This is the 38th posting to this blog.
I have not been very good with keeping up with this blog lately. I have been keeping pretty busy doing a lot of miscellaneous stuff. I have been doing pretty well keeping the use of gasoline to a minimum. I do ride the Honda a lot, but because it is so efficient, my total fuel use is very low. The average miles per gallon for the scooter for the last three months is 107. I am very pleased with this number, and that is why I don't mind riding it so much. I have been very lucky to have good weather for riding, and I have not had to use the rain suit for about a month.
The e-scooter is in need of new batteries. The ones which are in the scooter now only last for about 8 miles. This is not enough for me to ride downtown anymore, and I have only been using it for local trips. I have more batteries to put in the scooter, but I want to use the existing ones for a little longer. I am not sure what I will do with the old batteries once I make the change, but they may be good enough to add to my solar power system.
Speaking of the solar power system, shading has really become a factor. Because the sun is so low in the sky this time of year, the oak tree in my front yard now shades the panels from 12:30 until dusk. Power production has been quite low, and I have had to plug the fridge into the grid on most evenings. There is a better spot on the roof which has more sun, and a move of the panels is forthcoming.
The wind generator has been a disappointment. Even when it is spinning well, it does not seem to charge the batteries well. I was hoping that a decent wind at night would at least produce enough power to run the fridge, but that does not seem to be the case. I have also had trouble with the company from whom I bought the generator, and a separate blog deals with that issue. That blog is under construction, and will premiere shortly.
I have been a little better at eating local food. Publix has been selling nice Florida produce, and I have been buying it. They have even been putting the squash, green beans, and navel oranges on sale. Yummy! I have still been eating more meat than I probably should, but that intake is also decreasing slowly. That free Ikea bacon is still my downfall. Maybe I can ask them to substitute grits for those two slices of bacon. Maybe I can open up my wallet, and buy some grits and leave the bacon. I will ponder that one for a while, because this guy can really be cheap sometimes!
There is good news on grid power side of my energy use. I am on track to meet my goal of a total of 60 kilowatt-hours for the month. I am not sure when Progress Energy will be reading my meter next, but it should be next Monday or earlier. I am proud of this accomplishment, and this will be the lowest monthly total ever for me in this house. I am also happy to report that my total energy use for the year will be significantly less than last year. This will be the third year in a row with a big drop in power use. From 2008 to 2009, I cut my use by 28%. This was also true from 2009 to 2010. I think that the percentage drop will actually be higher, but I have not calculated the exact percentage yet.
Showing posts with label Electric Scooter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Electric Scooter. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
My Daily Impact, November 12-15 2011
This is the 36th posting to this blog.
Things are going along in a nice green way. The van remains parked in the carport, and the truck in the garage. It has been all Honda with the nice cool, dry weather. I did finally repair the front tire on the e-scooter, and drove it to Panera today where I write this entry. I like to have some coffee, and watch the various people come through here while I write; it is much more interesting than sitting at home.
I have done better with my food lately too. There was some bacon at Ikea yesterday, and half of a chicken from Publix on Sunday night (the other half is for tonight), but other than that no meat. We went to the Siam Garden Restaurant on Friday night, and I had a nice red curry with tofu and veggies. It was yummy, and the tofu absorbed the delicious sauce nicely. Saturday was cheese pizza, and last night was a veggie plate at Cecil's Bar B Q. There are a lot of good vegetarian choices available, and I am trying to take advantage of them.
Power production from my solar and wind system has not been what I would hope it would be. I have been plugging the fridge into the grid at night because of lack of power. The batteries in my system are getting a bit older, and I will be testing each one today to see if there is a problem there. There is also some additional shade from the oak tree in the front yard. I had trimmed it way back about two years ago in an effort to save it, and it is doing very well. The added growth now present shades my solar panels for about 2 hours during the day. I may re-locate the panels to a more sun-drenched part of the roof, but that will be quite the project. The panels produce DC power, and the power must travel through large (6 gauge) wire to reach the batteries. If I move the panels, I will have to move the batteries to keep the wires short.
