Hi there, folks!
Well, Day Six and Seven (though seven really isn't over yet) of this current family project went over pretty well, other than some rainy weather that caused us to batten down the hatches and turn on the air conditioning due to the monsoon that whipped through our area. But hey, the garden got watered without me having to turn on a spigot, so I'm happy!
Today (Day Seven), we slipped and accidentally forgot to unplug the computer before leaving the house for about 90 minutes, so that will definately go on our to-do checklist after this day. So far, I'm not sure how much power we've used, but now that I have my eye on the water usage, along with the appliances, I'm sincerely hoping it's less than last month.
Check out the other blog, Suburban Quest, for a family favorite recipe: Minestrone Soup!
Showing posts with label appliances. Show all posts
Showing posts with label appliances. Show all posts
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Day Five: Okay, A Little Air Conditioning...
Day Five was hot and muggy, with sporadic showers.
Great, now I sound like a weather forecaster!
The point is, though we had the air conditioning off for most of the day, there were still a few hours where it needed to be turned on. Dinner was, again, short on the stove, with just a veggie stiry-fry and some rice being cooked at the same time on it - so, all told, about 30 minutes of stove use.
The main use of the stove came not from cooking food but putting up food - a batch of vegetable broth simmered on the stove for about 3 hours, and a boiling water bath was needed to put up tomato sauce that had been simmering for about the same length of time. So, overall, the stove usage wasn't so great, though we made an effort to actively control it.
The deep-fryer was on for about 15-20 minutes as I cooked chicken in it (anyone else hungry yet?), though it had been on for lunch too, as I took care of that with about 20 minutes' work.
It's starting to sink in to us just how much and yet how little we use various appliances and lights. For example, even though we have a lamp in our bedroom, of course it is unplugged right now for this current family project. Therefore, when we walk into the room, we think that it's maybe not worth it to turn on the lamp for the one little thing we need - so we end up groping around for it in the dark (thankfully, no one's been hurt yet), and/or turning on the lights in the attached bathroom to find it. Since the room itself is relatively standard-size (not too small, not too big) and not a suite or some cavernous mausoleum, we've considered ourselves all right thus far, and see no reason why it can't continue that way.
Overall, other than computer usage and possibly gaming console usage (looks over at teenager on charging laptop and sighs), it really has hit us how little some appliances in this house are actually in active usage. We're still careful not to have the television on (much) when on the computer, and everything is shut down and unplugged if someone has to walk away from it for more than 10 minutes, so that's not a problem.
I wonder if we'll beat that 948 kWh we used last month and use less? One can only hope!
Great, now I sound like a weather forecaster!
The point is, though we had the air conditioning off for most of the day, there were still a few hours where it needed to be turned on. Dinner was, again, short on the stove, with just a veggie stiry-fry and some rice being cooked at the same time on it - so, all told, about 30 minutes of stove use.
The main use of the stove came not from cooking food but putting up food - a batch of vegetable broth simmered on the stove for about 3 hours, and a boiling water bath was needed to put up tomato sauce that had been simmering for about the same length of time. So, overall, the stove usage wasn't so great, though we made an effort to actively control it.
The deep-fryer was on for about 15-20 minutes as I cooked chicken in it (anyone else hungry yet?), though it had been on for lunch too, as I took care of that with about 20 minutes' work.
It's starting to sink in to us just how much and yet how little we use various appliances and lights. For example, even though we have a lamp in our bedroom, of course it is unplugged right now for this current family project. Therefore, when we walk into the room, we think that it's maybe not worth it to turn on the lamp for the one little thing we need - so we end up groping around for it in the dark (thankfully, no one's been hurt yet), and/or turning on the lights in the attached bathroom to find it. Since the room itself is relatively standard-size (not too small, not too big) and not a suite or some cavernous mausoleum, we've considered ourselves all right thus far, and see no reason why it can't continue that way.
Overall, other than computer usage and possibly gaming console usage (looks over at teenager on charging laptop and sighs), it really has hit us how little some appliances in this house are actually in active usage. We're still careful not to have the television on (much) when on the computer, and everything is shut down and unplugged if someone has to walk away from it for more than 10 minutes, so that's not a problem.
