DrumBeat: December 1, 2007
Posted by Leanan on December 1, 2007 - 10:06am
Topic: Miscellaneous
Lawmakers reach deal on auto fuel efficiency
Congressional Democrats reached a compromise late Friday to boost automobile fuel economy by 40 percent, clearing the way for a House vote probably next week on an energy bill that Democratic leaders would like to send to President Bush before Christmas.The agreement came after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reached an accord with Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., a longtime protector of the auto industry that dominates his home state, to ease the impact of the new fuel economy requirements.
Fuel efficiency and the American driver
More hybrids. More diesels. Smaller engines and fancier technology. And an initial sticker price increase that could total a couple thousand dollars.Those are the likely outcomes now that Congress has decided to increase the national fuel efficiency standards to 35 miles a gallon by 2020, from the current average of 25.
Fuel costs hit NORSHUKON plans
THE RISING cost of fuel has forced a Shetland/Norwegian consortium of public and private interests to scrap their immediate plans for a passenger ferry between Norway's west coast and the UK mainland in favour of a freight service.
Hyperion wants Union County residents to vote on refinery
On Tuesday, Hyperion Resources of Dallas plans to give the Union County Commission a rezoning request, which, if approved, could lead to a countywide referendum on the company's proposed $8 billion to $10 billion oil refinery.
Dutch horticulture, traffic, key to green future
If the people of Venlo have their way, new buildings in this busy nexus of the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium will generate more energy than they use.This ambitious target has been gaining momentum in the province of Limburg, southern Netherlands, since the airing of a television documentary about the revolutionary concept of 'cradle-to-cradle' living that produces zero garbage and zero pollution yet allows maximum economic activity.
Saudi sees oil demand OK but no signal on OPEC move
World oil consumption will rise as winter sets in but it is unclear if OPEC needs to raise output to meet the seasonal demand, the oil minister of top world oil exporter Saudi Arabia said on Saturday.The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is under pressure from consumer nations to boost supply to lower prices that last week hit a record high near $100 a barrel.
Asked whether he expected demand to increase during the winter, Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi told reporters: "That is what it normally does, every winter the fourth quarter is always higher than the third quarter."
Kashagan accord deadline set for Dec. 20-consortium
A consortium led by Italy's Eni and Kazakhstan have agreed a Dec. 20 deadline for finalising settlement of a dispute over the country's giant Kashagan oilfield, the group said in a statement."Good progress" has been made in the talks between the two sides, the statement released on Saturday said, and a new memorandum of understanding has been signed establishing the framework for the settlement.
Gas Prices Hurt Budgets More In The Past
The price of gas is hovering around 3 dollars a gallon. While people complain about how expensive it is to fill up, economists say the cost of gas affected people's budgets more twenty five years ago than it does now.
An Alaska-to-Chicago pipeline?
ConocoPhillips wants to build potentially the world's largest, most expensive energy facility - a multibillion-dollar gas pipeline running from Alaska's North Slope to Midwestern states.
Turkmenistan starts work on north-south rail link to Kazakhstan and Iran
Turkmenistan formally opened construction Saturday on a north-south railroad from the border with Kazakhstan to Iran, a project seen as an economic boon for the oil- and gas-rich Caspian Sea region.
Bio-Fuel: More Poverty, Environmental Destruction and Hunger
The energy crisis, through over use, and the zenith of oil, is giving way to powerful global alliances between the oil, grain, genetic engineering and car industries.
Mexico police drafted into oil state in drug fight
Some 200 heavily armed police landed in Mexico's oil-producing Gulf coast state of Campeche this week, a formerly quiet region that has become the latest front in a war on powerful drug gangs.
Are We Heading for Hyperinflation or Deflation? - At Philosophical Crossroads
For some unfathomable reason, the human mind tends to think in terms of extremes. For example: “Death or Glory”, “Success or Failure”, “Accelerating growth or Collapse”.Thus, the questions being asked in today's financial world seem to be revolving around whether we are facing “hyperinflation or depression”. All of which begs the questions: Why does it have to be at one or the other extreme? Why can't there be something in between? Alternatively, why can't there be a paradigm shift which renders the very question irrelevant?
If Rochester resident Norm Erickson's theory proves correct, American lifestyles 10 or 20 years from now could more closely resemble those of Richie, Potsie, Ralph and the Fonz than those of George, Jane and Elroy Jetson.Erickson, a semi-retired IBM engineer, is what some are calling a "peak-oiler." He is among a growing number of people in the country who believe that world production of oil either has already or will very soon hit its peak. And it's all downhill from there.
