A11AberleHenriksonFischerAparicio

A11AberleHenriksonFischerAparicio

To-Do

Step 1:

• Try to find some relevant information (anywhere on the web) related to YOUR problem or topic.

• http://energy.gov/news2009/8381.htm
• http://en.openei.org/wiki/Main_Page

• Can you locate any relevant information about YOUR problem in OpenEI? Describe what you find there.
• What it would take for you to contribute information (which you may have found in step 1) to this site and what would motivate you to do so!

1. Describe the energy-related problem or topic your group selected.

The topic our group chose was the use of more efficient lightbulbs over standard incandescent ones.

Most lightbulbs in use today still utilize the old incandescent design. While efforts have been made to increase the efficiency of these bulbs, there are more energy-friendly options available. We are exploring the feasibility of changing the lighting setup of an entire house to more efficient lightbulbs and the subsequent effects of doing so. This involves any decreases in energy use as well as any energy bill savings that result in the change as well as seeing if any of these savings are canceled out in any way by the increased cost of the new lightbulbs.

2. Describe any Web resources you found about that problem or topic.

http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/lighting_daylighting/index.cfm/mytopic=12060

United States Department of Energy fact sheet about compact fluorescent bulbs compare to incandescent. This includes information about the power usage of the different lights as well as information about potential savings when switching.

http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagid=608

A guide helping users switch the lights in their home. This link includes information on choosing the correct bulbs for your light fixtures, properly disposing of old bulbs, and more links to refine your search for new lighbulbs and purchasing information. 

http://www.gelighting.com/na/home_lighting/products/pop_lighting_calc.htm

A calculator that helps project savings based on the specific amount of incandescent lights that will be replaced.

http://www.designrecycleinc.com/led comp chart.html

A chart comparing incandescent lights with two more efficient counterparts (LED and CFL). This chart contains information on power consumption, longevity, and environmental impact.

3. Describe any related OpenEI resources you found.

http://blog.openei.org/2010/11/breakthrough-in-fluorescent-lighting.html
A blog entry on OpenEI about how current fluorescent light bulbs and even CFLs can be made better.  This gives us incentive to maybe stick with what we have or get the cheaper thing, if they're going to be made better anyway. 

http://en.openei.org/wiki/Federal_Appliance_Standards_(Federal)
On the same note, this link shows us that "common light bulbs" will be required to be better in the next few years.  This is an incentive to buy cheap now, to get the better ones for cheap later.

http://en.openei.org/wiki/Luminous_Efficacy_Standards_for_General_Purpose_Lights_(Nevada)
Some places, like Nevada, will have a law that bulbs that aren't as efficient as things like CFLs, won't be allowed to be sold.  Perhaps this will, however, make the price of bulbs go up.  So if we want to do things cheaply, now is the time to BUY BUY BUY.  If we want to be energy efficient (whether for the environment or for our electric bill) we would probably just buy what we need now and wait to see what happens with light bulbs.  This page also describes the efficiency of bulbs at the bottom.

http://en.openei.org/wiki/Orange_County_REMC_-_Energy_Efficient_Equipment_Rebate_Program_(Indiana)
Most of what came up when searching OpenEI for things about light bulbs and their efficiency were rebate programs.  This one is an example of one of the ones with a better incentive.  Here you get to trade 4 incandescent bulbs for 4 CFLs every month that you pay your bill on time.  Not only can you slowly change the cheap bulbs in your house one by one, you can buy new cheap bulbs and exchange them for more expensive ones for free!  (Yeah, a little bit of cheating the system, but we're sure it happens.)

http://en.openei.org/wiki/Longmont_Power_&_Communications_-_CFL_Instant_Rebate_Program_(Colorado)
Other rebate programs, like this one in Longmont, allows you to get a money rebate when you purchase more efficient (and therefore more expensive) bulbs.  This does help bring the cost of bulbs down, however, $2 isn't much when you're paying for say, $40 of light bulbs.

http://buildingsdatabook.eren.doe.gov/docsDataBooks2008_BEDB_Updated.pdf
This link not only shows the data for how electricity is spent in large companies, but also how a typical household breaks down its electricity.  This data book from 2008 (one page 2-5) shows that households use about 11.6% of their electricity just on light bulbs.  This pie chart shows that maybe there are other things we could more easily cut down on, because it takes up more of our electricity consumption (heating/cooling for example).  Page 2-10 breaks down each category into specific elements.  Even though the CFL is running almost twice as long as the incandescents, it is using only half as many kWh per year as a 60 watt incandescent bulb.  However, money-wise it only saves $2 annually.  Which, again, isn't much when you pay so much for the light bulbs.

4. Discuss what it would take for you to contribute information (such as what you may have found in step 1) to the OpenEI site and what would motivate you to do so.

Contributing information to the OpenEI website is extremely easy for one who is properly motivated to do so. First, a person who desires to add information to this website would need to create an account on the Open EI website. Once this task is accomplished he/she is able to search for existing pages and edit or modify them with the knowledge he or she wishes to share with the world. Also, if there is not a page already in existence about the information that this person wishes to share, this person can just click on the "contribute" tab and then "add a new page." From here he or she can write out the information and then save it as a new wiki page on the OpenEI website.

Motivation is a key factor in people putting up information onto this meta-design product. There are several factors that could go into the motivation. What would motivate someone like me is if I felt very strongly about some environmental issue. Feeling strongly about it is not quite enough though. It would take a realization that others are not thinking or caring about this environmental issue to make sharing the knowledge worthwhile. Another strong motivation factor could be something to do with trying to change something on one's own, but finding it very difficult to obtain information to do so. This could lead to working hard to find the information and then using a site like OpenEI to aid others in this same issue so that they do not have to go through the same trouble.