Ivor and Olive Lewis on tue 24 feb 04
Dear Friends,
Leaving a wheel on permanently may not be harmful and as Mel tells, us =
accidental conflagrations are rare events.
But if people are in business and intend making a profit then, unless =
they have shares in Power Utilities, why leave things on and give your =
potential profit to the UC for the benefit of their CEO and =
shareholders.
I leave it to someone to beat the global warming and finite resources =
conservation drums.
Best regards,
Ivor Lewis. Redhill, South Australia
Maurice Weitman on wed 25 feb 04
At 11:54 +1030 on 2/24/04, Ivor Lewis wrote:
>But if people are in business and intend making a profit then,
>unless they have shares in Power Utilities, why leave things on and
>give your potential profit to the UC for the benefit of their CEO
>and shareholders.
Dear Ivor and conscientious electricity users everywhere,
I'm puzzled by the notion that leaving a wheel "on" will have any
measurable impact on one's power budget.
Assuming that by "on" we are referring to plugged in and turned on,
but not spinning, the amount of power used is minimal, nearly
immeasurable. Of course, older Shimpo wheels whose motor is on
whether the wheel is spinning or not are another matter. And with
the ruckus they produce, who'd leave them on anyhow?
But most (nearly) modern wheels are direct- or belt-driven, and have
sophisticated power supplies. For instance, as long as the wheel on
my Pacifica 800 is not spinning, its draw is less than 0.01 amps at
120 volts. This translates to about one watt.
In a year, that one watt, on 24 x 365, will mean about one dollar US.
Your voltage, mileage, and rates may vary, but the order of magnitude
will hold.
Compared to the energy wasted in other parts of our homes and
studios, the wheel is not worth thinking about.
I agree that we should save energy for many reasons. But it would be
more sensible to pay more attention to other areas. Insulate your
buildings and kilns. Replace incandescent lights with fluorescents
and only keep them on when needed. Turn off the damn TVs.
Computers, too; heat kills computer components. Turn down the
thermostats on heaters and raise those on air conditioners. Invest
in and use efficient appliances.
Oh... elect officials who will take energy issues seriously. (Not
Nader, please.)
Best regards,
Maurice
Ivor and Olive Lewis on thu 26 feb 04
Dear Maurice,
If the current is flowing through the circuits so that the motor is
rotating then current is being used. There is a cost in Kilowatt
Hours. Perhaps power only costs 10c/Kw/Hr. So who cares about $2.40 a
day. It is after all a mere $876 p/a
If the power is switched off, then there should be no consumption and
the things you say hold true.
Best regards,-
Ivor Lewis. Redhill, South Australia
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