ELCA college holds climate change conference
“Anyone [who] says oil production can go on forever is either a mad man or an economist,” joked Kenneth S. Deffeyes, professor emeritus of geosciences, Princeton [N.J.] University. Deffeyes is the author of Hubbert’s Peak (Princeton University Press, 2001) and Beyond Oil: The View from Hubbert’s Peak (Hill and Wang, 2005), which discuss the consequences for the U.S. and the world of reaching the peak of oil production.“While economists want oil to last, we have passed the peak of oil production. ... The price will only continue to rise,” he said. “And we will run out.”
Abu Dhabi, Citigroup, BCCI and more
One more not inconsequential fact for those following events closely in Venezuela. There's much written and said about it, so, I do not need to regurgitate information readily available. However, an additional factor not generally highlighted as to why the US is so opposed to Venezuela's Chavez led government. Chavez has a plan to build an oil pipeline with/across Colombia in order to export to China. Contrary to mythological explanations of scarcity, shortages, prices, peak oil and who supplies the US with oil, the US gets most of its oil both from itself, obviously, along with its two neighbors, Mexico and Canada, some coming from elsewhere, like Venezeula, for example, approximately 10%, I believe, and Africa. The loss of Venezuelan oil can be compensated. But, it's the loss of market share as a supplier for Europe, China, perhaps India, as well, that is THE issue, THE prize, THE economic bonanza.
Pakistan: Complete de-regulation of LPG prices approved
Caretaker Prime Minister of Mohammed Mian Soomro gave approval in principle for complete de-regulation of prices of LPG and directed OGRA to separate the price of LPG from the Saudi Aramco control price.
Oil output boost not on OPEC agenda: Qatar
OPEC ministers will not discuss raising the oil cartel's production ceiling when they meet in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, Qatari Energy Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah said on Saturday.When asked by AFP if an output increase was on the meeting's agenda, Attiyah said: "No."
The head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Nobuo Tanaka, had appealed on Thursday for an output increase by OPEC members.
Chavez threatens to cut oil exports to U.S.
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's leftist President Hugo Chavez said on Friday he will cut oil sales to the United States if the American government interferes in Sunday's referendum aimed at allowing him to run for reelection indefinitely.Chavez told supports at a rally that the state oil company will halt sales to the United States on Monday if Washington interferes with the vote on the proposed constitutional reform.
Chavez oil threat raises stakes
A threat by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to stop oil exports to the United States has raised the stakes over a Sunday referendum he has called in a bid to expand his powers.
Iran Holds 138bb of Oil, 28.2t cu. m. of Gas
Iran's oil and gas reserves amount to 138 billion barrels and 28. 2 trillion cubic meters respectively, the petroleum minister announced here on Friday. Talking about explorations, Gholamhossein Nozari told MNA nine billion barrels of in-situ oil and about 70 trillion cubic feet of gas has been discovered.
Massive deep-water oil find in Brazil challenges technology
About 70 percent of Petrobras' oil production comes from deep-water wells, making it the world's biggest oil producer at such depths. But the Tupi deposit is deeper than Petrobras has ever drilled — under 7,000 feet of ocean water and more than 16,000 feet of rock, sand and salt, including a 1.2-mile-thick layer of rock-hard salt.How to tap into the find has set off a technological race, spurred because the potential rewards of exploiting the deposit are so great — especially as the price of oil nears $100 a barrel.
Ex German chancellor sees Russia as dependable energy supplier
Former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder here Friday stressed that Russia remained a dependable energy supplier amid Berlin's skeptical stance.Schroeder who heads a Russian-German Baltic Sea pipeline consortium controlled by Russian energy giant Gazprom, said Russia is among the most politically stable countries and should not be discredited.
Alaska gets 5 applications for natural gas
Five companies, partnerships and entities have submitted proposals to build a massive pipeline from Alaska's North Slope to bring the region's vast but long-languishing natural gas reserves to markets thousands of miles away, state officials announced late on Friday.
Leaking part of pipeline will go to lab
Tests will focus on why a repair joint failed, spraying fumes and oil that ignited and killed two welders.
Japan firm announces first carbon spot trade
- A Japanese company said Friday it had conducted the world's first spot trade in carbon credits, predicting the nascent market will grow as countries step up efforts to tackle global warming.
