As part of an energy event during the Princeton Environmental Film Festival's second weekend, volunteer Lindsey Kayman helped kids roast marshmallows using what was supposed to be a solar heater. Given the clouds, a spotlight served as surrogate for the sun.
Even on cloudy days, a hand generator can get light bulbs glowing. The compact fluorescent on the right was a lot easier to light up than the incandescent. Some exercise gyms have picked up on the human generator theme and purchased exercise machines that generate electricity.
These are handy devices for exploring how much various electronics use in your home. Knowledge is power, or, rather, knowledge leads to reducing the need for power. Here, the meters compare the energy drain of two different kinds of cell phone chargers. The one on the left is an older design that has a big coil in it that uses 3.4 watts of energy even when it's not recharging anything. The one on the right doesn't draw power except when it's actually being used.
You can buy this sort of meter for $20 online, or hopefully the library still has some available for borrowing--a gift from the Princeton Environmental Commission.
The Kill a Watt meter has limitations for measuring home energy consumption. To track electrical energy use by your A/C, furnace, oven, electric dryer, and other appliances without standard plugs, you need a whole-house energy monitor. One such device that's easy to install is produced by a local business whose website is at wattvision.com. Worth taking a look at.
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