Comments on: Energy Vampires http://eco-chick.com/2006/07/23/energy-vampires/ Because Mother Earth Is A Woman Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:55:06 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: Eco-Chick » Blog Archive » New Year’s GreenSolutions http://eco-chick.com/2006/07/23/energy-vampires/#comment-34348 Eco-Chick » Blog Archive » New Year’s GreenSolutions Fri, 29 Dec 2006 16:17:03 +0000 http://www.eco-chick.com/?p=457#comment-34348 [...] Put ALL my electronic devices on a power strip so I can shut them off and stop energy vampires from wasting electricity. -OK, the last time I wrote about this, I put power strips in about half the places in my house where it is applicable. This month I’m going to finish the job! Volunteer somewhere on a regular basis. -I’ve mostly worked for non-profits, so I figured I didn’t need to also do volunteer work. Now that I’m a full-time student again, I need to do something to give back concretely. I’m not sure what I’ll do yet, but I’ll report back on what I find. I’ll probably start with Volunteer Match, which Ann wrote about back in June. [...] [...] Put ALL my electronic devices on a power strip so I can shut them off and stop energy vampires from wasting electricity. -OK, the last time I wrote about this, I put power strips in about half the places in my house where it is applicable. This month I’m going to finish the job! Volunteer somewhere on a regular basis. -I’ve mostly worked for non-profits, so I figured I didn’t need to also do volunteer work. Now that I’m a full-time student again, I need to do something to give back concretely. I’m not sure what I’ll do yet, but I’ll report back on what I find. I’ll probably start with Volunteer Match, which Ann wrote about back in June. [...]

]]> By: Jacob http://eco-chick.com/2006/07/23/energy-vampires/#comment-5244 Jacob Mon, 24 Jul 2006 09:54:51 +0000 http://www.eco-chick.com/?p=457#comment-5244 If the UK government does push ahead with its intentions, it will be a major recognition of bad design. Manufacturers will however start to incorporate batteries for standby mode so people can still be lazy, an improvement though. Kim you've raised an excellent point about 'electrosmog', a personal bugbear of mine and a second very good reason to unplug voltage adapters that few people know anything of. You'd be suprised by how many devices have transformers/converters in them, from bedside clock/radios (worst possible place to have one as it exposes you to an EMF all night) to dimmer switches. The effect is usually limited to waste heat (what most electrical energy disipates as) in the device, but an EMF can extend a few feet around most voltage adapters and electrical devices at fair intensities. We don't really know what EM affects though beyond being potentially hazardous (look at cellphone research). I'm inclined to believe that at the least it can lead to tinnitus, and for cellphone users, phantom ringing (from sub-sensory input—there's no reason to assume our bodies don't react at a sensory level in some way). Many believe it leads to all sorts of lethargy and a supressed immune system. Convenience wins everytime though. I hate the implications of using WiFi, but I do because it's so much more convenient (although I knock the tranmission power as low as possible). Our frequencies (waves) are too jammed up with gunk (to allow clear perception of our environment?), and it's getting worse with new digital data-tranmissions opening up all the time, there's pretty much nowhere you can go on the planet if don't want to be bombarded by man-made signals constantly. Incidentally, in some countries (UK) every power outlet (socket) has an on/off switch, it's just that few people use them to turn attached equipment off (their primary purpose is as a saftey feature to stop kids electrocuting themselves). If the UK government does push ahead with its intentions, it will be a major recognition of bad design. Manufacturers will however start to incorporate batteries for standby mode so people can still be lazy, an improvement though.

Kim you’ve raised an excellent point about ‘electrosmog’, a personal bugbear of mine and a second very good reason to unplug voltage adapters that few people know anything of. You’d be suprised by how many devices have transformers/converters in them, from bedside clock/radios (worst possible place to have one as it exposes you to an EMF all night) to dimmer switches. The effect is usually limited to waste heat (what most electrical energy disipates as) in the device, but an EMF can extend a few feet around most voltage adapters and electrical devices at fair intensities. We don’t really know what EM affects though beyond being potentially hazardous (look at cellphone research). I’m inclined to believe that at the least it can lead to tinnitus, and for cellphone users, phantom ringing (from sub-sensory input—there’s no reason to assume our bodies don’t react at a sensory level in some way). Many believe it leads to all sorts of lethargy and a supressed immune system.

Convenience wins everytime though. I hate the implications of using WiFi, but I do because it’s so much more convenient (although I knock the tranmission power as low as possible). Our frequencies (waves) are too jammed up with gunk (to allow clear perception of our environment?), and it’s getting worse with new digital data-tranmissions opening up all the time, there’s pretty much nowhere you can go on the planet if don’t want to be bombarded by man-made signals constantly.

Incidentally, in some countries (UK) every power outlet (socket) has an on/off switch, it’s just that few people use them to turn attached equipment off (their primary purpose is as a saftey feature to stop kids electrocuting themselves).

]]> By: Kim http://eco-chick.com/2006/07/23/energy-vampires/#comment-5174 Kim Sun, 23 Jul 2006 17:16:03 +0000 http://www.eco-chick.com/?p=457#comment-5174 Its always good to be reminded of the power suckage going on around us - it is amazing how much of it is going on. I always pull people's cell chargers out of the wall when they are not in use after reading how much energy they are still using. Good point about the power strips - that is a great way to get a hold of all these appliances draining the grid. Aside from all the energy being wasted to keep all of this technology on standby, there is the issue of EMF's that are affecting us at work, home and play. Electromagnetic fields have gone largely unpublicized or even mocked, due to the fact that many figure; "hey, I can't feel this thing zapping me, it must be fine..." but this is far from true. Many studies have shown that various types of electromagnetic fields can affect our health. Have you ever sat with a laptop cooking the tops of your legs? Mine gets super hot quite quickly - as does my cell phone (which I rarely use.) You have to wonder what that energy could do... My vote is to unplug as much as possible~! Its always good to be reminded of the power suckage going on around us - it is amazing how much of it is going on. I always pull people’s cell chargers out of the wall when they are not in use after reading how much energy they are still using. Good point about the power strips - that is a great way to get a hold of all these appliances draining the grid.

Aside from all the energy being wasted to keep all of this technology on standby, there is the issue of EMF’s that are affecting us at work, home and play. Electromagnetic fields have gone largely unpublicized or even mocked, due to the fact that many figure; “hey, I can’t feel this thing zapping me, it must be fine…” but this is far from true. Many studies have shown that various types of electromagnetic fields can affect our health. Have you ever sat with a laptop cooking the tops of your legs? Mine gets super hot quite quickly - as does my cell phone (which I rarely use.) You have to wonder what that energy could do…

My vote is to unplug as much as possible~!

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