"Iran's oil and gas reserves amount to 138 billion barrels and 28. 2 trillion cubic meters respectively, the petroleum minister announced here on Friday"
Why is this news? Is this more or less than previously stated? Sounds like they are producing next max.
Why would we want to attack a country whose oil production has peaked?
No one will attack Iran for x+z reasons...
– its all hot air
One could of made the same statement about attacking iraq but look how that ended up.
Basically just because the region is past peak doesn't mean that target is off the list, there is still allot left to be 'acquired'
I forgot the Y , the equation should state : x+y+z, where Y is “all that new information acquired since they (US army) got stranded in Iraq and Afghanistan”…. That’s a lot of new no-no info IMHO, and the US will get no support from anyone , maybe but Israel
And whatever oil is available in Iran, the US has to just follow the queue, just like the rest of us and keep the monies ready ;-)
But remember, the US is still trying to get the Iraqi government to approve laws favorable to "Production Sharing Agreements" with big oil companies-- http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/oil/2005/crudedesigns.htm
The other thing the US got was a defense of the value of the dollar against the Euro:
http://www.thinkandask.com/news/thedollar.html
The value of the dollar is not well defended. The euro was worth .90 dollars in 2002 and is now worth about $1.46. The value of the euro is well defended by the Europeans balancing their government budgets better than the Americans.
The attack on Iraq in search of WMD's and Alqaeda training camps was a complete fraud. The promises to the Iraqis of freedom proved fruitless. There has been a great loss of freedom and increase in violence since the attack began. Religious militias terrorized the populace more than when the Baathist regime was in power.
Any gains in business for multinational oil companies and Haliburton in Iraq have not been able to offset the deep costs to the American taxpayers. Haliburton moved to the UAE and no longer pays taxes to the United States anyway.
The last time Cheney threatened to launch a preemptive strike on Iran someone brought forth a motion to impeach him. The Republicans have lost much credibility and political power since they lied to the American public about Iraq's actions and intentions.
Question for UK readers.
I periodically check a UK dealer in LEDs to see what new products have been developed and what price points are.
http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/
They currently have a graphic that states "Beat the 2008 Government Ban". What ban are they talking about ?
Best Hopes for Energy Efficiency,
Alan
The comparable USA site I also go to (and buy from) is:
http://www.superbrightleds.com
So many things are being banned it's hard to tell ;)
Could be related to mercury in CFLs, the EU are keen to eliminate mercury. There is also a proposal to ban manufacture of incandescents, but I don't know of a timeframe.
Alan, here you go:
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/2007/09/ban_the_bulb.html
Attempts to ban incandescent bulbs from 2008+
wow (0)(0)
Banning Edison bulbs because they're not effecient enough.....
In the US what are they going to do about all those space and radiant heaters that run on electricity? Or electric stoves?
One would hope that oil filled space heaters would take off here in Iowa, given that we have excellent wind resources shut in by lack of long distance transmission lines.
One $2,500 investment would pretty much free us from heating bills and I itch to get this done ...
Not a cure everywhere, but blanket policies are generally not such a good idea. I think the incandescent bulb ban *is* a good thing, as it only troubles the maker of the EasyBake stove ...
Places around my house where I don't use CFL bulbs:
- Inside my kitchen stove (gas): Too hot
- Inside my fridge and freezer: Too cold
- In the motion sensor controlled security lights outside the house: Too cold in winter to provide enough light quickly
- In my photographic darkroom: They give off enough light to fog film for 3-5 minutes after you switch them off due to residual glow from the phosphor
- In various task lamps that right now use 12 Volt halogen bulbs: Not available in that size or brightness
- In dimmer equipped fixtures: even the "dimmable" CFL's don't work as promised; lifespan of less than a dozen hours in some cases, audible buzzing, non-smooth dimming and unequal brightness in multi-bulb fixtures
- In my workshop: they have a strobe effect which sometimes makes things like spinning saw blades and grinder wheels seem stationary or slow moving when in fact they are not. Very unsafe!
Please just tax them lots to discourage use where they are not needed but don't ban them outright. All lighting methods are not yet equal in ways that do matter
Not to mention that they are not inherently worse either. USAGE of the bulb determines how wasteful they are over type. I have seen way to many people get the cfl bulbs only to leave them on all the time.
Agreed
I see misplaced animositiy towards CFLs though from certain conservative quarters as if saving electricity is a sin or something. Most anti CFL people seem to be anti AGW theory too.
