WRITING ON SUNDAY about ways to reduce energy usage, Robert Scoble engages feedback with more than 40 different people across the world. The lively response--on a weekend with only two obviously commercial comments--illustrates the fact that the jury is out on the scientific wisdom of Al Gore's foray into global warming. The familiar arguments bubble up about global warming, nuclear power, next-generation power consumption, the fallacy of hybrid engines, and office energy consumption. Here's something I didn't know--you can save energy by removing light switches:
Alexander Muse explains that
"You might be surprised to learn that leaving fluorescent lights on, versus turning them on and off saves energy. We learned this when we were running data centers. The ballast in a fluorescent light uses a lot of engergy to turn on the light, but running the light is very efficient (producing very little heat - i.e. using very little energy). So if you keep charging the ballast over and over you end up using more energy than just leaving it on.
"It turns out that unless you are not going to use a light for more than 36 hours it is better to leave it on. It will use less energy running than charging the ballast for a second time. Anyway, turning off the lights makes most people feel better.
"We had to remove the light switches to save energy in our facilities. Interesting?"
Robert Scoble -- "Dear Al Gore. Here are some inconvenient truths."
Tom Carter -- "Gore's 'Truth' Splits Hurricane Scientists"
GE Lighting -- FAQs about business lighting and fluorescent ballasts.