The big box on the roof which makes hot air seems to be doing fine. The temperature sensor in it often reads over 140 degrees even if there is not too much sun. It has been too warm to run the fan to heat the living room, and the internal temperatures in the box have been over 160 degrees. Maybe I can rig it to heat up my dinner!
There will be plenty of time to see how effective this box is over the coming few months. I will keep this blog posted with the results.
Grid power use for the past few days has been low. Since the meter was read, there have been six days. The number of KWh for those six days totals 7. This number includes two wash loads with one of those loads going into the dryer for about 20 minutes. I am trying to beat the records set last month and last April with a total number of kilowatt-hours under 60. So far, I am well on track to do this. As these records keep getting broken, it gets harder to improve from month to month and year to year. I am considering adding about 400 watts to my solar generating capacity, but this will cost some money. I will need two panels each costing $ 430.00, and I will need a second charge controller which is about $ 200.00. Should my quest for employment be successful, those improvements will be coming soon. Wish me luck!
Things are going along in a nice green way. The van remains parked in the carport, and the truck in the garage. It has been all Honda with the nice cool, dry weather. I did finally repair the front tire on the e-scooter, and drove it to Panera today where I write this entry. I like to have some coffee, and watch the various people come through here while I write; it is much more interesting than sitting at home.
I have done better with my food lately too. There was some bacon at Ikea yesterday, and half of a chicken from Publix on Sunday night (the other half is for tonight), but other than that no meat. We went to the Siam Garden Restaurant on Friday night, and I had a nice red curry with tofu and veggies. It was yummy, and the tofu absorbed the delicious sauce nicely. Saturday was cheese pizza, and last night was a veggie plate at Cecil's Bar B Q. There are a lot of good vegetarian choices available, and I am trying to take advantage of them.
Power production from my solar and wind system has not been what I would hope it would be. I have been plugging the fridge into the grid at night because of lack of power. The batteries in my system are getting a bit older, and I will be testing each one today to see if there is a problem there. There is also some additional shade from the oak tree in the front yard. I had trimmed it way back about two years ago in an effort to save it, and it is doing very well. The added growth now present shades my solar panels for about 2 hours during the day. I may re-locate the panels to a more sun-drenched part of the roof, but that will be quite the project. The panels produce DC power, and the power must travel through large (6 gauge) wire to reach the batteries. If I move the panels, I will have to move the batteries to keep the wires short.
The big box on the roof which makes hot air seems to be doing fine. The temperature sensor in it often reads over 140 degrees even if there is not too much sun. It has been too warm to run the fan to heat the living room, and the internal temperatures in the box have been over 160 degrees. Maybe I can rig it to heat up my dinner!
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| This is where the cool air comes from the back of the box to be heated |
Grid power use for the past few days has been low. Since the meter was read, there have been six days. The number of KWh for those six days totals 7. This number includes two wash loads with one of those loads going into the dryer for about 20 minutes. I am trying to beat the records set last month and last April with a total number of kilowatt-hours under 60. So far, I am well on track to do this. As these records keep getting broken, it gets harder to improve from month to month and year to year. I am considering adding about 400 watts to my solar generating capacity, but this will cost some money. I will need two panels each costing $ 430.00, and I will need a second charge controller which is about $ 200.00. Should my quest for employment be successful, those improvements will be coming soon. Wish me luck!
Friday, November 11, 2011
My Daily Impact, November 10 and 11 2011
This is the 35th posting to this blog.
There has been some good news this week; the power bill came! Those two thoughts usually do not go well together, but for me, they did. The total cost for my grid power last month was $ 18.48. That is the lowest bill I have ever had for power in that house, and I have lived there for 25 years! This bill also indicates a total KWh use of 73 for the month which equals my usage for April, and both reflect the lowest monthly totals ever. I am really happy with this result. Can I beat it this next month?