All I know is that I replaced all my general lighting incadescents with CFLs and cut my electric bills by 10% this summer. So I like them!
cfl's are great 'only' if your one of those people committed to cutting your light usage as well. i have seen to many people in my area just replace normal light bulbs with them but leave the new ones on all the time thinking that no matter how much you use them they will still always be better then the wast full incondesents.
this is true though. You seem to be confused, the CFL may cost 1-2 $/bulb, but will last 10x longer and with 1/3rd the energy requirement, therefore so long as regular lightbulbs do not cost less than 1/30 the cost of a CFL, you win with a purchase of a CFL (in monitary terms) regardless of the use.
If you are worried about heating, insulate your home. Best investment you can make.
Uh, no.
Let's take a 30W CFL against a 100W incandescent. Assume the CFL lasts 2 years @ $4, and the incan lasts 3 months @ $1, with electricity going for $0.10/kWh.
Assuming you use the light for 8 hours a day - ~3000/yr - the CFL will cost $11/yr ($9 in electricity + $2 in replacement), vs. $34 for the incan ($30 in electricity + $4 in replacement). So the CFL is a huge win in normal use.
However, if you did the silly "keep the light on all the time" thing for a light that was rarely used before, you could certainly end up spending more. If the light was normally used only 2 hours/day, the incan would be $12/yr, whereas the CFL - used 24 hours/day - would be $29/yr.
So usage matters; indeed, usage is practically all that matters - you can see here how little the purchase price of the bulbs matters compared to the electricity costs.
Won't they have to be ethanol-filled space heaters?
/sarcanol
Hi SCT,
Just a note, since I didn't see an address for you. You asked a question on Nov. 27, and I just offered a reply this evening (Dec. 2). (I say this because I took it as a sincere question, and I had some thoughts.) http://www.theoildrum.com/node/3293#comment-272124
Well, I see a couple of different perspectives, so a quick overview.
Things are 'banned' all the time in the Europe - and Europeans know any number of ways how to get around the bans. For example, when Telekom in Germany used to license everything hooked up to their phone network, only Telekom approved answering machines or wireless phones could be purchased - unless the unit you bought was for 'export only.' Another way around a ban is all the exceptions which will be written into the law.
However, as for banning incandescent bulbs - their efficiency is poor, and whether this meets either doomer or cornucopian approval, efficiency is going to be a major aspect of how we will be dealing with things for the next several decades. Whether this efficiency will be enlightened (LEDs replacing CF replacing incandescent, etc. - with LEDs being very practical to use in a PV framework) or brutal (the person with a woodburning stove that burns less wood will freeze more slowly than someone with an open fireplace) is a separate issue.
As for using electricity for heating - well, it has its place in terms of using baseload in a practical manner. Generally, electric heating done ovrnight is fairly cost effective, unless you guess wrong about the next day's weather - the German systems I'm most familiar with simply store the heat in bricks. Newer systems use floor heating, but I don't think they are as efficient in baseload terms.
But there is a strange aspect in terms of incandescents - they are part of your heating, the same way a refrigerator is. Essentially, a kilowatt powering the lights is a kilowatt of heat.
This is why efficiency and conservation have to be very carefully considered. More efficient lighting may lead to higher heating requirements, which actually may mean that the efficiency increase is improved, as burning natural gas directly for heat is much more efficient than burning it for generating electricity. (During the first energy crisis, Fairfax County opened its new administration building - which was designed to have the lights on 24 hours a day, as part of its heating system. Obviously, this was seen as remarkably wasteful at the time, but actually, it wasn't that bad - not counting summer, of course - except that having a 10 story building lit up continuously seemed a beacon of wastefulness when conservation was considered necessary.)
But whether such an increase in efficiency can actually be called conservation is another matter - after all, natural gas is still being burned. But using LEDs with a PV/battery system, and adding home insulation, may lead to a reduction in both terms of electricity use and in terms of natural gas use - but in this case, the efficiency of LEDs and home insulation have nothing to do with one another at all. Except for allowing people to live comfortably within a framework which is at least potentially sustainable.
The EU, whose citizens in general have more faith in communal solutions to communal problems, is attempting to change things through regulation, without waiting for people to decide it is their self-interest to do so, or for various industries to approve their profits being reduced or eliminated. And the EU, being run by people, will make its share of human mistakes, which is accepted here. America is different. There, it seems, only government mistakes are considered true mistakes.
