Green heating issues

A family living in a home in Jerome Way, in the village of Shipton-on-Cherwell in England had their heating system switched to a green one three years ago, when the community made the change to ground source heating. Today, however, they’re complaining that their house is just not getting warm enough.

Mr Chennells said: “Every since they put the system in, the central heating has not been working properly. Engineers have come up to look at it, but they report back that it is working fine. It produces a tiny amount of heat, and leaves the house really cold.”

The comments section yielded some interesting insights, however, with visitors pointing out what the family could have been doing wrong with the system. It would have been nice if the Oxford Mail got feedback from all the residents of the community.

Energy Plus

I got an email from Jet Blue encouraging me to switch to Energy Plus. The company supplies electricity in New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Texas. True Blue members can be awarded a one way flight, as well as receiving 5,000 points after 2 months as a customer. They’re also offering 2 points for every $1 spent on the Energy Plus portion of the electrical bill.

5 quick & easy tips to save energy

Earth Day’s coming up! Thanks to our friends from Retrevo for sharing these energy-saving tips.

1. Turn off devices when you’re not using them – especially game consoles and TVs.
Large plasma TVs are the biggest hogs but game machines are a close second. Shutting down game players in the U.S. for just 24 hours would save enough energy to power the city of San Diego for a day.

2. Make sure they’re really off – use a power strip and flip the switch.
Many products draw power after they’re turned off. If the charger in the wall socket is warm it’s likely sucking power. Use a power strip and shut it down to insure gadgets are really off.

3. If you’re going to leave your computer on, at least set them to Hibernate or Standby.
Energy Star says the PC’s Hibernate or Standby mode can save up to $75 a year in electricity. And, don’t be fooled by screen savers – they’re no help at all.

4. Unplug the gadgets you only use occasionally.
If you only use them once in a while – fax machines, or peripherals attached to your computer such as USB hard drives for backup – unplugging guarantees they’re off.

5. Use renewable energy to recharge small devices like iPods, cell phones and GPS.
Inexpensive devices like the Hymini wind turbine, Solio’s Hybrid 1000, Freeplay Freecharge, or Kinesis Industries combo are easy to use and get your gadgets going in minutes.

Retrevo even came up with a “Survival Guide to Greener Living with Electronics“. Check it out!

24

Kiefer Sutherland announced that his tv show “24” is making a commitment to fight climate change. They hope to have a carbon neutral season. The storylines may include global warming and the actors will appear in PSAs regarding reducing carbon emissions. Production will use hybrid vehicles and “green power”. The set will be rewired to use electric power.