I wonder if we'll beat that 948 kWh we used last month and use less? One can only hope!
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Day Four: No Air Conditioning!
I am quite pleased and proud to report that yesterday, day four of the current family project, we did not feel the need to turn on the air conditioning at all. The weather and the sun cooperated and left the house actually a bit on the cool side.
On another note, the only appliances to run for any lenght of time yesterday, aside from 20 minutes of stove usage for dinner and a few minutes with the Kitchen Aid mixer in order to make butter (you can check out that particular process and adventure on our other blog, Suburban Quest), were the washer and dryer. It took three loads through both to get all of the clothes and one sleeping bag (thanks to the aforementioned weekend camping trip) to keep the family clean for the next week. Never mind that two hours after I declared laundry day "over", the basket was full again. I'm not sure if we'll have to make a special exception and run the washer again one day this week to catch up.
Again, the stove was only on for 20 minutes, to cook up some chicken that was added to a cold caesar salad for dinner. That, however, will change today (Day 5), as canning is in order, both tomatoes and potatoes and possibly some pumpkins to be put up. Other than some off-and-on light usage (particularly during the evening hours yesterday as business had to be taken care of), and some more computer usage (trying to make an income while using the computer generally means that it has to be on), we've done quite well at conserving energy.
I'm also quite curious to see how much water has been saved by not running it constantly while doing the dishes. I've been very careful to set a maximum requirement of four gallons over the past two days - just as much as an EnergyStar rated dishwasher would use, but still less energy, as running the water for only 3 minutes or so as opposed to the dishwasher for an hour I'm sure saves something, if not much.
It still remains to be seen how this project will progress, though we've been very satisfied so far. We're not hurting from the heat (yet) and we're not really doing anything differently than we have done the last month, with the exception of the television and computer being on at the same time. Everyone has been very careful about unplugging or not using appliances, and we've all been quite enjoying ourselves. I have half a mind at some point in time to trip a circuit breaker and see how we can survive without electricity entirely...though, mind you, if I don't pay the bill soon, that's what will be happening anyways! :)
So onward we go...to canning, cleaning, cooking, and another day in the life of the current family project!
On another note, the only appliances to run for any lenght of time yesterday, aside from 20 minutes of stove usage for dinner and a few minutes with the Kitchen Aid mixer in order to make butter (you can check out that particular process and adventure on our other blog, Suburban Quest), were the washer and dryer. It took three loads through both to get all of the clothes and one sleeping bag (thanks to the aforementioned weekend camping trip) to keep the family clean for the next week. Never mind that two hours after I declared laundry day "over", the basket was full again. I'm not sure if we'll have to make a special exception and run the washer again one day this week to catch up.
Again, the stove was only on for 20 minutes, to cook up some chicken that was added to a cold caesar salad for dinner. That, however, will change today (Day 5), as canning is in order, both tomatoes and potatoes and possibly some pumpkins to be put up. Other than some off-and-on light usage (particularly during the evening hours yesterday as business had to be taken care of), and some more computer usage (trying to make an income while using the computer generally means that it has to be on), we've done quite well at conserving energy.
I'm also quite curious to see how much water has been saved by not running it constantly while doing the dishes. I've been very careful to set a maximum requirement of four gallons over the past two days - just as much as an EnergyStar rated dishwasher would use, but still less energy, as running the water for only 3 minutes or so as opposed to the dishwasher for an hour I'm sure saves something, if not much.
It still remains to be seen how this project will progress, though we've been very satisfied so far. We're not hurting from the heat (yet) and we're not really doing anything differently than we have done the last month, with the exception of the television and computer being on at the same time. Everyone has been very careful about unplugging or not using appliances, and we've all been quite enjoying ourselves. I have half a mind at some point in time to trip a circuit breaker and see how we can survive without electricity entirely...though, mind you, if I don't pay the bill soon, that's what will be happening anyways! :)
So onward we go...to canning, cleaning, cooking, and another day in the life of the current family project!