As a sidenote - 10 years ago, according to a radio report, the most commonly shoplifted item in Germany was CF bulbs. Which actually makes sense - at the time, not only did they cost a lot, but stealing them would lead to fairly substantial long term savings for the thief. I always imagined that most of the thiefs were grandparents, widows, pensioners, etc.
Some very good points, Expat (as usual)
Here in Portland, we've had, for December 1, an exceptionally cold (20f), Windy and Sunny day, where my house could have been entirely Heated by any of a number of Solar Heating options, like these Solar Hot Air Panels that are under construction in the basement.. as well as a good amount of Windpower, which certainly could have just been directly wired to Incandescents inside, producing both heat and light without the losses of batteries and related circuitry. Even the food we are cooking on our electric range is using the heat twice during this season, making the stove a good bit more economical in wintertime.
Of course, the use of Electric Lighting AT ALL during a bright sunny day is a bit of legacy foolishness that I also aim to dismantle with a system that starts with a Tracked-Mirror atop each of my Three Disused ChimneyShafts, providing a constant beam of nearly full sunlight down through the entire depth of the 3story, 3-Apartment building, wherein each floor can 'dip' a mirror into a designated pie-slice of that light, to be directed into the room along the ceiling to where-ever it is needed, diffused, split, filtered, lensed or reflected into useful forms..
I'm not all that impressed by the light that comes from these solar 'light-tubes' that I see installed here and there. As a Lighting Cameraman, I can safely say that diffusing your light source too early in its path will cost you a LOT of lightcandles down the line, and the Light tubes are often difuse both at the roof as well as at the outlet.. (Don't even talk to me about rediffusing difuse sources, you get bupkiss out the back end!) Tracking a mirror barely takes any energy, and the complexity is pretty low. Like most Alt-energy, just takes initial investment and design-time.. climbing on my roof is gravy. It's as close to an extreme sport as I've got.
http://www.redrok.com/electron.htm#led3x
Bob Fiske
(oops.. sun is down! Gotta get the insulated shades pulled)
What I especially love: Go into any office, and under the desks of many (most?) of the female clerical workers you will find little electric heaters, heating the air that the air conditioners have cooled. . . because the heaters have heated it. . . because the a/c has cooled it. . . because the heaters have heated it . . . because the a/c has cooled it. . . etc.
An endless feedback loop. Kunstler could have a LOT of fun writing about that one.
I don't know. There's talk about strongly encouraging not using filament bulbs by voluntarily not stocking them, eg,
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labour2007/story/0,,2178187,00.html
but that's not an actual ban and I haven't really heard much about it in the media. (Mind you, I tend to tune it out energy efficiency from bulbs because whether a given illumination bulb dissipates 100W or 9W makes little difference if it's not switched on.)
Alan - since you are talking about LEDs, I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's a ban on the really bright ones that "trick my ride" types like to put into their car headlights.
LED headlights are great, but too-bright ones are a danger to other drivers, and by a certain time in 08 British police may start writing tickets, perhaps expensive ones, for using them in your car.
I don't think you have to worry about Brit DOT regulations keeping you from buying bright white LEDs.
It's a ban on incandesent light bulbs and at the lattitude and climate of the UK it is totally bizarre, since we mostly need HEAT as well when we need artificial light.
In the non-FF future we will need our energy from alternate sources (wind, wave, solar PV etc) and these mostly create electricity - so we will need to heat from electricity as well.
A very simple, easy to recycle, low cost, non poluting device for heating with electricity, that anybody can service if it fails, is the incandesent lamp - and you get the light for free!
The stuff we will be forced to buy are typically 5 to 10 times the price, complex, difficult to recycle and contain heavy metals such as mercury, and to cap it all, most current designs don't give adequate light since they are not a point source.
Xeroid - better words were never spoken.
A person can make Edison bulbs in a garage workshop. They can be made to last a LONG time too.
In the early days of radio some were blowing their own tubes.
But the new solutions all seem to be complicated, take tons of high-tech machinery and computing power, exotic materials, etc.
My solution lately has been to acquire a used bicycle (and fished another out of a dumpster for parts) and get a small motorbike that gets better mileage than my Prius did.
There's something about our culture that's really attracted to complex, techie, solutions to really simple problems.
Well said. My Prius is a gas guzzler. I ride my bike everywhere despite the strange looks. I'm 44. I substitute one trip a day going by bike.
