GoingTrueGreen's Blog Postings

Fire and Energy

2/28/2015

Dryers, clothes dryer, heatpump dryer, electric dryer, going green, saving energy, lint trap,

A Gas Dryer Being Serviced

We all love to consume less energy and lower our utility bills without sacrifice. At Going True Green's blog and website we present details to accomplish just that... However, with everything in life, we must be educated on all aspects of any project.

Let us first review the excellent money and energy saving step of having a clothes Dryer that uses Natural Gas instead of Electricity to dry clothes. The difference in cost is a tremendous 75 percent!

For example, if using electric heat to dry your clothes had a cost of $1.00, that cost would only be 25 cents if natural gas was used to dry the same clothes. This savings is even better than the preliminary savings reported on the new Heat Pump electric* dryers. I will continue to research the new Heat Pump dryers, but as of now they will save people changing from electric dryers about 53 percent. Nevertheless, we have to compare that to a change from an electric dryer to a gas dryer that offers up to a 75% savings. The issue with this is that you need the availability of natural gas, if your utility doesn't have gas lines in the ground nearby, then you may wish to consider the new Heat Pump dryers. If you already have a gas dryer, the numbers seem to show that changing to a Heat Pump dryer will RAISE your energy cost. So no action required, not with a 75% savings being had.

*Heat Pump electric dryers take the heated exhaust air, remove the moisture and pump the air back in to help dry the clothes faster. However, they still use electricity to heat the air. As of now, Going True Green has not ascertained if they are available (or will be available) to use natural gas to dry clothes instead of using electricity. If they become available with natural gas, that will make them the most efficient. Yet, there is the high purchase cost of a Heat Pump dryer to consider. We will provide additional data in future blogs and our online classes.

So the break down in efficiency for clothes dryers is as follows: electric being the most expensive, then the heat pump dryers also using electricity, close behind would be a dryer using liquid propane gas, and natural gas being the most energy efficient.

Dryers, clothes dryer, heatpump dryer, electric dryer, going green, saving energy, lint trap, dryer fires, number one cause of household fires

Removal of Solid Clumps of Lint

The final part of this blog posting is the first word in the title: FIRE. The number one cause of household fires are from dryers! More to the point... The lint build up in the dryer or vent. Even if you clean the lint screen each and every time you do a load, lint will still build up inside and around the dryer. Lint especially builds up in the vent and you should have your dryer professionally cleaned every few years. The images on the left shows a gas dryer being serviced and cleaned by Richie's L.I. Appliance Service who GTG thanks for providing the photograph images. The solid clump of lint in his hand built up despite normal use and lint screen cleaning. The danger about all that lint, it is an excellent fire starter. So for safety reasons have your dryer professionally checked and cleaned.

For more details you can visit our parent website: EnergyHotwire... Here is the Link directly to page 6 on dryers that has more information about Dryer Safety Facts.

Bill Lauto, GTG
Environmental Scientist at
GoingTrueGreen.com
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Historical Fiction Telling the Untold Story

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GTG Blog In New Publication

2/16/2015

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Several Going True Green's Blog postings or articles written by Bill Lauto, Environmental Scientist and Energy Consultant, are published in different periodicals and formats. As of February 2015 some of them will be published in ET Week Media Group Publications, which was established in 1991. ET Week Publications presents a variety of print/digital media products that includes a bi-weekly lifestyle magazine. This magazine publication stimulates interest by incorporating a variety of editorial content. Going True Green wanted to share the first article draft accepted for the Home and Garden section of ET Week Magazine:

THE HIDDEN COST OF INDOOR WINTER GAMES

As cold air masses from the north move down upon us, we find ourselves huddled inside our warm homes while the electric bill piles up along with the snow outside. Snow days, winter break from school, a long holiday weekend, or a sick day, finds the family spending more time inside with every electronic home appliances. Playing video games, blasting the iPod over speakers and watching downloaded movies has replaced board games, which consume no electricity. Unfortunately, many of us may not know about the hidden electric cost from all these electronics that cannibalize our bank account.

Along with the cost of batteries for the remote controls, these entertainment appliances are using electricity even when off! Yes, that is the real snow job, these items are still using electrical power when just plugged in and not operating.