Monday, August 22, 2011
Day Three: Yesterday
Yesterday (Day three) brought a lot less usage on appliances, except when it came time for dinner. We traditionally aren't hot breakfast and lunch people (the thought of cooking breakfast only really sounds good at midnight the previous day), so it really wasn't much of a choice.
Dinner in and of itself was (again) done on the grill, except for a pot of rice that took all of 25 minutes on the stove to cook. It's really nice, actually, not having a bunch of pots and pans to do. Following dinner, I filled both sides of our double sink to wash the dishes and spent far less energy than the dishwasher would have, I'm sure (see article below on using the dishwasher vs. handwashing dishes.)
By using the light of the day, getting things done during waking hours, and planning when things will get done such as washing, drying, etc., things are falling into place around the house. The oven wasn't even on yesterday, sparing me my internal debate about whether or not something is broken with it, being as it takes (or seems to take) longer and longer to heat up.
The air conditioning was forced to run for about 5 hours yesterday; however, it was turned off about 10:00PM, before anyone went to bed, and has remained off since, so I'm not too concerned about energy usage from it.
However, today (Day Four) is washday, so we'll see how many loads of laundry it takes to keep this family in clean clothes for the rest of the week! Also, since the teenager of the house was gone most of the weekend but has now returned, the laptop is once again vying for full domination of the house, especially since youtube seems to be a favorite channel...along with the Zune that is constantly plugged into some system or another and blasting music that I fondly remember enjoying in my youth, despite its heavy-metal-ness and contstant instrumental solos that sound rather...painful.
Thank you everyone, have a good day! More on the currently family project tomorrow.
Dinner in and of itself was (again) done on the grill, except for a pot of rice that took all of 25 minutes on the stove to cook. It's really nice, actually, not having a bunch of pots and pans to do. Following dinner, I filled both sides of our double sink to wash the dishes and spent far less energy than the dishwasher would have, I'm sure (see article below on using the dishwasher vs. handwashing dishes.)
By using the light of the day, getting things done during waking hours, and planning when things will get done such as washing, drying, etc., things are falling into place around the house. The oven wasn't even on yesterday, sparing me my internal debate about whether or not something is broken with it, being as it takes (or seems to take) longer and longer to heat up.
The air conditioning was forced to run for about 5 hours yesterday; however, it was turned off about 10:00PM, before anyone went to bed, and has remained off since, so I'm not too concerned about energy usage from it.
However, today (Day Four) is washday, so we'll see how many loads of laundry it takes to keep this family in clean clothes for the rest of the week! Also, since the teenager of the house was gone most of the weekend but has now returned, the laptop is once again vying for full domination of the house, especially since youtube seems to be a favorite channel...along with the Zune that is constantly plugged into some system or another and blasting music that I fondly remember enjoying in my youth, despite its heavy-metal-ness and contstant instrumental solos that sound rather...painful.
Thank you everyone, have a good day! More on the currently family project tomorrow.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Dishwashers vs. Handwashers
Growing up, I liked to joke with my mother about how we needed a dishwasher. Her response was always the same...that we had two of them already, one on each end of my elbows. It came as no surprise to anyone that the day I moved into an apartment with a dishwasher I just about fell down to my knees in gratitude and kissed the thing - wisely, not while it was running. However, it seemed that every time I got used to it, it broke. So I washed dishes by hand (again) and looked forward to newer apartments with better appliances.
Now I live in a house, complete with dishwasher...and I'm still washing dishes by hand. Not because this one has broke, even though I'm pretty hard on appliances. No, this time it was by choice...at least sort of. Some weeks ago we came to the realization that for the price of roughly 20 dishwasher cycles, we could buy 96 ounces of liquid dish soap, something far more versatile and on sale. Since we couldn't afford both dish soap and dishwasher soap, the liquid dish soap won out, and I went back to washing dishes by hand.
Recently, with our current family project of energy savings, I have read several studies that compare the amount of water used when washing dishes in a dishwasher versus washing them by hand. Personally, I'm all for either method - whatever floats anyone's boat is their business, as I say. One good blog I found was by a woman named Melinda, entitled One Green Generation. However, it shocked me to learn on her blog that a conventional dishwasher will use about 6 gallons of water per cycle, and an EnergyStar rated dishwasher will use about 4 gallons per cycle. It further shocked me to learn that washing dishes by hand can use up to 27 gallons of water and those surveyed took about 80 minutes of time to hand wash the dishes, according to at least one study cited on her blog.
