energy – Page 2 – Easterday Construction Co., Inc.

LED vs HID Wall Pack Fixture

April 1, 2013 by

I generally feel that upgrading electrical fixtures and devices to the newer energy-saving devices is the easiest green energy to justify. Great strides are being made in this area to the point that my average client can see savings with a short pay off time. This is often something that shows gains with a one-to-one swap of new for existing fixtures. Further gains can be achieved by designing around the new fixtures and adding energy-saving controls.

One of my supplier reps was in yesterday and shared the following analysis that he completed for one of his manufacturing clients who was considering upgrading their existing exterior wall pack lights from HID (High Intensity Discharge such as High Pressure Sodium or Metal Halide) to LED (Light Emitting Diode):

These are the wall pack security fixtures you see high on the wall around factories, warehouses or buildings with parking near their wall.

Fixture prices:

HID TWH400MTB w/lamp $218

LED TWHLED 30C 50K $450

At $0.08 energy rate, 10 hour/day, 365 days/year the energy savings is $102.79/year.

LED = In a ten year time frame you would spend $450 for the LED fixture and $305.80 for energy use.

HID = In a ten year time frame you would spend $218 for the HID fixture plus change the lamp four times and the ballast once. 2 hours labor times 4 times is 8 hours. The cost for the four lamps and the one ballast is $124.

U-Socket

September 7, 2012September 7, 2012 by

The U-Socket from FastMac features built-in USB ports. It is available in Decora style (shown to the right) and standard style. With so many smart phones, iPhones, gaming devices and other items that charge from USB style adapters, you need a place to charge without having to search out your charger or having to turn on your computer. U-Socket provides this.

U-Socket’s built-in smart sensor automatically detects required wattage and only outputs power when it’s needed and shuts off when it’s fully charged. This makes it a green solution as most chargers continue to try and charge when the device is fully charged or even when the device has been disconnected. Stoppng this kind of “Vampire Drain” is an easy energy saving solution.

We’re going to suggest this device for home office locations and for those counters in the kitchen or near the door where everything gets dropped when you enter your home. Personally, I’ve started using my phone as an alarm clock and the duplex I plug into isn’t conveniently accessible. That means I don’t unplug the charger during tthe day. This appears to be a great solution for this everyday problem.

For more about the costs of vampire drain and how to prevent it, check out the article at the Department of Energy site here.

Energizing Indiana Seminar

May 10, 2012May 10, 2012 by

I attended an Energizing Indiana Seminar on Tuesday in South Bend presented by the Indiana Energy Association. In our area, the partners that we work with are NIPSCO and AEP. (Marshall County REMC has programs as well, but opted out of IURC (Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission) due to what they felt were onerous reporting and oversight requirements and the associated costs.) There are quite a few incentive programs available to businesses and residential customers as well. Unlike some of the tax incentive programs such as EPAct, these programs provide checks directly from the Utility Companies which means municipalities and other tax exempt entities should be able to take advantage of them as well.

Many of these programs encourage renovations that will pay savings dividends on their own. (Green That Saves Green!) The incentives are there to give the extra kick to encourage implementing them now. I am planning on researching this further and I will include details here, but if you’re interested in pursuing this, please contact us and we can look into your specific situation now!

Energy from Footsteps

November 5, 2013December 21, 2011 by Kevin Berger

A company in England has come up with a paving tile that harvests the energy from footsteps. Pavgen has developed technology that converts the kinetic energy from foot steps into electricity that can be stored and used for a variety of applications. The tiles are designed to compress 5 millimeters in order to collect the energy.

Pavgen pavers will be installed in the mall at the 2012 London Olympics and are expected to provide enough energy to power half the mall lights. (See CNN story here.)

* Image borrowed from CNN.com

Green That Saves Green 101: Corner Framing

May 10, 2010 by

There are several ways we can improve the efficiences in the framing of outside corners. A California Corner is one designation for a wood framing pattern that rotates one of the three studs in exterior corners. On exterior walls this allows insulation to proceed all the way to the corner rather than creating an insulation void.