I also have good news about my latest mad scientist project. The outdoor temperature this morning was just below 50 degrees with a strong breeze. By 8:30 AM, the temperature inside the solar space heater box was over 120 degrees. I switched on the fan, and got a nice flow of hot air into my living room. Success! The total cost of the system was about $95.00. This cost includes the 50 feet of drain hose left over from the first incarnation of this device. To be able to heat the living room of my house for the cost of running a 60 watt fan is awesome. The success of this device relies on a good sunny day, so I will have to keep track of how many days it can really be used.
In my other efforts to reduce my impact, I have mixed results. It seems that meat always comes onto my plate. It sneaks on there somehow. Today, I went to a CFHLA luncheon (the local lodging association), and there was a big chunk of pot roast on the plate. It did not stay there too long, and is now working its way through my body. Last night, I went to Chipotle with a friend, and again had beef. Ikea also put some bacon on my breakfast plate, and it went away as well. The up side of all this is that I have some job leads to work on, and that I will do.
Transportation has been all Honda this week. I have not yet fixed the tire on the electric scooter, and I may not ride it too much when I do. As I mentioned before, the side of the road is a nasty, dirty, sharp-object-filled place. The e-scooter's lack of speed requires me to ride there, and that makes for flat tires. The Honda can reach speeds of 50 MPH, and that means that I can ride it in the much clearer traffic lanes. I have logged about 7000 miles on the two Honda scooters without a tire problem (knock wood); I have repaired tires on my various e-scooters and bikes many times with much less mileage to show for it. A "real" electric scooter would be the answer, but they are really expensive now. Maybe that will be my next mad scientist endeavor!
There has been some good news this week; the power bill came! Those two thoughts usually do not go well together, but for me, they did. The total cost for my grid power last month was $ 18.48. That is the lowest bill I have ever had for power in that house, and I have lived there for 25 years! This bill also indicates a total KWh use of 73 for the month which equals my usage for April, and both reflect the lowest monthly totals ever. I am really happy with this result. Can I beat it this next month?
I also have good news about my latest mad scientist project. The outdoor temperature this morning was just below 50 degrees with a strong breeze. By 8:30 AM, the temperature inside the solar space heater box was over 120 degrees. I switched on the fan, and got a nice flow of hot air into my living room. Success! The total cost of the system was about $95.00. This cost includes the 50 feet of drain hose left over from the first incarnation of this device. To be able to heat the living room of my house for the cost of running a 60 watt fan is awesome. The success of this device relies on a good sunny day, so I will have to keep track of how many days it can really be used.
In my other efforts to reduce my impact, I have mixed results. It seems that meat always comes onto my plate. It sneaks on there somehow. Today, I went to a CFHLA luncheon (the local lodging association), and there was a big chunk of pot roast on the plate. It did not stay there too long, and is now working its way through my body. Last night, I went to Chipotle with a friend, and again had beef. Ikea also put some bacon on my breakfast plate, and it went away as well. The up side of all this is that I have some job leads to work on, and that I will do.
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| The Honda at rest. It averages 110 MPG! |
Transportation has been all Honda this week. I have not yet fixed the tire on the electric scooter, and I may not ride it too much when I do. As I mentioned before, the side of the road is a nasty, dirty, sharp-object-filled place. The e-scooter's lack of speed requires me to ride there, and that makes for flat tires. The Honda can reach speeds of 50 MPH, and that means that I can ride it in the much clearer traffic lanes. I have logged about 7000 miles on the two Honda scooters without a tire problem (knock wood); I have repaired tires on my various e-scooters and bikes many times with much less mileage to show for it. A "real" electric scooter would be the answer, but they are really expensive now. Maybe that will be my next mad scientist endeavor!
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| The E-scooter: too slow for the center of the lane. |
Monday, November 7, 2011
My Daily Impact, November 1-7 2011
This is the 33rd posting to this blog.
Well it has been a busy week. There have been good things happening, and a couple of bad events as well. November 1st was a day of mixed weather. There was some sun, some wind, and some clouds. The clouds really make for low power production because my solar panels produce much more electricity than the wind generator.
