Questions

[imoldernu]

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.

 

[Rianne]

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)?

 

[38Chevy454]

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.

 

[EarlyBirdly]

Good calculator : https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/...and-electronics/estimating-appliance-and-home

 

[marko]

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.

 

[zinger1457]

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.

 

[EarlyBirdly]

"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?

 

[njhowie]

> 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.

 

[Totoro]

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/tested-should-you-unplug-chargers-when-youre-not-using-them/

 

[MRG]

Who are "they"?

 

[GrayHare]

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.

 

[ziggy29]

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.

 

[steelyman]

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

Sounds like the purpose of e-r.org itself.

 

[travelover]

........ 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.

 

[W2R]

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.)

 

[zinger1457]

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.

 

[imoldernu]

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??

 

[aja8888]

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.

 

[imoldernu]

The average person in the U.S. generates about one and a half pounds of waste every day. Where does it go?

 

[Red Badger]

Who are "they"?

I am "they."

Retired 1SG. Just ask my troops.

 

[imoldernu]

Temperature required to bake 15 minute brownies in 9 minutes

Place brownie mix (middle quality chocolate) in cupcake pans...quarter filled ... preheat oven to 400 degrees, place pan(s)in oven. Turn oven off, wait 8 minutes to check, if not done, leave in for 2 more minutes (without additional heat).

check with Bobby Flay for additional info, re higher quality chocolate cook times.

 

[pjigar]

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.

Someone answered it already but in general power is KWH (Kilo Watt Hour) so if you keep a 40W bulb on for 24 hours then you use 24*40/1000=0.96 KWH. So your cost would be about $0.12 per day per bulb.

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

Depends on the type. CFL doesn't like being turned on/off too often. Old filament bulb to some degree. LED don't care about ON/OFF cycles.

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?

Every adapter has a leakage current. You can use Kill-A-Watt kind of device to measure leakage on every plugged item.

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

Because they are sealed system so the coolant can't leave the system. If you need to refill the coolant more often then it actually indicates that you have some problem with the engine e.g. leaking hose, radiator cap seal, or worst blown head gasket.

 

[imoldernu]

As long as it didn't explode, there will still be a quart of water in it.

An alternate answer...

If we place a sample of water in a sealed container at 25 °C, remove the air, and let the vaporization-condensation equilibrium establish itself, we are left with a mixture of liquid water and water vapor at a pressure of 0.03 atm. A distinct boundary between the more dense liquid and the less dense gas is clearly observed. As we increase the temperature, the pressure of the water vapor increases, as described by the liquid-gas curve in the phase diagram for water, and a two-phase equilibrium of liquid and gaseous phases remains. At a temperature of 374 °C, the vapor pressure has risen to 218 atm, and any further increase in temperature results in the disappearance of the boundary between liquid and vapor phases. All of the water in the container is now present in a single phase whose physical properties are intermediate between those of the gaseous and liquid states. This phase of matter is called a supercritical fluid, and the temperature and pressure above which this phase exists is the critical point. Above its critical temperature, a gas cannot be liquefied no matter how much pressure is applied. The pressure required to liquefy a gas at its critical temperature is called the critical pressure.

 

[imoldernu]

New questions:
Why did the United State (customary units) change from the metric system?
Why didn't it change back?

 

[MuirWannabe]

The average person in the U.S. generates about one and a half pounds of waste every day. Where does it go?

Flushed into the sewer system?