energy

Eco answers

November 20, 2008

How environmentally-damaging is your cycle ride to work? How long will it take a home wind turbine to pay for itself? The New Scientist knows.

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The cost of solar power

September 7, 2008

Thinking about installing solar panels? Good on you. Just be wary of the fact that it could take 208 years for them to repay their initial cost.

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Intelliplug: review

September 4, 2008

IntelliplugIntelliplug is the simplest way to control all of your devices with just a single button… entirely passively. Put one in your socket and you should ever again see a standby light in your home.

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Bye Bye Standby: review

August 15, 2008

2008-byebye-standby-thumbnail.jpgAs energy prices rocket, anything that simplifies cutting down on waste is a boon. Bye Bye Standby does just that, by putting control of every plug in your home in the palm of your hand.

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Energy consumption monitors

May 17, 2008

Energy monitorMy electricity supplier actually wants us to use less energy rather than more, with the help of a free energy monitor that tracks your usage and costs. Watching it change as you switch lights on and off is proving strangely addictive.

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Slimmer, trimmer home wind turbines

February 18, 2008

Wind turbines generate more controversy than electricity. While recent research suggests that some generate less power in the course of a year than it would take to illuminate a lightbulb, your decision to erect one in the garden can have neighbours up in arms. Hopefully things should get easier as more efficient, smaller and quieter models are rolled out.

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Five wind-up, self-powered gadgets

February 1, 2008

Clockwork technology, made popular by the introduction of the Baygen wind-up radio, is coming on in leaps and bounds. Here, we’ve rounded up five essential clockwork add-ons to keep close at hand.

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Can you save money while charging your phone?

January 22, 2008

We all know you should unplug your mobile the moment it’s finished charging, but if you plug it in when you go to bed and then undock it next morning as you head out to work, the chances are you’ll have left it trickling all through the night. So why not cut the current after [...]

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Home wind turbines and self-sufficiency

January 9, 2008

Laying in bed at the start of the week, the wind was enough to keep me awake. It was pulling at the window frames and rattling something on the roof. Living beside a nature reserve, the house is on the edge of a fairly low plain across which the wind can – and does – [...]

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Are energy saving light bulbs dangerous?

January 8, 2008

Energy-saving lightbulbs can induce migraines, epilepsy and skin rashes, and are dangerous when it comes to disposal as they contain tiny amounts of mercury. Well, that’s what the papers are saying, anyway. It’s been a bad week for the one-time darlings of the green lobby, which can save 26kg of CO2 for every regular bulb [...]

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