The main event of the day was taking the e-scooter over to Target to get some dog food. I got almost there when I heard a clicking sound coming from the front wheel. The front tire found a roofing nail. The tires of my various two-wheeled vehicles seem to find a lot of junk on the side of the road. It is the side of the road that is really the problem; it is full of sharp crap! Well, after inspecting the tire at Target, I determined that it would probably make it home OK if I left the nail in the tire. I went inside, and bought Astro some food.
When I got back to the scooter with the 44 pound bag of Dog Chow, the scooter tire still had plenty of air, and was not hissing at all. That lasted about half way home, and the tire went flat. A flat tire on a scooter or motorcycle is no fun. The bike feels like it is riding on ice mixed with mud; it gets really squirley. I walked the scooter to a parking lot for a condominium, and parked it. I had to stash the dog food, or carry it the mile plus home. I decided to knock on a door to see if some kind soul would help me.
The first door I knocked on was answered with a gracious " come on in ". The man continued with " Hello, I am Bill Traenor ". Bill is a very friendly, older gentleman, and he agreed to let me store the dog food in his condo while I walked home to get the truck. Meeting him completely negated any bad feelings I had about the flat tire. I feel honored to have met him, and talked with him.
Wednesday, November 2nd was a nice enough day; it was windy and not quite as cloudy. I washed my sheets, and dried them on the line. They dried quickly with the strong breeze and the sunshine. I was also able to get my latest mad scientist project ready for the installation on Thursday.
Thursday, November 3rd was the big day on the roof. My friend Dean cam by, and after breakfast at Ikea, we got to work. I had procured two sliding glass doors a while back, and now it was time to put one to use. I also had purchased some 4" plastic hose a while back, and the two would meet for my big project. The idea is to heat the black hose inside of a wood box with the sun that shines through the sliding glass door on top. Installation went very well, and the box gets really hot when the sun shines on it.
There is one problem. If you look at the picture, you may be able to tell that the hose runs back and forth across the box in one continuous circuit. This makes plenty of heat, but that 60 feet plus of 4" hose is very restrictive to any air being pushed through it. The fan can only manage a slight current through the pipes, and the warm air blows out with the speed of an exhale. OOPS! I have a plan for fixing this, and I will report on the results when they are available. Sometimes a mad scientist has to go back to the drawing board.
The rest of the week went well enough, and grid power use was a mere 8 KWh, with one of those going into the truck. The van sat still in its parking spot in my carport, and the Honda got quite a bit of use. I approximate that there was about 22 pounds of CO2 produced from the week's riding.
Progress Energy probably read my meter today, and there should be a nice result for the month's power use. The total should be 70 KWh total, and this would be my second lowest usage for a month since April. I will update that on the next posting.
Well it has been a busy week. There have been good things happening, and a couple of bad events as well. November 1st was a day of mixed weather. There was some sun, some wind, and some clouds. The clouds really make for low power production because my solar panels produce much more electricity than the wind generator.
The main event of the day was taking the e-scooter over to Target to get some dog food. I got almost there when I heard a clicking sound coming from the front wheel. The front tire found a roofing nail. The tires of my various two-wheeled vehicles seem to find a lot of junk on the side of the road. It is the side of the road that is really the problem; it is full of sharp crap! Well, after inspecting the tire at Target, I determined that it would probably make it home OK if I left the nail in the tire. I went inside, and bought Astro some food.
When I got back to the scooter with the 44 pound bag of Dog Chow, the scooter tire still had plenty of air, and was not hissing at all. That lasted about half way home, and the tire went flat. A flat tire on a scooter or motorcycle is no fun. The bike feels like it is riding on ice mixed with mud; it gets really squirley. I walked the scooter to a parking lot for a condominium, and parked it. I had to stash the dog food, or carry it the mile plus home. I decided to knock on a door to see if some kind soul would help me.