Today I saw only the second bike at the gym I can remember.
It's so sad.
On a funny note, the Personal Trainer at the gym just bought this huge hummer (redundant) to drive 3 or 4 miles to the gym. It's only 5 miles from one side to the other, but I'll give her a break. It's California weather and the town is completely flat.
It's really sad when you think about it.
Aaargh,#$%@*&!!!, This is a perfect example of the the kind of (take your pick) arrogant ostentation or clueless ignorance that is so prevalent among the citizens of this me, me, me society. I no longer have the link but someone once sent me a series of photos titled "Only in America" one of them happened to be of a gym somewhere in LA with two escalators going up on either side of the stairs to the front entrance. Of course there was no one on the stairs and both escalators had people on them with their gym bags!!!??? BTW I'm 54 years old and actually am able to speed walk 3 miles in about 40 minutes if I run I can do it in a little over 30 mins. you can estimate my 5 mile speed. Ok, I have a girl friend who is in training for a half marathon and she regularly runs 5ks (3 miles) and I often accompany her during training. We also do 15 mile bike rides. There is absolutely no excuse for someone to buy and drive a Hummer for trips to the gym or anywhere else for that matter unless, they have their cephalus inserted really far up their anus.
During the non heating season, the incandescent bulb wastes energy, when you add in the source multiplier for the electrical generation, CFL's or better yet, LED's make a lot of sense.
Just as the common refrigerator
does. ;)
How does the fridge do on the
energy generation calculation ?
Refrigerators have come a long way recently on energy efficiency, thus they generate a lot less heat. I contend that with much more efficient household appliances and lighting we will have to rethink our heating degree day formula of the average daily temperature from 65 degrees F. When doing energy calculations for my own house I use 68 F as the working number because of cfl's and energy star appliances.
fridges are probably #1 or 2 on the electricity requirements for a house. #1 is typically the sum of all powered off devices, and #2 is the fridge or drier depending on the month.
We recently bought a new A+ energy rated fridge freezer. It has a problem: the fridge door occasionally swings ajar.
I discovered this when I came to get out the butter one day which is close to the fridge lights (2x15W). it was melted!
THe fridge door had come open a little and the lights had come on. The 15W lights and the door being open overcame the fridges cooling ability and spoiled the food.
This all got me thinking: Why sell an A+ rated fridge with incandescent lights in it? Whenever they are on they pour heat into the fridge which then has to be extracted at further energy cost.
I unscrewed the bulbs and even when the door occasionally slips ajar, the butter stays cold.
I recommend this treatment of the fridge if you have adequate ambient light to see inside it.
Eventually it occurred to me to fit 2 low power LED spotlights into the mini screw cap fitting. They stick out from the fittings like Shrek's ears and illuminate the sides of the fridge in pleasingly cold-looking blueish light.
Unfortunately the plastic splash cover no longer fits so it has had to go into storage.
I have had plenty of problems with 240V LED lights burning out but I think the ones in the fridge will last a long time because a: lights not used much, b: low ambient temperature reduces the risk of thermal runaway and burnout of the diodes.
The other fridge defect (yes, I think incandescent light in a fridge are a defect) is the self-opening door. I think I might put a buzzer in parallel to the fridge lights so that there is an alarm when the lights come on. Might lean the whole device back a couple of degrees by chocking up the front on wood or something.
If any fridge designers / manufacturers are listening: LED lighting is the way to go in efficient fridges. Fairly obvious I would have thought!
Carbon - Coventry, UK
We routinely use wide masking tape to provide an extra level of insurance on keeping the freezer door of our refrigerator shut. We usually have our freezer section quite jam packed, so occasionally the door wants to top open a crack. The tape assures that this doesn't happen.
Resistive electric heating, whether it is from a baseboard heater, a bulb, or a refrigerator, is very inefficient.
It is far more efficient to run a heat pump or to burn the fuel directly to make heat.
At the lattitude of the UK, when we have the non-heating season the day length is long so we hardly need lighting at all as, when it is dark, we are mostly asleep.
Most of the energy we use in domestic situations is for heat.
The payback time on these expensive lamps and heat pumps is years and years. So, it's much better to spend the limited money available on better insulation, then much less energy for heating is required. It is far more efficient to not need to use fossil fuel at all.
We don't need to reduce electrical use, we need to reduce all fossil fuel use - oil, coal, and gas - this is the government's mistake, they wrongly think electricity is the total energy.