Who's shutting down the Tank for Earth Hour Saturday

[OceanicCorals-Eugene-]

i once read a study that had said it takes more power to turn on light then it does to keep it lite. Im interested to see how much is actually saved during earth hour and how much is wasted to turn all the lights on. But of course those numbers wont be shown:

[outacontrol]

Originally Posted by OceanicCorals-Eugene-

i once read a study that had said it takes more power to turn on light then it does to keep it lite. Im interested to see how much is actually saved during earth hour and how much is wasted to turn all the lights on. But of course those numbers wont be shown:

this is completely untrue, an incandescent light takes no more energy to turn on than is does to run, an inductive light (metal halide or flourescent) takes a little bit of a peak in energy to start but this only comes into play in cycles of a minute or less. The energy saved in having a light off for 10 or more minutes is way more substantial than the energy to restart it.

and here is an article to support this: http://www.lightingdesignlab.com/art...luorescent.htm

[christyf5]

I might turn my lights off early that night but other than my fish tank I think I'm pretty energy conscious. I'll probably sit around in the dark on saturday night just cuz its fun. However convincing my husband to turn the tv off for an hour could be monumental

[Parker]

It amazes me how people take things so literal. Earthday is meant to promote awareness and to drive home the fact that one person can make a difference. Simply turning off your lights for an hour isn't going to ammount to much in the grand scheme of things, we all know that. The point is not to turn off your lights but to promote thoughtful discussion and self examination. If people choose to turn off the lights then great thanks for taking the time to at least think about it, it's step in the right direction if only a small one.

[fkshiu]

Originally Posted by Parker

It amazes me how people take things so literal. Earthday is meant to promote awareness and to drive home the fact that one person can make a difference. Simply turning off your lights for an hour isn't going to ammount to much in the grand scheme of things, we all now that. The point is not to turn off your lights but to promote thoughtful discussion and self examination. If people choose to turn off the lights then great thanks for taking the time to at least think about it, it's step in the right direction if only a small one.

Exactly. The very fact that we are discussing it now is the whole point of it: awareness and discourse.

And for the whole light bulb thing, here's more entertaining proof that it does NOT use more energy to turn a bulb back on than leaving it running:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdu4wYu48uw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgM0N7GD5Ic

[BlueAbyss]

Originally Posted by Parker

It amazes me how people take things so literal. Earthday is meant to promote awareness and to drive home the fact that one person can make a difference. Simply turning off your lights for an hour isn't going to ammount to much in the grand scheme of things, we all know that. The point is not to turn off your lights but to promote thoughtful discussion and self examination. If people choose to turn off the lights then great thanks for taking the time to at least think about it, it's step in the right direction if only a small one.

Bingo. Couldn't have said it with any more truth...

*CAUTION: RANT FOLLOWS* I personally have a huge problem with people considering aluminum cans to be 'disposable'. I believe it was Buckminster Fuller who thought that with all the materials we had pulled out of the earth by the '70s, we should be entirely self sufficient as far as needing materials, since almost everything is recyclable (and aluminum pretty much tops the list of easily recyclable materials). And yet, here we are. I suppose everything is disposable, really... including our own planet.

I wonder when the cockroaches will grow intelligence. Then we're really done for. *END RANT*

Anyhow, as far as shutting the lights off I'll still be at work at that time and my electricity is relatively low impact hydroelectric power. I actually moved a step in the wrong direction by switching to CFLs, since they contain toxic mercury where the incandescents I had before didn't. Saved some electricity though, so more can go to the US where they depend on oil generating stations... so maybe I'm actually status quo after all. Every little bit helps.

PS: OH YEAH, tank not just lights... yup, no way. My tank uses a total maximum (with heater and lights on) of 210W. I've seen incandescent light bulbs larger than that.

[Lance]

I'm better than I used to be but my wife is way more energy conscious than me. All her gadgets are battery-operated.

[globaldesigns]

I don't think so.

I am doing my part for earth day, by keeping my SPS alive... One day they will come to us for help to re-populate the oceans.

[Delphinus]

Earth hour is good if it promotes awareness. Can't argue there.

There are people though who think that's all there is to it is shutting the lights off for an hour "helps." And no, it doesn't. What helps is finding a way to change habits so that the energy footprint can be reduced permanently.

So.. um .. no, I can't shut my tanks off for an hour. That's a life support issue.. but I'm always thinking about ways I can achieve the same results using less energy consumption, and when opportunities present themselves, I make the appropriate changes. I hope this counts for something.

[Tom R]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Earth hour is good if it promotes awareness. Can't argue there.

There are people though who think that's all there is to it is shutting the lights off for an hour "helps." And no, it doesn't. What helps is finding a way to change habits so that the energy footprint can be reduced permanently.

So.. um .. no, I can't shut my tanks off for an hour. That's a life support issue.. but I'm always thinking about ways I can achieve the same results using less energy consumption, and when opportunities present themselves, I make the appropriate changes. I hope this counts for something.

I agree. We all need to look beyond price when we buy things.

For example something we all use in our hobby is a return pump. A return pump runs 24/7/365 right then consider these products for the job.

An Amp Master 3000 from Dolphin Pumps moves 3600 GPH while drawing 96 watts of electricity.

While the ever popular Reeflo Dart movers 3600 GPH while drawing 160 watts of electricity.

We should always include energy usage as a major criteria when buying an automobile, a refrigerator, a Big Screen TV or anything else we buy.