patrick.net

http://www.electronichouse.com/daily/home-energy-management/4-smart-energy-management-systems-help-control-electricity-bill/

However, theres one important part that we left outsmart energy management is more than just automating how your thermostat goes up or down. Real energy management requires an energy monitoring system, which means knowing how much energy you’re using. If you know how much energy your home is using and when its using it, you can better respond to that usage and take control of your costs. Before smart home systems, energy monitoring mostly meant scanning your electricity bill each month and then telling your family to shut off the lights. New technology makes the process much easier. There are...

Explain to me why our electric bills never decrease, even though we have swapped to all LED lights, energy star, appliances, built massive solar and wind farms.

• My refrigerator isn't noticeably more efficient than the one of 20 years ago, and that's one of the biggest drains in my house.

• The LED lights consume 1/4 of the energy of the old 60 and 100 watt bulbs, but because the lights are connected to wall switches and I switch them off when not in use, the total consumption even of the old ones wasn't very much. 1/4 of not very much is ... not very much savings.

• Appliances other than the electric clothes dryer don't consume much electricity because those appliances aren't run very much. As for the high consumption of the electric clothes dryer: The new one isn't much more efficient because it's still using electricity to evaporate water with the exact same efficiency as the old one. Also, then and now, I supplement the electric dryer with a solar powered one I have in the back yard.

• The massive solar and wind farms don't reduce the cost of electricity. If anything, they increase the costs. So, you got one reason for increases, not decreases.

• Another increase in the electric bill is the devaluation of the dollar. Perhaps 50% devaluation in the last 20 years. So that's a doubling of the electric bill right there. In fact, of all the things government touches to "reduce costs" (college education, housing, medical care), the electrical rates have inflated the least!

• The final and most considerable explanation is that the profit-seeking PG&E coordinates with the incompetent and corrupt government overseers to provide less service for a greater cost. This is seen with rates going up while maintenance is deferred followed by rates going way up to handle all the maintenance. The government also demands lots of social welfare type things: I'm paying more so that 1/4 of the PG&E customers get subsidies and/or their months-overdue bills forgiven.

From the "geniuses" at NYTimes:

Apple MacBook, plugged in

48W ∂ Open, charging

48W ∂ Closed, charging

27W ∂ Open, fully charged

The charger is capable of producing 48W max. When it's open it requires 27W to run. So it charges with the extra 11W. With the lid closed, all the 48W go into charging and it charges 4x faster. The one thing NYT didn't test (and the thing of most interest) is what does it consume when fully charged and closed? That's the "vampire" cost, which is the gist of the entire article