At first we might think that this electric cost could not add up to much, but when we start looking at the cable box for all the TV channels and a game console, we find a leech sucking at our money. One game console and one cable box, depending on the make and model, plugged into an outlet, can cost approximately $10.00 per month. So even if you never turn on your TV or play one game, you will waste energy and pay $120.00 per year! Yet, I will venture to say that many homes have two or three gaming consoles and cable boxes. So start multiplying…two gaming systems will cost up to $240.00 a year. How many entertainment items do you have plugged in? Don't forget to count the DVD player and stereo as well. Your TV is also on standby when off, still consuming electric power from the grid.

Power strip, surge protector, saving energy, lowering electric bills, going green, cable box, game console, high electric bill, DVD players, flat screen tvs, home appliances, entertainment

Radio Signal Wall Switch

The Easy Solution: Shut off all your Home Entertainment Appliances when you are done using them. Do so by buying a Power Strip that offers surge protection even when off and comes with a wall mounted on/off switch. By way of a radio signal, the switch turns on and off all your appliances that are plugged into the Power Strip.

A Power Strip saves on the electric bill because the appliance can no longer draw any electricity through the plug to maintain a "standby" mode. Yes, you will have to wait a couple of minutes for everything to power back up when turning the Power Strip back on, but that provides time to collect all your snacks and drinks you bought with all the money you saved.

Bill Lauto, GTG
Environmental Scientist at
GoingTrueGreen.com
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Recharging Your Energy

2/6/2015

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Having a passion within you is one of the greatest attributes a person could have. Yet, I realize no matter how hard I work at saving energy and God's green earth, I must give pause to my own energy levels. Good health is a blessing and we must be accountable to taking care of ourselves first, so that we can help others. Eating healthy and exercising is one thing to recharge our energy, but there is another that is grossly neglected.

Study after study shows we don't sleep well or enough. We go to bed when we want to and wake up when we have to. This should be the other way around. Anxiety, stress and health issues build as we use artificial lights to extend the day, flat screens of all sizes pulsating brightly through the night to entertain us and then we push ourselves to get through the next morning. When many of us do go to bed, we take more than twenty minutes to fall asleep. All these things have been proven time and again, study after study, to prevent us from getting a good night's sleep which becomes detrimental to our health.

Video Games

Late Night TV Shows

no sleep, sleepless, poor health, texting

Only A Text Away!

I recently thought back to when I was young and how the family would get ready for bed. From this memory, I actually learned a great deal...

After dinner, after cleaning up the kitchen, doing homework, discussing the work day, I remember my family shutting off the kitchen light and retiring to the living room. As children, we would be thankful to watch a half hour television show before bed time. Lost In Space re-runs or the new Batman and Robin series. After the Television was shut off or some evenings never put on, two of the three living room lamps would be turned off and some reading would be done. Some nights my father read the bible to me and my brothers. Other nights we perused through our own books or baseball cards. We told jokes, stories, made up our own games, had some fights, and stretched our arms wide when we yawned. We would dream of tomorrow's events, friends we would see, family we would hug, outdoor games we would play, and what we may accomplish. After we fell asleep, my parents would watch a half hour of television, such as Get Smart. All of us spent quiet time just before falling asleep giving thanks and praying for everyone we knew and the whole wide world. There it is! The triple "W" before it was "www." dot something. We had no bright screens in our eyes showing horrific desensitizing shows or video games, no text messages in our hands and no phones in our ears. We were using less electric energy while getting our bodies ready for recharging our own energy with a good night's sleep. The lower light levels worked, going to bed at the same time worked, not eating anymore food after dinner worked, we were sleeping well and waking up hungry for the most important meal of the day. We did all this long before countless studies told us that this is what we should be doing.

Oh yes, one more thing. If my parents or grandparents watched the news, they did so at 6 o'clock, not at the eleventh hour at night. At least back then, they reported the news, not their own Big Fish story.

Amazing, take away all the things we crave and believe we need and you get a great night's sleep. Then waking up first thing in the morning to the rising sun, birds signing, crisp quiet air, and the urge to cook up breakfast for everyone is... _______. Well, you fill in that blank. Have a great night's sleep everyone! I'll see you in the morning bright and early and roaring to go.