The first door I knocked on was answered with a gracious " come on in ". The man continued with " Hello, I am Bill Traenor ". Bill is a very friendly, older gentleman, and he agreed to let me store the dog food in his condo while I walked home to get the truck. Meeting him completely negated any bad feelings I had about the flat tire. I feel honored to have met him, and talked with him.
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| The scooter, the ramp, and the 44 pounds of dog food made it home. |
Thursday, November 3rd was the big day on the roof. My friend Dean cam by, and after breakfast at Ikea, we got to work. I had procured two sliding glass doors a while back, and now it was time to put one to use. I also had purchased some 4" plastic hose a while back, and the two would meet for my big project. The idea is to heat the black hose inside of a wood box with the sun that shines through the sliding glass door on top. Installation went very well, and the box gets really hot when the sun shines on it.
There is one problem. If you look at the picture, you may be able to tell that the hose runs back and forth across the box in one continuous circuit. This makes plenty of heat, but that 60 feet plus of 4" hose is very restrictive to any air being pushed through it. The fan can only manage a slight current through the pipes, and the warm air blows out with the speed of an exhale. OOPS! I have a plan for fixing this, and I will report on the results when they are available. Sometimes a mad scientist has to go back to the drawing board.
The rest of the week went well enough, and grid power use was a mere 8 KWh, with one of those going into the truck. The van sat still in its parking spot in my carport, and the Honda got quite a bit of use. I approximate that there was about 22 pounds of CO2 produced from the week's riding.
Progress Energy probably read my meter today, and there should be a nice result for the month's power use. The total should be 70 KWh total, and this would be my second lowest usage for a month since April. I will update that on the next posting.
Monday, September 12, 2011
My Daily Impact: September 10 and 11, 2011
This is the 19th posting to this blog.
On Saturday Morning, September 10th, I rode the e-scooter downtown to walk with the guys. We went to breakfast afterwards, and I had a sausage chedar scramble. It was on special, and it was good despite it having pork in it. Of course there was the usual plate and utensils to be washed, but no napkin. I can be pretty careful eating when I want to be!
I did some miscelaneous chores around the house, and then went on a quest. I found a guy on Craigslist who was giving away two sliding glass doors. This mad scientist has plans for these lovely gems! I did have to drive to Longwood to get them, and that required the use of the van. The round trip was 46 miles which would be about 40 pounds of CO2.
A group of us went to dinner at I-Hop later, and I had the Talapia dinner. I have no idea where this fish came from, so I do not know its impact from miles traveled. One of the guys had a T-bone stake, and I was able to claim the bone for Astro. The bone was wrapped in plastic wrap, and put into a plastic bag. The wrap went in the trash, and the bag became a trash bag for the kitchen.
Total grid power use for the day was 9 KWh.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
I put the flag out out of respect for anyone who last a loveone on that fateful day ten years ago. I have definite views on how our country handled that day, but this is not the forum for that. I rode the Honda to church, and to my eneving Thai Chi session. Total miles were about 40, with anout 7 pounds of CO2. Breakfast was eggs, potatoes, toast and coffee. Dinner was Chipotle chicken bowl. No pork or red meat, but a paper bowl and plastic fork for the trash, and an aluminum lid for recycling or reuse.
Total grid power use for the house was 11 KWh. It was back to being hot and humid again.
Monday, September 12, 2011
My neighbor Peggy asked me if I wanted to ride to Ikea for breakfast. I went along, and had 4 slices of bacon (2 of mine and her two). Again, I was neet, and did not use a napkin. I will count about 4 pounds of CO2 for that trip to breakfast.
I did some projects around the house including attaching a pole to my electric hedge trimmer. I hope to avoid climbing atop the ladder on both sides of the hedge toreach the whole top of the bushes. I also worked on the e-scooter. I was able to raise the seat 1 1/2 inches. I no longer feel like it is such a kid's scooter, but I plan to pad the seat with a couple of inches more to make it feel more like the Honda. This project required a quick trip to Home Depot on the Honda for some metric screws. The trip made about 1.5 or 2 pounds of CO2.
