Saving Electricity (1998 – 2023)

Lighting is almost never a major household energy user since the development of modern LED lights. Their efficiency increased so dramatically in the incandescent -> flourescent -> compact flourescent -> LED transition that you can leave a whole household of lights going all day and it'll take less energy than one clothes dryer load.

Same goes for refrigeration - modern refrigerators and chest freezers are extremely well-insulated, and use negligible electricity amortized over a day. This also has implications for power outages - many folks don't realize that you can get one of those portable emergency battery backs and it'll power your fridge for days, so if you're prepared it's relatively easy to avoid having your food spoil in a power outage.

Washing machines, other mechanical appliances like dishwashers, and even heat pump water heaters are also not huge contributors - advances in electric motors have made them very efficient.

The biggest remaining culprits are HVAC, EVs, clothes dryers, electric ovens, and anything with a heating element. This is largely inherent in the thermodynamics - 1 kwh of electricity is only 3412 BTUs, so mimicking the 15,000 - 25,000 BTUs of a gas range is around 5 kwh. Heat pumps can help a little for large-volume heating, but current technology has a max efficiency of about 400%, and a theoretical thermodynamic max for reasonably safe evaporator & condenser temperatures is about 700-800%. The secret to higher efficiency with electric heating is to heat less volume, which is the principal behind induction cooktops (heat just the pan instead of the whole stove), electric kettles (heat just the water instead of the whole stove), and toaster ovens (heat 1-2 cf instead of 5-6cf).

If you can, replacing a clothes dryer with a drying rack can yield very big dividends. A single full-size dryer load is about 5 kwh; a clothesline is free. In our family-with-young-children-and-gas-heat before getting an EV, the clothes dryer was about 40-50% of our household energy usage all by itself.

It's not clear to me why front-loading washers are more efficient than top-loaders. Is there something inherent in the design? Or is it simply that top-loaders are "old"?

Changing light bulbs to all LED is simple and economical.

Buying a new car that gets better gas mileage and/or moving to an EV or EVH doesn't actually make sense unless you intend to use that car over a period of time that actually amortizes it. That's why it is generally not a great idea to lease a vehicle.

But this is contrary to popular belief because there is no catch-all for everyone.

I have a 30 mile commute. If I maintain my vehicle and add in fuel costs, it is cheaper to maintain an older vehicle and fuel it than it is to try and amortize the cost of a new vehicle over it's span.

That is, in my humble opinion. If I apply the same techniques here, you have to make decisions about how you live your life in the domicle you've chosen.

You'd think it... common sense not to leave the lights on, radio (or BT speaker, whatever 2024), fridge doors open, preheating your stove or oven unintentionally or without focus (preheating and being distracted, wasteful).

Ultimately technology won't save us. Hopefully common sense will. Hopefully. But we know how hopeful things go.

That has been a problem for me too, and I've even contacted the manufacturer. How much energy do I save using cycle A over cycle B? It would be nice to make an informed choice.

Edit: It applies to clothes washers, clothes dryers, and to dishwashers.

For dryers: I don't grasp how the cycles differ in energy consumption. Evaporating away that mass of water will require a certain amount of energy. I see (non-physics-informed) people who advocate running dryers on a cooler cycle, but does that help? Doesn't it use the same amount of heat energy but spread out over a longer time, which would increase the drum-spinning energy required? I could imagine that somehow the cooler cycle is more efficient due to convection rate or something similar, but is it?

Add home battery to store electrical energy when cheap (potentially from your own solar panel) and use when expensive.

Then let your country / state lower the electricity carbon intensity.

We must electrify

We've gotten pretty good at shifting most of our use out of peak hours, but when peak runs from 4pm-9pm, it's hard to avoid cooking during that period (which, I suppose, is one reason that's the peak). Though we have shifted most of our oven cooking to a small convection toaster oven, which should save at least some electricity.

LEDs - flicker, CRI, incompatible dimmers and/or dc converters. $50USD min price per bulb if you want anything near quality (of just a $1 incandescent bulb). the problem is the price of power, not the product.

"modern" dishwashers - after 1995 or so they don't actually clean your dishes. i used 20. i clean the filter / chopper regularly. i rinse off my dishes which are already barely soiled to begin with since i don't eat fast food. no matter how you place the dishes, there will always be a few with food stuck on them. fucking disgusting.

ac - it exists for a reason, you are more productive as an obvious corollary to being less lethargic. although it is true that lots of people are oblivious and don't just open the window on a nice day. you also need it to prevent moisture build up (to avoid rotting wood, mold) and stagnant air. while we're at it we have to talk about heating: i don't know the numbers but i'd say in winter you need it at 16C-17C at all times to avoid mold / condensation / rotting wood.

front loading laundry - i used 5. they mold in the front after 1 use. you have to leave the door open all the time, not even for just half an hour. and you need a fan in front of it. they construe the fact that it uses "almost no water" as "it's using super advanced methods". given the general incompetence of the tech industry, one with common sense takes this as "it doesn't clean your laundry". the gasket on the front of each and every single one has a unique and overpowering smell if you go anywhere near it that feels like breathing in knockout gas, and it doesn't go away even years after purchase. to put it into perspective, it's like 10x stronger than what comes out of annoying kids' vapes.

clothes line - your clothes will have germs (the dryer is the part that kills them, not the washer) and mold on days when it's not hot and arid.

you require a cell phone to do basic banking stuff and security theater that has to be replaced every 4 years at the bare minimum due to bitrot. and requires being smart for covid or school shit. it still takes 30 sec to load a web page that uses 100% cpu. you're not allowed to talk about being efficient, stop making me pay more for what little tech actually works.

> And if you really want to lessen your carbon footprint, you'll also want to look into eating less meat and driving less.

that's great, i do both of those things more than you, from the looks of your profile picture. now stop charging me (you are responsible as a voter) for the modern versions of basic human needs.