Bill Lauto, GTG
Environmental Scientist at
GoingTrueGreen.com
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This Easter: Both in print and digital download. BBV Publishing

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Solar and Snow

2/2/2015

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solar, solar energy, solar panel, photovoltaic, going green, going true green, bill lauto, energy from the sun

Light weight Solar Energy Panel

I have been following the data on solar panels integrity since college. Last year I spent over 5 months with 7 different solar panel companies drilling them for details, getting answers and receiving input from multiple sources. The end results left only ONE company shining far brighter than all the others and my realization that it was feasible to finally Go Solar!

The main contributing factor I always had: to be more self reliant, more sustainable, and to help make a difference. The final piece to make this type of project feasible for an average American, was the new deals that allowed you to "lease" photovoltaic solar panels. Basically all my friends and family lease cars, why not solar panels? Especially if I will be saving money, our environment and reducing America's overall energy appetite for fossil fuels!

Snow Covered Solar Panels

Today I am discussing the one issue with solar panels that half our nation has to deal with and that is SNOW. Since I am in the northern half of the United States, I have snow from time to time between October and March. However after obtaining satisfactory, not excellent answers for dealing with the snow, I proceeded. Only my own direct experience with snow on my solar panels will give me all the answers.

Currently, I had almost three months where my solar panels are working with our sun low in the winter sky, short days, several overcast days, three snow falls and one snow storm. Another snow / ice storm is coming down as I write this GTG post. Since the start of the year, I have saved the equivalent to NOT driving a car for 1,048 miles or avoiding the use of 246 gallons of water. These results are better than I expected, but I put some elbow action into play to help achieve those numbers. Yes, I cleaned the snow off my panels, but here is the complete picture:

- My electric bill has been reduced by 80% and at this rate, come springtime, I will be producing far more than I consume.
- I noticed that even on overcast days or with a few inches of snow on the panels, if the sun is shining, I am still producing 250 to 350 watts. Far more than what we consume when everyone is at work.
- If a few inches of snow is sitting on the panels, once I clean that snow off, production jumps to over 2 kWh (kilowatt hours) aka 2,000 watts.
- I noticed that the panels at a 45 degree angle cause the snow to slide off once the sun is out and warming things up. So if you have a two story house, nature will do the work for you.
- Since I have panels on part of my house with less than a 45 degree angle, I purchased a light weight extension pole with a brush and squeegee at the end. So far it is working fine and more exercise outdoors for me.

extension pole, solar, solar energy, solar panel, photovoltaic, going green, going true green, bill lauto, energy from the sun

27 Foot Extension Pole

TWO SAFETY WARNINGS:
With any extension pole stay clear of overhead wires!
Also I wear rubber boots, heavy rubber gloves and protective eye-wear in case a piece of ice breaks off from somewhere.

Watch for an avalanche!
After the first large snow fall I was thankful that the strong winds kept 75% of my panels clear of snow! However, one section was covered with 4 foot snow drifts. The extension pole was no match up against four feet of snow at the peak of the roof, so I retracted the pole to maintain strength and used the squeegee side to slam down into the snow by the gutters. Once I cleared the four feet of snow all along the bottom of the roof's edge I knew that was all I could accomplish. The sun would have to do the rest, but as I stood there in four

Close Up of Brush and Squeegee

foot snow drifts I saw the entire roof move a few inches. All the snow on the panels from the peak down to where I cleaned, started to slide! Before I could even try to move, all that snow came pounding down as if someone was dropping mattresses from the roof. I stood there in a cloud of snow dust very thankful that I was not twelve inches closer to the house. If I was, I would have been knocked to the ground. At least my neighbors had a good show to watch and we enjoyed laughing together about the avalanche.

So I will continue to use my extension pole when feasible, because I am now a little more wiser. I will also continue to share my knowledge and findings over several Going True Green Blog postings. As for this posting that is reporting on the concern about how solar panels and snow mix? Well, I can come up with a few automatic ways to keep snow from building up on the panels, but that will involve air flow, heat, electricity and the consumption of energy. Perhaps I'll venture down that road when rechargeable battery backup systems are available to store solar energy for night time, rainy days and snow covered days.

Bill Lauto, GTG
Environmental Scientist at
GoingTrueGreen.com
Contribute your comments!

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