $7.
My local Dollar Tree had a two pack of 60 watt equivalent LED bulbs for a buck. They are also less than a buck each in a pack at Costco, with local utility company rebate.
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Old 03-16-2019, 10:33 AM   #15
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Originally Posted by imoldernu View Post
1. To avoid the nuisance of turning our garage light on or off... especially when my hands are full, I leave a 40 watt bulb turned on 24/7. How much does this convenience cost per year? $.12kwh.
2. Does turning a bulb on and off, cause more strain on the bulb life, than leaving it on?
I'd suggest a motion detector LED light. Less electricity, and longer bulb life. (And more fun, too, but let's pretend the purchase would be simply to save money.)
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Old 03-16-2019, 01:26 PM   #16
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My local Dollar Tree had a two pack of 60 watt equivalent LED bulbs for a buck. They are also less than a buck each in a pack at Costco, with local utility company rebate.

The $7 I referred to was the estimated yearly cost of electricity for a 40W LED equivalent bulb, not for the cost of the bulb.
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Old 03-16-2019, 01:49 PM   #17
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4. Cooling system on modern cars is a sealed system. Old cars with non-pressurized cooling systems did lose coolant over time.
Hmmm... so, if I put a quart of water in a watertight airtight sealed metal container and place it on a stove , on high heat, after two days, when it is opened, there will still be a quart of water??
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Old 03-16-2019, 01:57 PM   #18
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Hmmm... so, if I put a quart of water in a watertight airtight sealed metal container and place it on a stove , on high heat, after two days, when it is opened, there will still be a quart of water??
As long as it didn't explode, there will still be a quart of water in it.
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Old 03-16-2019, 01:59 PM   #19
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The average person in the U.S. generates about one and a half pounds of waste every day. Where does it go?
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Old 03-16-2019, 02:00 PM   #20
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