Newer Technology Can Save (and Waste) Electricity

There was a time when we really didn't care about how much energy we used. We drove big gas guzzler cars with big nasty V-8 engines in them. Most of our TV's and radios had vacuum tubes in them which use a lot more electricity than transistors and circuit boards. Our furnaces, water heaters, and room air conditioners didn't even have energy ratings on them. There were no electric lawn mowers.

But then, in the early seventies, came the energy crisis. There were long lines at the gas pumps and the President put on a sweater and sat in front of the fireplace. We suddenly realized that the earth was eventually going to run out of oil. And oil ran our cars and coal (another limited resource) created most of the electricity that we use.

Besides that, some scientists started talking about "global warming" and the effect that it was having on the earth. It could change our atmosphere and eventually even threaten our very existence.

So some of us took it pretty seriously while other discounted the very notion and said that we should go on "business as usual." But we did develop energy ratings, pollution controls in factories, and cleaner forms of energy like wind and solar power. But these have nowhere near reached their potential. We might be waiting until it's too late.

Another thing that we came up with was that each of us has a "carbon footprint." The carbon footprint measures the total amount of energy we use (and waste) in our daily lives. Of course, big corporations have a much bigger energy footprints than we individuals have, but there are ways that each of us can make a difference and reduce our impact on the earth. A little thing like changing our light bulbs from the incandescent ones to the more efficient fluorescent ones is one easy way.

But according to CNN, the average household still has secret energy wasters that most people don't know about.

"In this day and age, we've come to expect that technology will help us save electricity, not to waste it. But when it comes to electronics, there are glaring exceptions to the rule that more technology makes our lives more efficient."

Guess which item that most people have in their home uses the most electricity? If you guessed your refrigerator, laptop computer, or big screen HD TV, you'd be wrong. Actually, it's that set top box from the cable company that records all of your favorite TV shows and movies. Surprised?

The set top boxes waste about $2 billion a year according to a group called the "Natural Resources Defense Council." Just like those little transformers that you plug into the wall, the set top boxes use a lot of power even if you aren't using them. Turning the little energy guzzlers off doesn't help either. They still are using a lot of electricity.

There is also a lot more technology in the home today than just a few-years-ago. When I was growing up, we had a refrigerator, a TV, and a radio, that was about it. Now the average household has some 24 different electronic appliances. There may come a day, in the very near future, that most all of these appliances will be energy regulated and rated so consumers can make wiser choices.

But there is a catch 22. The newer technology saves more energy, but that means we have to update our electronics more often and spend more money. And that will also contribute to the problem of disposing of all these discarded, outdated appliances and electronics. And that will add to the pollution problems in the landfills.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/03/tech/innovation/energy-efficiency-technology/index.html?hpt=hp_c2