Cutting CO2 Pollution
There is a side to the pollution problem that many people are not aware of and that's the level of carbon dioxide that is being created by power plants and pumped into the atmosphere at an alarming rate.
It is in everyone's interests for us to do everything we can to reduce the impact of these emissions and one of the best ways we can do that is to cut our energy usage wherever possible.
That includes being sensible about how we use our heating appliances, our central air conditioners and smaller portable cooling devices to keep us cool as well as to control the interior temperature in our homes and places of work.
Here's a bit of good news about pollution and energy usage in the U.S.:
Power Plant Carbon Pollution Declined In 2011 Thanks To Less Coal Burning, EPA Reports
The cause? A relative decline in the use of coal for generating electricity, compared to natural gas and renewable sources.
From the article: "Power plants produced roughly two-thirds of greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources, the EPA said, with petroleum and natural gas systems a distant second and refineries the third-largest carbon pollution source."
Coal-fired power plants are incredibly dirty and polluting, but we need the energy don't we? According to the U.S. Department of Energy 40% to 45% of total energy costs come from HVAC systems for both residential and commercial buildings. That's a lot of electricity.
We do need the energy, of course, but we could use less with virtually no effort or cost! Cutting CO2 pollution is easier than you think.
A Simple Device Can Save 10%
According to a Pacific Gas and Electric study, if most of the AC systems in California alone had a 5% increase in efficiency, the state could save the equivalent energy of four 300MW power plants.
The emission from four coal power plants is about 2,500,000 pounds of carbon dioxide PER HOUR.
The HVAC Smart Chip can increase the efficiency of your AC system by much more than 5%, so conservatively, the Smart Chip could keep 5,000,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere per hour. Just in California.
Here's How It Works
When installed in an HVAC system, the HVAC Smart Chip extends the fan's running time by up to 8 minutes.
Most manufacturers of HVAC systems program the fan to stay on for an additional 90 seconds, but recent studies have shown improved energy efficiency when the fan runs longer. By leaving just the HVAC fan on for a longer period of time after the heating or cooling cycle, you can get additional heating or cooling from your system that would have been wasted.
HVAC Smart Chip will pay for itself in less than 12 months and continue to save thousands of dollars on heating and air conditioning costs year after year.
This device is very simple and easy to retrofit, yet it's effective and will work in anywhere in the world that has a 24-volt thermostat. Eventually this type of technology will be mandatory in new HVAC systems, but we need it in widespread use now.
Summary
There are of course many other things you can do in order to reduce your household consumption of energy.
Things such as getting the best insulation in the attic, around windows and doors etc, while also simply turning the thermostat down a notch or two in winter and not having the AC work so hard in summer by turning the thermostat up a degree or two!
Every little thing you can do compounds the benefits as you go forward. So don't ever think that doing something that seems very small is insignificant, because it all adds up over time.
