The environment has been in the news lately, especially relating to the hot topic (pun intended!) of global warming. Since this is a model train board, and as a meteorologist I have an emotional investment in this topic, I’ll stay away from the debate of whether global warming is a man-made or natural phenomenon (not looking for a flame war!).
That said, for those of us looking to reduce our impact on the environment, maybe lower the power bill a notch, or just reduce pollution, here are a few tips I think could help:
Unplug whenever possible. Appliances draw current when plugged in, even if they’re not on. The current is very small, but it’s still there. I plug everything into a single surge protector, which I can then unplug.
Layout lighting. I use fluorescent lighting, but that’s really not as eco-sound as it could be. CFLs are a better bet, but require baffles, and can be slow to reach full intensity (depending on the type). LED lighting is getting there, but still has the one major drawback of LEDs: LEDs are directional. I’ve seen some discussion on this topic, and most have been disappointed with LEDs so far for layout lighting. My suggestion; use the minimum possible wattage you can get away with and still have adequate lighting. I think in a few years CFL and LED technology will have improved to where they will be preferable for layout lighting.
Note: CFL bulbs contain trace amounts of mercury; dispose of them at a designated facility.
Work outside. In warmer climates, benchwork can be built outside or in the garage in sections, and moved to the layout room for final assembly. This cuts down on indoor climate control and lighting needed in construction.
Non-toxic paints and glues. Whenever possible, stick with acrylic-based paints. For plastic kits, there are very effective non-toxic plastic glues. I’m no chemist
Interesting topic Dave. I’m no chemist or anything else. But most of your ideas and comments are good ones. We can and should look at ourselves and how we affect our enviroment. Thanks for bring it up.
If you carry on like this Dave you will have a Nobel prize before you know it!! Not for anything to do with the environment, but for begging pitifully to avoid a flame war.[:D] A peace prize at the very least I would say.
Do you remember the “Boneyards” show on railroads? It was mostly focused on recycling, and how the railroads re-use equipment, and recycle metals and even old ties to get the maximum out of them rather than just creating more landfills and dumps.
Many of us do this, too. We don’t throw stuff away, but instead keep boxes of old parts that sometimes come in useful for repairs or projects. We transfer ownership of things we’re through with at train shows, swap meets and on eBay.
It’s a pretty low-impact hobby. Most of the time, I doubt that my layout is drawing much more energy than a 100-watt light bulb, a bit under one amp. I’ve got my scenery lighting circuits on front-panel toggles, so that I can leave them off in the daytime, or when I’m not “showing off” the layout. I usually go to my LHS or the craft store on my way home from work, saving a bit on gas, too. (I’ve even bicycled to my LHS, returning with a Peco turnout in my back pocket.) While that’s no different than going to the grocery store on the way home, it’s all part of that “environmental consciousness” and the small things that add up to significant savings in the long run.
Remember before the environment was a concern?
I sure hope the production of hops and barley is good for the environment, though.
I use CFL’s in most places, with a few exceptions.
The bathroom, they don’t appear to last due to the very high humidity and high number of on/off cycles.
The garage I’m usualy in and out in which case they don’t reach full brightness or are not on long enough to save much if anything. If I’ know I’m going to be in there for 5+ min, I turn the CFL overhead on, but again that’s rarely the case.
The dining room - the light fixture is dimable, with a bunch of the small bulbs.
The kids bed room - when it needed on, it’s needed at full brightness from the moment it’s turned on , besides they have broken the incandecent bulb in their room 3 times with just playing around - need I say more?
Extra bedroom down stairs - excet when the inlaws stay for a visit ( once every 3-4 yrs ), it’s just just not used, and in the 9 yrs we have been in this house, it hasn’t needed to be replaced yet.
Other than that;
When I know that I’m not going to use the computer for more than an hour, I put it in stand by mode.
Meals/cooking habits in summer and winter change to avoid having to cool or heat the house more than nessary. In the winter more baking is done and what heat leaves the oven helps warm the house. While we will make use of a electric roaster of crock pot outside on the deck to cook things in the summer.
We live in a dry climate and vent the electric dryer into the house in the winter, this adds moisture to the air, and what heat leaves the drier also
Yeah, I’m sorry folks, but that stuck in my gullet when I heard about it, too. Sheesh.
I’m afraid my layout is a real barn fire when I am working on it or playing with it. I have no fewer than 10 mini-halogens in track lighting, 50 watts each. Compared to my lighting, my motive power requirements are small change.
