Save Electricity for the Environment

Saving electricity helps the environment with less production. Even if you're not interested in saving money on your electric bill, you can help the environment by cutting down you home's consumption of electricity. 

However, as energy costs continue to rise, you may be among the millions of Americans who are looking for ways to save electricity around the house. Here are some ideas that can save you small amounts of money in themselves, but can add up to significant savings when taken altogether.

Efficiency of Electric Cars

Electric vehicles are known to be very efficient. Cars with internal combustion engines are not, losing most of their energy as heat. EV advocates have been saying this for years, and there is a ton of data about the efficiency of gasoline and diesel cars. But electric cars are newer and there are few of them, so we've had less documentation...until now. Some Belgians have been given the opportunity to study a fleet of five cars.

There were Peugeot Ion models, exact clones of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV (European version), and the people monitoring them were from Laborelec, with support from Brussels' Vrije University, which has a facility dedicated to automotive technology. The study was funded by Electrabel, the Belgian utility. It lasted two years, but the first part of the story was to define a methodology. A precise, dedicated monitoring system was developed, and things only got started when it received a full approval from the car manufacturer.

The Impact of Saving Electricity in the Environment

At a time when global climate is changing at alarming and extreme rates, governments and organisations are calling on everyone to do their share of preserving the planet. This is not only to prevent calamities brought about by the abuse we have done to Mother Nature, but also to make sure that future generations will still be able to enjoy the beauty and gifts that this world has to offer. And what better way to help than to start saving electricity at home.

How can this contribute in preserving Mother Earth?

1. It helps conserve natural resources. Every citizen in the world is aware that electricity prices are constantly increasing. What a lot of people may not know is the reason for these hikes. Well, one of the most compelling causes is the depletion of the sources of electricity, including coal, oil, and gas.

2. It reduces carbon footprint. By opting to limit your home’s or office’s use of fossil products and utilising solar, geothermal, or hydro power instead, you are not only saving electrical energy, but also reducing greenhouse emission in the environment. As a result, there is less pollution.

According to the Hunter’s Hill Council, “using energy wisely in the home saves money and the environment”. So, if you want to start doing your own share, then use the multi-awarded EcoSwitch. For more information, check out the rest of the website.

Electrical Efficiency

In an electrical system, increasing either the current or the voltage will result in higher power. Let's say you have a system with a 6-volt light bulb hooked up to a 6-volt battery. The power output of the light bulb is 100 watts. Using the equation I = P/V, we can calculate how much current in amps would be required to get 100 watts out of this 6-volt bulb.

You know that P = 100 W, and V = 6 V. So you can rearrange the equation to solve for I and substitute in the numbers.

I = P/V or I = 100 W/6 V = 16.67 amps

What would happen if you use a 12-volt battery and a 12-volt light bulb to get 100 watts of power?

I = 100 W/12 V = 8.33 amps

So this system produces the same power, but with half the current. There is an advantage that comes from using less current to make the same amount of power. The resistance in electrical wires consumes power, and the power consumed increases as the current going through the wires increases. You can see how this happens by doing a little rearranging of the two equations. What you need is an equation for power in terms of resistance and current. Let's rearrange the first equation:

I = V/R can be restated as V = I*R

Now you can substitute the equation for V into the other equation:

P = V*I substituting for V we get P = I*R*I, or P = I2*R

What this equation tells you is that the power consumed by the wires increases if the resistance of the wires increases (for instance, if the wires get smaller or are made of a less conductive material). But it increases dramatically if the current going through the wires increases. So using a higher voltage to reduce the current can make electrical systems more efficient. The efficiency of electric motors also improves at higher voltages.

This improvement in efficiency is what is driving the automobile industry to adopt a higher voltage standard. Carmakers are moving toward a 42-volt electrical system from the current 12-volt electrical systems. The electrical demand on cars has been steadily increasing since the first cars were made. The first cars didn't even have electrical headlights; they used oil lanterns. Today cars have thousands of electrical circuits, and future cars will demand even more power. The change to 42 volts will help cars meet the greater electrical demand placed on them without having to increase the size of wires and generators to handle the greater current.