The Electrisave revisited
I don’t know whether you saw Panorama last week but it caused great excitement in this house, I can tell you. There was eco-man, walking around his house, Electrisave in hand, working out how he could save a bit of electricity here and there. My man was almost beside himself! How to validate an object: mid evening, on the BBC no less.… doesn’t get any better than that in his view!
Actually, my Electrisave convert claims he can already see a difference in the amount of energy we are consuming as a family. I haven’t had the heart to point out that the evenings are getting lighter (less lights needed), the weather is getting warmer (less heating needed) and spring is in the air (washing on the line - less tumble drier usage). That’s because I do think I can see a difference in the whole family’s attitude to energy consumption and that can only be a positive thing.
We have committed to changing all our light bulbs to the energy saving alternatives. Unfortunately that requires a detailed list of our specific requirements - screw fit, bayonet, spotlights, candle bulbs, opaque, clear…….. the list will be long and complicated and sorry to say, we haven‘t summoned the energy to get round to it yet. Hence our unconventional energy-saving scheme - not replacing bulbs when they blow. I reckon only half the lights in this house have working bulbs at the moment. A bit of a pain, but not bad enough yet to force us into action!
I have to admit, I’m slightly in denial about the whole thing. Light bulbs are so unpredictable - one will blow at any time, even though you feel you only replaced that one a week ago. So spending more money on a bulb feels a great risk to me - what guarantee do I have that it really will last longer? Actually, some bulbs do now come with a guarantee, I believe. Worth looking into, when our house is finally plunged into complete darkness! Unfortunately, unlike every other house in the land, because of our current half light state of affairs, putting energy-saving light bulbs in every light in the house will make our Electrisave reading go up rather than down. At least then, we will be able to read and not have to go to bed at nightfall!
Filed under: Uncategorized on March 13th, 2007
Thanks for letting me know about your blog - I’ve just logged on - and will probably be addicted now. It’s really good and so refreshingly honest (and funny) about how it is when you’re trying to actually grapple with and actually make these necessary but awkward life changes. I’ll pass it on to others if that’s ok with you? (I tried sending you an email, but it was returned -so will be in touch soon)