Okay...what??
Now, I know I'm no great shakes at being efficient, but that seems high even to me. What exactly is causing all this water runoff? Does the faucet get turned on before the first dish and run even while the counters are being wiped down afterwards? Are people filling buckets the size of washtubs and bathing in the water before (or while) doing the dishes? I know dishes are dirty, and probably so are the people after a hard day, but seriously...27 gallons? I can't even picture 27 gallons, let alone think about using it to do the dishes! I'm not even sure 27 gallons would fit in my refrigerator to get a visual!
What is probably worse is that these 27 gallons were being compared to a dishwasher, and, as Melinda states on her blog, probably not giving an accurate reading of water-saving properties. We won't even get into the human time allotment used to hand-wash the dishes. If I took 80 minutes to wash the dishes, I'm sorry, I've either had a dinner party or dirtied every dish in the house - times two!
Okay, to put things in perspective, I did my own experiment. Some will recall that we installed a low-flow aerator on the kitchen sink as part of the current family project, and the aerator limited the water to 1.5 gallons per minute flow. I filled a double sink (both sides) for two minutes on the rinse water and one minute on the wash, or 4.5 gallons...and I'm happy to say that I was able to wash three place settings, three serving bowls, four glasses, two extra plates, two pans and one pot without getting greasy or feeling gross. And believe me, that water was hot. It was run for about 30-45 seconds beforehand to warm up, because I'm sorry, I'm not washing dishes in cold water. Nope, not happening.
So, I may have used more water than an EnergyStar appliance, but I know that I used less energy because it only took me about 20 minutes to wash all the dishes, and I only ran the water for three to four minutes, as opposed to the 30-50 minutes it takes for a dishwasher to complete a full wash/rinse/dry cycle, during which time it is on from start to finish. On a gas-powered hot water heater, I think I saved energy - and water - all at the same time.
Bottom line? I don't have enough time to survey all the appliances in the world for their actual water output, usage, and willingness to clean. All I know is what I saw - that I could fill two sinks, wash all the dishes (in less than 80 minutes, thank you!) and not have to turn on the water again for anything after that, including wiping down the counters and the stove. So, for now, at least for me, handwashing wins. What everyone else does is their own business.
See you at the sink!
Now I live in a house, complete with dishwasher...and I'm still washing dishes by hand. Not because this one has broke, even though I'm pretty hard on appliances. No, this time it was by choice...at least sort of. Some weeks ago we came to the realization that for the price of roughly 20 dishwasher cycles, we could buy 96 ounces of liquid dish soap, something far more versatile and on sale. Since we couldn't afford both dish soap and dishwasher soap, the liquid dish soap won out, and I went back to washing dishes by hand.
Recently, with our current family project of energy savings, I have read several studies that compare the amount of water used when washing dishes in a dishwasher versus washing them by hand. Personally, I'm all for either method - whatever floats anyone's boat is their business, as I say. One good blog I found was by a woman named Melinda, entitled One Green Generation. However, it shocked me to learn on her blog that a conventional dishwasher will use about 6 gallons of water per cycle, and an EnergyStar rated dishwasher will use about 4 gallons per cycle. It further shocked me to learn that washing dishes by hand can use up to 27 gallons of water and those surveyed took about 80 minutes of time to hand wash the dishes, according to at least one study cited on her blog.
Okay...what??
Now, I know I'm no great shakes at being efficient, but that seems high even to me. What exactly is causing all this water runoff? Does the faucet get turned on before the first dish and run even while the counters are being wiped down afterwards? Are people filling buckets the size of washtubs and bathing in the water before (or while) doing the dishes? I know dishes are dirty, and probably so are the people after a hard day, but seriously...27 gallons? I can't even picture 27 gallons, let alone think about using it to do the dishes! I'm not even sure 27 gallons would fit in my refrigerator to get a visual!
