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A Big Opportunity For Electric Savings
Thu, 09/17/2009 - 21:11 — pwrdupIf you've taken a look at the power consumption data we posted you'll know that kitchen appliances make up a very large percentage of electric power consumption in the household. Amongst kitchen appliances the refrigerator is typically the largest consumer of electricity. Since your refrigerator runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year there is a substantial opportunity to lower your electric power usage that occurs as a result of your refrigerator.
Special Utility Billing Programs
Sun, 09/06/2009 - 18:10 — pwrdupHave you ever dreamed about getting a check instead of a bill from your electric utilityAn entity that sells and distributes electric power to end users including residential consumers and businesses.? It is possible. Net meteringA utility billing practice that allows consumers who generate their own power to receive credit for electric power generated in excess of their usage during a certain period of time. programs offer those who create their own renewable energy (via small wind, solar or fuel cell generators) the ability to get credited for the extra power they put on the grid. During hours when your home generator is creating more energy than the home uses your electric meter will move backwards. So you're automatically getting credited for the excess power you create.
Size Does Matter When It Comes To Power Consumption
Mon, 08/31/2009 - 20:50 — pwrdupWant to go green? Try going small when you move into your next home. We've just added new household consumption data that shows the pretty common sense information that bigger households consume more electric power. The thing is that when most people think about ways they can reduce their electricity consumption they look to expensive but ultimately optional options like replacing appliances or remodeling the home. Those choices can definitely help lower your power consumption.
The Next Best Thing To A Time Machine
Wed, 08/26/2009 - 20:19 — pwrdupWe can't go back in time here at PoweredUp but we can load up historic electric prices for residential customers. This data won't necessarily help you make present or future decisions related to electricity usage, but we think its worth posting for those who are either just curious or want to do research. As usual the data is available in table, chart and csv format.
Get Smarter About Power Consumption
Sun, 08/23/2009 - 17:30 — pwrdupQuick, which appliance uses the most electricity in your kitchen? Okay, there's a good chance you know that its your refrigerator. How about the rest of your kitchen appliances? If you have an electric range it's likely to consume almost as much power as your dishwasher. Combine the electric range with an electric oven and you've got the appliance that is likely to be the second largest electricity consumer among your kitchen appliances.
Electric Price And Fuel Data
Sat, 08/22/2009 - 06:38 — pwrdupOne of the major goals of PoweredUp is to provide access to data about electric power costs and consumption. So why not get things started off with information about retail electric prices and fuel usage by generators? The newly minted data page has links to both of those things. We've got the most recently published retail electric prices for residential consumers. And we've added data about fuel consumption by electric generation. Both data sets are at the state level.
What Smart Grid Means To You
Tue, 08/18/2009 - 19:57 — pwrdupIn the coming months and years it is very likely that you will hear a lot about the "smart gridA collection of technologies that allows for improved communication between utilities and end-use customers." of the future. So what is the smart grid? The smart grid is a lot of things actually. And rather than confuse the heck out of you with all the technical jargon about power factors, distributions systems, mesh networks and the like we'll just tell you what it means for the average power consumer.
Kilo-what? Hour
Mon, 08/17/2009 - 20:24 — pwrdupThe most basic concept that power consumers need to grasp when trying to figure out costs is that of the kilowattA watt is the standard measure of power consumption for electrical devices used in the home.. Watts are a standard unit of consumption for products that use electricity. Watts are important because products list their power consumption in watts. When you buy standard lightbulbs you'll see a watt rating on the box that indicates how much power the bulb consumes when plugged in. The higher the wattage, the brighter the light will be. But that lightbulb will also cost more to operate than a bulb with a lower watt rating.
The Price Of Electricity
Sun, 08/16/2009 - 13:47 — pwrdupHow much do you pay for electricity? Since there are over 3,000 retail electric suppliers in the United States answers will vary. As of May 2009 the retail price of electricity to residential consumers varied greatly. People in Hawaii were paying 22.19 cents a kilowattA watt is the standard measure of power consumption for electrical devices used in the home. hour (kWhStands for Kilowatt-Hour. A kilowatt-hour equals 1,000 watts of power delivered for a full hour. Home energy consumption is typically measured in kWh.) while lucky folks in Idaho were paying 7.28 cents per kWh. That's a huge difference! What gives?
PoweredUp Is Born
Sat, 08/15/2009 - 15:58 — pwrdupWelcome to PoweredUp. PoweredUp is a place for people who are interested in learning more about electricity. You use electricity, don't you? Sure you do. Every time you flick on a lightswitch, turn on your television or start your computer (to name just a few daily activities) you are using electricity. And that costs you money. How much does it cost you? Well that's one of the questions that we're here to help you answer. Did you know that now more than ever you're consuming electricity even when you think that you're not? It's true.
