06 December 2007

Conservation Idea

It seems like one of the biggest challenges in the current energy issues, whether it's oil independence or global warming, is how to get people to use less energy. I think that there is a simple way to get North Americans, at least, to cut down on their energy uses if only I could convince all the planning and zoning committees to agree (we could always tie it to a bill, and say we'll withhold road funding or something if they don't do it...that's how come the legal drinking age is the same across the US).


Water & Electricity cost money. North Americans are notorious for always wanting to "save more" money. However, most North Americans have no clue how much water or electricity they use in a given day. So let's place water & electrical meters by the front door at about nose level where people can see the numbers changing daily. Better yet, make those meters look like your gas pump where next to the consumption level you have the amount of money that consumption costs. If people saw this daily I suspect they would immediately start to reduce their usage. Imagine if every faucet and outlet/light switch had a little meter by it that ran with amounts used and money charged by it? People would start turning off their lights when they left the room, they would stop leaving the water running while they brushed their teeth. Family members would start nagging each other to do these things.

What do you think? Would it work?

16 comments:

  1. I like this. You're right, we have no idea what we're doing in terms of energy use until the bill comes. And then we curse and forget until the next one comes. And so goes it.

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  2. Yep, I think it would work - most people think of light and heat as things that simply have an obligation to be there when we want them, not things that come with a cost (both financial and environmental). I heard of a proposal once to add a gadget to water meters that, after a certain minimum use, would add a small amount of pink dye to the water. The dye would be completely odorless and tasteless, but the color would deepen the more water you used, just to make you aware of how much you were going over what you really needed to use. That would get people's attention!

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  3. Yes it would totally work - in fact, it does. Oberlin College installed electrical meters outside students' dorm rooms and then had a competition to have dorms and dorm floors decrease their consumption. See it here: http://www.oberlin.edu/dormenergy/. I think, of all places, Harvard does this too.

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  4. we have meters pretty much for everything in italy, I guess it has some effect but i dont think it would even make a tiny difference. We still come up 41st (out of 56) in the worst countries list by Germanwatch. We need serious policies and not meters. Until we'll have this kind of hyper-consumerism we are doomed :(
    (http://www.germanwatch.org/klima/ccpi2008.pdf)

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  5. I completely agree with you and think we need to increase our awareness, but I think any kind of meter would quickly become part of the landscape. Witness surveillance cameras-we all know they are there and yet pay a visit to You tube, just sayin'...

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  6. I agree with your statement about the American public not realizing how much energy they use on a daily basis, and a college dorm—being a microcosm of the big energy picture—is one thing, where a sense of camaraderie can be built around being “the greenest dorm”. But I don't think this meter system would work on a national scale. Firstly, I agree with Doris Rose, if you're seeing something—anything—every day, you have a better chance of ignoring it. Secondly, (and I should warn you now that I am a complete cynic) I think that those who are already interested in saving money/energy are already thinking about turning off the lights when they leave the room, replacing incandescent bulbs with florescent bulbs and the like. I think that folks who don’t do these things either don’t care, or they consider the financial costs worth it to maintain the lifestyle they’re accustomed to (nice toasty home, larger and larger television sets, computers that are always on, etc). Thirdly, consider the cost of outfitting every home in the US with a meter or series of meters, both financially and from a resource perspective. I’d bet that the energy and petroleum product that would go into making and distributing such meters would vastly outweigh the energy that would be saved by their implementation. That, and they’d likely be made in China, whose energy policies are abhorrent to say the least.
    And then there’s the fact that massive energy use is driven by our hyper-consumerist society. But that’s an argument for another day....
    Thanks for stimulating the thought process so early today Wayfarer—great brainstorm!!

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  7. It worked on one undergrad flatmate who insisted on having an electric heater in her room, which resembled a sauna, and wearing summer clothes in a draughty old house in a Northern English winter. (The rest of us just wore more sweaters.) We eventually took her downstairs to show her the meter ticking away, went back up to switch on her heater, came back to the meter and showed her the difference. Her room cooled down a little, but the biggest benefit from our point of view was that she chipped in more for the monthly bills! (Daddy could afford it).

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  8. That is so neat Skookum!

    Re: meters at nose level. I think they might too easily fade into the background.

    What about being able to program it at the get-go to beep when energy consumption goes over a certain level and not shut up until you take actions to lower energy use? People dislike aversive stimuli and will take steps to avoid it.

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  9. i think you are right. anytime we can elevate the consciousness about something we can then choose to address it. i've missed your scientific brain, sister.

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  10. It may not work on everyone, but I'll bet it would likely work on enough people to make it worth the cost. We've gradually learned what mileage our cars get, yet some unconscionables still choose SUV's under the false illusion that they are safer, but we've been energy-hogging for so long it's going to take many small increments like your meter to make a difference. Maybe there could be some energy tax added, sort of like a sales tax, to the energy-hoggers by the meter, or a tax-break for the energy misers. All sorts of creative motivations could be developed if....if...if...

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  11. I think it would be a good start, definitely!

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  12. oh, it would work in my house! it would become a contest, at least within myself, to see how low I could keep the numbers each day.

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  13. I love it. It would most definitely work.

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  14. I *LOVE* this idea, I think it's fabulous.
    Where do I sign up? Do you know how many people would change their energy wasting habits if they could see it in a monetary format?

    Agh!

    Great idea!

    Scarlett & Viaggiatore

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  15. Instead of in the basement, hidden behind the summer tires. A good idea...

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  16. I love this discussion! I've done a bit more research since I came up with this idea and if you google "smart meters" you will find all kinds of interesting stuff. Apparently (according to some scientific studies, of course!) some meters don't relaly change habits while are gadgety and become adictive like mobile phones even to people who proffess lack of interest in energy saving. I think that Froghair is right that it won't correct everyone's habits, but I do think it will help some people who haven't made the step. It's like taking plastic bags to the grocery - some people always mean to but always forget. And if we can make it easier for people to remember and interact with and understand their consumption that in intself goes a long ways. Oh, and skookumchick, that Oberlin link is pretty neat. Thanks for it!

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