It is official.
We saved $3,963.62 in water and power from 2008 to 2009. The results are somewhat skewed due to the consolidation of our office into the household, but the savings are real as the office was an electric hog, and its equipment still is….even though it has been relocated to the house. The office savings were $2,923.80.
The Household savings were $1,039.82 with more usage (more people in the house for more hours), and many more trees in the yard.
Per the construct of this project, we can now invest this amount back into the household to further reduce the energy and water consumption.
There are many little projects where we could make an impact for this amount of money, but I really didn’t get excited about any of the conventional solutions.
In the last decades of the Computer Industry there have been “religious wars” after war on what was the best technology and efficiency, etc. But, over time simple, modular, and inclusive seems to win over elegant, efficient, and proprietary solutions. Interfacing multiple disparate systems always seems to win over uniformity (API’s or USB, etc).
So, we set for ourselves not to assume a Grid, or standards (safety yes), but to think in terms of small modular units which could be constructed by Reusing Parts, Recycling Parts to obtain renewable energy.
We want a functioning systems from Cats, and Dogs, and Junk for our energy. Thinking in efficiency terms tends to bring us always back to the same place: Large, Elegant, and Expensive.
We would like modular, common and effective. What has always made these systems work has been the wiring or wireless backbone, and the interfaces. These we will have to work out, but we want an inclusive system: Wind, Solar, Big, Small, Micro.
What got some of this thinking moving was a number of Youtube videos using computer printer motors to light LED’s, and some Wind Turbines using Tape Drive motors. We have been throwing these motors away for years where apparently they might have a second life as power generators.
So, we gave a $1,000 to a friend to see what he could come up with….and he has found a couple large Squirrel Fan carcases which he will try to convert. And, gutted a printer to get our first two motors probably to drive LED lights.
The vision is to keep creating power sources on opportunity with whatever is at hand and then to build a backbone with common interfaces to we can exploit this energy to reduce our expenses and foot print with: Modular Reused Recycled Renewable Energy