Still, the missus and I are stingy on power. We could do even better, such as unplugging little safety lights in dark places, but safety comes first…everywhere. Besides, they’re light sensing and turn off when the ambient light reaches a threshold. As for TV’s and other constantly drawing devices, if I have to I’ll do it. When I have to, I’ll know it. Right now, I am not convinced of the whole cause and effect thing with global warming. Temporal proximity does not mean correlation
Very good post, I enjoyed reading it very much. You’ve made some seriously good points and I will do my best to conserve energy from now on. I will also start to look for eco-friendly products when/where ever I can.
BTW, please tell Al Gore that he owes me $750 for that 30lb. cylinder of R-12 refridgerant that I got for him last week on the black market. Don’t ask me what he needs it for. [%-)]
Standard fluorescent lighting is more efficient than incandescent lighting to be sure, but still uses more power and gives off more heat (wasted energy) than CFL or LED.
BTW, I’m very, very happy about how civil this has been! I don’t mean to sound “preachy.” I do try to do my best (I drive a Prius and use almost exclusively CFL lighting), but I’m hardly doing enough myself.
Energy is an issue I’m very “aware” of, having served in the Middle East. Any way you cut it, many of the same steps leading scientists say we need to take to mitigate climate problems (again, you may not agree on this point) are the also ones we need for energy independence (and hence, national security). Even we model railroaders can take part.
I’m all for a Nobel Prize in Model Railroading. Heck, if guys like Kim Jong Il and Achma-dina-what’s-his-name (Iranian beard guy) had trains to play with, maybe they wouln’t be playing with nukes!
OK, I see what you mean now. 40W per tube vs. 20W (max) CFL. However, I’ve always wondered how many CFL’s it would take to match the output of a standard duel 40W tube fixture?
The other efficient lighting method I’ve heard of is fiber optic lighting. One lighting source gets transmitted throughout a fiber optic network (dozens of strands, each ending in an outlet). Not sure how effective it has been to date.
I was unable to find any hard numbers comparing CFL’s and standard fluorescent lighting - most comparisions are between incandescent lights and CFL. HOWEVER, I did find information that CFL’s will lose 20-25% of their lighting power by mid life - so to maintain a given light level over a period of time, you will need more wattage with CFL’s that with fluorescent. Also if CFLs are turned on and off for short periods of time it can reduce their life span by up to 80% - so you don’t want to put them in closets or places where you only need light for a couple of minutes.
Also, heat generation by light bulbs is not always a bad thing. Air that is heated b
I’m not familiar with the terminology, but I assume by, CFL, you mean the fluorescent bulbs that screw into a regular incandescent socket. It’s my understanding that these bulbs contain mercury, recognized worldwide as a serious environmental health hazard. And if I’m not mistaken, the EPA has banned the manufacture of these bulbs within the U.S. for that very reason. Theoretically, if you were to break one of these bulbs, you are required to call a hazardous materials cleanup company to decontaminate the area. That doesn’t sound very enviornmentally, or economically friendly, but that’s just me. Of course, this all depends on whether or not I am mistaken, which is something that has happened a few times; well maybe more than a few.
Substantially wrong. The amount of mercury is very small, There are urban legends about calling hazmat teams to clean up broken CFLs, but that’s related to a couple of cases (maybe one) early on when people didn’t understand the fact that the risk is minimal.
You’re totally mistaken. Their website is out of date, since there are other manufacturers of CFLs in the US today, but this company is proud to claim their CFLs are made in America.
Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL) do, in fact, contain trace amounts of mercury. Yes, if you break one, you should probably call someone in to clean it up, just as you should if you broke a good old-fashioned mercury thermometer. I checked my CFLs, and they appear all to be made in China. Then again, so is everything else these days. I don’t know whether the EPA has banned manufacturing in the US; in fact the EPA has recently been very vocal in advocating CFL usage.
From Wikipedia (I know, I know… not the most reliable source…):
Our current house (built 9 years ago) uses can lights everywhere…in our kitchen, we have 6 can lights alone. They were equipped with 75W Halogen flood bulbs. When they were on, you could stand under them and get a sunburn on your head…I replaced them with CFL flood bulbs that look just like regular flood bulbs, yet they only consume 16W of energy and produce more lumens than the halogen bulbs.
Every ceiling fan in the house has received CFLs as well as the breakfast tabel light…over 35 bulbs to date. I have already seen a drop in our electrical bill, plus the A/C doesn’t run as much thanks to the reduced heat load from the lights. Not to mention the dose of freon to bring it up to spec helping reduce the cycle time…every little bit helps.