For dinner, I finally finished that fried chicken I bought the other night. One or two more days, and it would have had to go in the trash. So far I feel good, lets hope that continues!
I rode the newly improved e-scooter down here to the library to write this blog. It does feel more comfortable, and I hope it treats my back better than it did in the past.
I still have not seen the windmill turn, but it may have spun last night while I was away. The storm that followed me downtown had some wind with it, and maybe enough to make some juice. I wait patiently to see it spin myself!
On Saturday Morning, September 10th, I rode the e-scooter downtown to walk with the guys. We went to breakfast afterwards, and I had a sausage chedar scramble. It was on special, and it was good despite it having pork in it. Of course there was the usual plate and utensils to be washed, but no napkin. I can be pretty careful eating when I want to be!
I did some miscelaneous chores around the house, and then went on a quest. I found a guy on Craigslist who was giving away two sliding glass doors. This mad scientist has plans for these lovely gems! I did have to drive to Longwood to get them, and that required the use of the van. The round trip was 46 miles which would be about 40 pounds of CO2.
A group of us went to dinner at I-Hop later, and I had the Talapia dinner. I have no idea where this fish came from, so I do not know its impact from miles traveled. One of the guys had a T-bone stake, and I was able to claim the bone for Astro. The bone was wrapped in plastic wrap, and put into a plastic bag. The wrap went in the trash, and the bag became a trash bag for the kitchen.
Total grid power use for the day was 9 KWh.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
I put the flag out out of respect for anyone who last a loveone on that fateful day ten years ago. I have definite views on how our country handled that day, but this is not the forum for that. I rode the Honda to church, and to my eneving Thai Chi session. Total miles were about 40, with anout 7 pounds of CO2. Breakfast was eggs, potatoes, toast and coffee. Dinner was Chipotle chicken bowl. No pork or red meat, but a paper bowl and plastic fork for the trash, and an aluminum lid for recycling or reuse.
Total grid power use for the house was 11 KWh. It was back to being hot and humid again.
Monday, September 12, 2011
My neighbor Peggy asked me if I wanted to ride to Ikea for breakfast. I went along, and had 4 slices of bacon (2 of mine and her two). Again, I was neet, and did not use a napkin. I will count about 4 pounds of CO2 for that trip to breakfast.
I did some projects around the house including attaching a pole to my electric hedge trimmer. I hope to avoid climbing atop the ladder on both sides of the hedge toreach the whole top of the bushes. I also worked on the e-scooter. I was able to raise the seat 1 1/2 inches. I no longer feel like it is such a kid's scooter, but I plan to pad the seat with a couple of inches more to make it feel more like the Honda. This project required a quick trip to Home Depot on the Honda for some metric screws. The trip made about 1.5 or 2 pounds of CO2.
For dinner, I finally finished that fried chicken I bought the other night. One or two more days, and it would have had to go in the trash. So far I feel good, lets hope that continues!
I rode the newly improved e-scooter down here to the library to write this blog. It does feel more comfortable, and I hope it treats my back better than it did in the past.
I still have not seen the windmill turn, but it may have spun last night while I was away. The storm that followed me downtown had some wind with it, and maybe enough to make some juice. I wait patiently to see it spin myself!
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
My Daily Impact: August 28, 29 and 30, 2011
My Daily Impact: August 28, 29 and 30
This is the 12th posting to my blog.
Sunday Evening, August 28th
I stopped by my friend Herb's house to help him waterproof his shoulder so he could take a shower. I then rode the e-scooter up to Publix to get something to eat. I decided on the chicken dinner, and it came well packaged. The meal was in a styrofoam comtainer wrapped in plastic. I needed a fork, and this was also wrapped in plastic. I felt like I went backwards with that meal, and wish there was an alternative to all that stuff.
I then rode downtown to start the first Thai Chi group meeting. Out of several people who showed interest, only one person showed up on time, and one person late. We had trouble getting the DVD to play, but with several cleanings, it finally played. I had done this workout before, but was clearly rusty. Next week, we will start with some very simple streatching exercises.