What is probably worse is that these 27 gallons were being compared to a dishwasher, and, as Melinda states on her blog, probably not giving an accurate reading of water-saving properties. We won't even get into the human time allotment used to hand-wash the dishes. If I took 80 minutes to wash the dishes, I'm sorry, I've either had a dinner party or dirtied every dish in the house - times two!
Okay, to put things in perspective, I did my own experiment. Some will recall that we installed a low-flow aerator on the kitchen sink as part of the current family project, and the aerator limited the water to 1.5 gallons per minute flow. I filled a double sink (both sides) for two minutes on the rinse water and one minute on the wash, or 4.5 gallons...and I'm happy to say that I was able to wash three place settings, three serving bowls, four glasses, two extra plates, two pans and one pot without getting greasy or feeling gross. And believe me, that water was hot. It was run for about 30-45 seconds beforehand to warm up, because I'm sorry, I'm not washing dishes in cold water. Nope, not happening.
So, I may have used more water than an EnergyStar appliance, but I know that I used less energy because it only took me about 20 minutes to wash all the dishes, and I only ran the water for three to four minutes, as opposed to the 30-50 minutes it takes for a dishwasher to complete a full wash/rinse/dry cycle, during which time it is on from start to finish. On a gas-powered hot water heater, I think I saved energy - and water - all at the same time.
Bottom line? I don't have enough time to survey all the appliances in the world for their actual water output, usage, and willingness to clean. All I know is what I saw - that I could fill two sinks, wash all the dishes (in less than 80 minutes, thank you!) and not have to turn on the water again for anything after that, including wiping down the counters and the stove. So, for now, at least for me, handwashing wins. What everyone else does is their own business.
See you at the sink!
Friday, August 5, 2011
Onward to Week 2!
(Originally published at lifetimeprojects.wordpress.com on July 27, 2011)
Well, week one of the family project ended with a bit of a bang – as I closed the windows despite the lower temperatures outside and turned on the A/C to allow everyone at least 3 hours of sleep. Despite being in the mid-60′s last night, the temperature inside the house stayed at a steady 77 degrees well into the wee morning hours. When I checked it at 2:00AM, it had actually gone up to 78, and showed no signs of going down.
I find it extremely embarrassing when one can almost feel the thermostat sticking its tongue out at you and mocking your efforts to save energy.
So, long story short, all the windows were closed, the A/C was turned on, and then and only then did the uncomfortable sounds of rustling around and searching for a comfortable position cease from the bedrooms. It may be because everyone finally slept in the cooler air. Then again, it might be because I was asleep myself after that, so I didn’t hear anything.
I am, however, extremely proud of the fact that despite not-to-cool temperatures yesterday, the A/C that had been turned off Monday night in an effort to save energy (and since the temperature was going down to 68) was not turned back on until almost 7:00PM, then off again at 10:00PM. The reason for turning it on at 7:00PM was because it was 84 in the house, and while the temperature was bearable and had been bearable all day, bearing it while standing over 3 burners on the stove attempting to cook dinner was just not possible, and I wimped.
But, other than that, all remains well – appliances are still unplugged 90% of the time, and I have even begun using the front door instead of the garage door (which used to be our main door) when I need to go outside for something, to avoid using the energy for opening the garage door. The only part of this project that is beginning to drag on people is the fact that it’s either/or for the TV and computer. Something tells me that this rule won’t see it through until the end of the project.
Side note: updated recently on this blog was The Garden Chronicles, the ongoing saga of the 2011 Family Garden and all its escapades, as well as any bulk deals on produce/farmers market goings-on and what happens with it. Tune in for more later!
Well, week one of the family project ended with a bit of a bang – as I closed the windows despite the lower temperatures outside and turned on the A/C to allow everyone at least 3 hours of sleep. Despite being in the mid-60′s last night, the temperature inside the house stayed at a steady 77 degrees well into the wee morning hours. When I checked it at 2:00AM, it had actually gone up to 78, and showed no signs of going down.
I find it extremely embarrassing when one can almost feel the thermostat sticking its tongue out at you and mocking your efforts to save energy.
