Students who participated in last semester’s Renewable Energy and Ecological Design (REED) at Green Mountain College (GMC) have designed solar-powered garage that won them a $50,000 grant to build it from the E2 Energy to Educate program sponsored by the Exelon Company, Constellation.
BP Wind Energy and Sempra U.S. Gas and Power announced in early January 2013 that their $250 million wind farm project in Pennsylvania has gone into full commercial operation. The Mehoopany Wind Farm, located about twenty miles northwest of Scranton, is the state’s largest wind project. Read more »
Many of our home devices are wasting electricity when they are consuming power in standby mode. Some of these gadgets don’t even have an on/off switch and you have to unplug it or connect it to a power strip that you can turn off.
It might only be a few watts, but add up all of the phantom power consumed in your home and you might be motivated to find a way to save electricity costs. Some estimates put the power usage of standby devices at ten percent of total consumption. Heat generated from devices can limit their lifespan and require your air conditioning systems to work harder. Read more »
Here’s a neat piece of pre-production technology called MeterPlug. MeterPlug measures electricity consumption by plugging in between any appliance and the AC outlet. The smart plug uses Bluetooth 4.0 to send data to your smartphone and enable features like proximity control, manual on/off, and vampire power shield. In other words, with a range of about 100 feet and a smartphone, it’s easy to shut down appliances or calculate the costs of standby power. Each plug is a little expensive right now, but if you want to try MeterPlug, you can pledge support at Indiegogo.
Here’s another interesting video from Austin-based builder Matt Risinger about what he calls “practical advanced framing.” In this video, Risinger talks about the difference between 2×4 and 2×6 studs, 16″ and 24″ centers, plywood and OSB sheathing, three-stud and California corners, and uninsulated and insulated headers. Here are Risinger’s three tips for practical advanced framing:
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