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1) Use LED lights
2) Use quality power strips for electronic devices that have a slow constant draw (PC, Stereo, TV, etc) and turn off the power strip.
3) Use weatherstripping to better seal building envelope (Doors, Windows etc.. e.g. Door bottom rubber strips seal to exterior entries) as well as thermal sound drapes for windows as desired.
4) Whenever possible design and use entry from an air lock style vestibule. Very helpful in extremely harsh climates.
5) Install fire barrier putty pads in electrical outlets
6) Insure you have proper insulation in roof / walls w proper vapor barriers
7) Make sure any thermostats are located in appropriate areas and adjust per season.
8) Adjust clothing worn in house to match adjustments of thermostat. One of simplest in winter is wearing quality socks and layer as needed for comfort.
9) As appliances are replaced get high energy efficient replacements.
10) Shut off heating power to rooms not used frequently in cold season (if applicable) such as a sun room with its own heat source like baseboard heater.
11) Run capacity loads when using washer / dryer / dishwasher
12) If you tend to have excess space in frig, learn to optimize it, as a fuller one will run less cycles. Same with Freezer - you can buy those freezer gel packs to fill when it has space.
13) Have a well disciplined 'drop space area' regimen for outer ware (coats, foot ware) so your cleaning is lessened.
14) If you run things like humidifier / air purifiers get programmable ones and set to optimize when the house is occupied so they only run as needed.
Total ecological capacity use can go down from code red to orange, yellow, even green for lots of countries.
The bolded is the real problem....10 people imposing on the environment at a level of "100" each produce as much damage as 1000 people imposing at only "1."....
We can fantasize about a more perfect world with fewer people, but we're stuck with a real world of many people.
The carrying capacity is the limit to population that is imposed by the limits of resources needed to maintain the population....In natural populations, those things include space, air, water availability of food and competition from predators/disease, etc.
We humans have been increasing the carrying capacity for our species via technology for a long time-- from mastering fire, to making sharp spears, to wearing furs, to the Haber-Bosch process for making fertilizer, etc etc.
There's always a rate limiting step, "lowest stave in the barrel" concept that sets the limit. For humans, that now seems to be money-- as long as you have a good job, you can buy all the things you need to remain healthy and comfortable. (Agronomists estimate we could produce enough food for 20 Billion people.) European population growth (falling birth rate) has been declining for decades mainly due to the economic factors limiting family size.
When the population reaches the carrying capacity, the population remains constant-- birth rate equals death rate....The problem comes when the environment changes- in particular for us- the technology that allows the big population- becomes unavailable. Then you have a population crash to equilibrate with the new, lower carrying capacity.
It will be interesting to see what happens In Europe, where a harsh winter is predicted (for what that's worth this far in advance) and there is a severe limitation in energy availability looming.
Conservation is always a good planning policy. Waste not, want not.
Low birth rate might actually be helpful to overpopulation. There is limited land supply with Farms Agriculture. Rarely ever see any consistently built harvest fields when on the road for hours. The newest generation having less children ends up a blessing in some factors.
A phantom load is the power consumed by appliances that are plugged in but doing nothing useful. I'm talking about the 10-15 W your television uses when it is turned off and the 2-4 W consumed by your cell phone charger when it is not attached to or charging a cell phone. These little loads all add up.
In round numbers, the US has 3 x 10^8 people divided into 10^8 households...Let's say each household has 2 TVs....
10 W = 10^-2 kW and over 24 hrs/d = 2.4 x 10^-1 kW-hr....x 365 days /yr = 8.76 x 10 kW-hr/yr....x10^8 households = 8.76 x 10^7 kW-hr /yr "wasted" electrical usage....
But the US uses in total 4 x 10^12 kW-hr per year.....round off the 8.76 to an even 10....10^8 / 10^12 and our idle TVs waste about 1- ten thousandth (or 0.01%) of our electrical power production.
A TV plugged in but not watched, @ 15c/kW-hr, wastes $0.0015 per hour-- That's about 3.6c /d...I wonder how many Dunken Donuts it would take to supply the calories needed to keep walking over and plugging/unplugging the TV?
Theory is interesting, but it's reality that counts. Some things aren't worth worrying about.
We set the thermostat in winter at 68-69 , air conditioning in summer to 80-82. We have good insulation so it helps a lot. For the holidays I use solar lighting , or battery operated to save on the electric bill. I wash most clothes in cold water. Hang up skirts, blouses, sweaters so it save on drying costs.
I unplug things I dont use. I wash before 3 pm, dont use washer or dyer til after 8, which is the cheaper times to use them. It’s the peak time 3-8
No kitchen clock. There is one on the range and the microwave. No need for one on the wall.
All laundry is with cold water. About 1/3 is hung up.
Heat is off when the sun is out.
Last month I used 296 kWh. All electric home. The average for similar homes is 635 kWh. We get a monthly report from the electric company.
About 6 years ago I changed billing to pay the same amount every month. It has never gone up in that time.
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