So, long story short, all the windows were closed, the A/C was turned on, and then and only then did the uncomfortable sounds of rustling around and searching for a comfortable position cease from the bedrooms. It may be because everyone finally slept in the cooler air. Then again, it might be because I was asleep myself after that, so I didn’t hear anything.
I am, however, extremely proud of the fact that despite not-to-cool temperatures yesterday, the A/C that had been turned off Monday night in an effort to save energy (and since the temperature was going down to 68) was not turned back on until almost 7:00PM, then off again at 10:00PM. The reason for turning it on at 7:00PM was because it was 84 in the house, and while the temperature was bearable and had been bearable all day, bearing it while standing over 3 burners on the stove attempting to cook dinner was just not possible, and I wimped.
But, other than that, all remains well – appliances are still unplugged 90% of the time, and I have even begun using the front door instead of the garage door (which used to be our main door) when I need to go outside for something, to avoid using the energy for opening the garage door. The only part of this project that is beginning to drag on people is the fact that it’s either/or for the TV and computer. Something tells me that this rule won’t see it through until the end of the project.
Side note: updated recently on this blog was The Garden Chronicles, the ongoing saga of the 2011 Family Garden and all its escapades, as well as any bulk deals on produce/farmers market goings-on and what happens with it. Tune in for more later!
Day Two
(Originally published at lifetimeprojects.wordpress.com on July 20th)
Despite the looming heat wave that makes one feel as though they are a cake baking in the oven upon exiting the house, Day 2 of the current family project didn’t go that badly.
The thermostat is still tuned to 78 degrees. It should be noted that it is a programmable thermostat, requiring very little in the way of complicated maneuvers to set it to the desired temperature. Previously (that is, to say, before yesterday), it had been turned down to 72 degrees. It remains to be seen what differences will be gained by having the temperature six degrees higher in the house. I only hope it doesn’t lead to “six degrees of separation”, as my husband is not that fond of hot weather.
To be quite honest, I find it pleasant in the house, at least a lot more pleasant than it would be outside.
All appliances previously mention remain unplugged when not in active use. Though it is somewhat inconvenient to keep plugging in, turning on, and waiting for things to warm up (e.g. the computer), I have noticed a side effect to this is that I don’t run for the computer every 5 minutes to update or search for something. I find myself planning and setting aside time to use the computer, so that when I am done, I can turn it off completely and go do something else.
Several measures have also been taken in the last two days that may or may not always be possible; for instance, dinner on both days has taken less than 20 minutes of energy on the stove to prepare and cook. Also, no household cleaning appliances have been run in the last two days, which will change tomorrow, as I cannot go another day without vacuuming the carpet.
Stay tuned for further updates – and to find out if the thermostat will ever come down!
Despite the looming heat wave that makes one feel as though they are a cake baking in the oven upon exiting the house, Day 2 of the current family project didn’t go that badly.
The thermostat is still tuned to 78 degrees. It should be noted that it is a programmable thermostat, requiring very little in the way of complicated maneuvers to set it to the desired temperature. Previously (that is, to say, before yesterday), it had been turned down to 72 degrees. It remains to be seen what differences will be gained by having the temperature six degrees higher in the house. I only hope it doesn’t lead to “six degrees of separation”, as my husband is not that fond of hot weather.
To be quite honest, I find it pleasant in the house, at least a lot more pleasant than it would be outside.
All appliances previously mention remain unplugged when not in active use. Though it is somewhat inconvenient to keep plugging in, turning on, and waiting for things to warm up (e.g. the computer), I have noticed a side effect to this is that I don’t run for the computer every 5 minutes to update or search for something. I find myself planning and setting aside time to use the computer, so that when I am done, I can turn it off completely and go do something else.
Several measures have also been taken in the last two days that may or may not always be possible; for instance, dinner on both days has taken less than 20 minutes of energy on the stove to prepare and cook. Also, no household cleaning appliances have been run in the last two days, which will change tomorrow, as I cannot go another day without vacuuming the carpet.
Stay tuned for further updates – and to find out if the thermostat will ever come down!
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