On my way home from downtown, I got pulled over on the e-scooter. It does not have a tag because it is classified as a bicycle. It looks like it should have a tag because it looks like a scooter. The deputy sherif was decent enough about it, but kept insisting that I need a tag. He let me go home after a 10 minute delay. I would like to see this problem cleared up with the DMV.
Total grid energy use was 15 KWh. There were some clouds to cool the afternoon.
Monday, August 29, 2011
I had a bunch of work to do on the computer, and got most of it done. I use my little notebook computer most of the time because it uses very little energy. The screen on my desktop is much easier to read, and I use it when I have intricate work to do, or when I need to make a print.
I ate the usual home breakfast of a banana and some cereal, and later installed one of the new windows in the garage. The old windows were not just ugly, they did not open or close properly. The new window went in fairly easily, but I needed to add some wood framing to the inside to make it mount correctly. I will install the other one later this evening.
Dinner was 49 cent hamburgers from Mac Donnalds. Not the most nutritious meal in the world, but I guess it is OK once in a while. I watched a little TV, and went to bed.
Total grid power use was 13 KWh. This figure reflects some overcast sky in the afternoon, and a cooler evening.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
I will treat myself to an Ikea breakfast today. The short ride on the e-scooter will hopefully not include a stop by the police. I will update the rest of today in the next blog posting, but here are some pictures of my three attempts at e-scooters.
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| #1: The Baja scooter. It went 30 MPH, and had front disk brakes. |
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| #2: The Konced lithium-ion scooter. It did 30 MPH, but never lived up to its published spec.'s. |
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| #3: The extreme scooter. It is small, only does 20 MPH, but very reliable |
Sunday, August 28, 2011
My Daily Impact: August 26 and 27, 2011
My Daily Impact: Friday, August 26 and Saturday, August 27
This is the eleventh entry in my blog
Thursday evening, I got Herb back home and settled in at about 8 PM. The round trip in his car was about 20 miles, so we will call it one gallon of gas and 20 pounds of Carbon Dioxide. The average output of CO2 seems to be about 19 or 20 pounds per gallon of gas. I guess that some newer cars do better, and some maybe a little worse. I will have to research what the new carbon footprint scores for new cars mean.
Total grid energy use for the house on Thursday was 17 KWh. That included about 3 KWh for drying my whites.
Friday, August 26, 2011
This is the day that I get my new driver's licence with the motorcycle endorsement. After taking Astro for a walk, it was off to the downtown DMV (I did not see Patty or Selma there) on my trusty e-scooter. Because the e-scooter only goes 20 MPH, and because it has a pedal system, it is classified as an electric bicycle. It needs no tag or driver's licence to opperate. The lady at the DMV was really nice, and actually gave me a second chance on the eye exam. I guess that my vision is now borderline because I had trouble with two of the letters on the test. Off to the eye doctor with me.
Later on Friday afternoon, I went to Home Depot to pick up the new windows for my garage. I contemplated using the scooter with the small bike trailer, but decided to be safe and use the truck instead. I charged most of the batteries with the small charger since going to Herb's, and the trip to Home depot was a short one. The windows will look nice, so I look forward to installing them soon.
On Friday evening, I rode the Honda downtown to meet my friends and have dinner. After sitting for almost two weeks, it was a little sluggish to warm up, but it ran fine. I did have to stop for gas on the way, and had to drop a whole $3.50 into the tank for 1.007 gallons. That calculated to 115 MPG for that tank; this is about average. We went to Pei Wei again, and I got some yummy Thai veggies and tofu. The round trip was about 25 miles for about 4 pounds of CO2.
The grid energy use for the house on Friday was 15 KWh.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
I was up early to meet with my friends for the Saturday morning walk downtown. I rode the e-scooter, and we went to breakfast at Brians. I will now state the usual impacts for eating out: washing of utensils and a plate, and sometimes a cup or glass, a paper napkin into the trash, and the unknown origin of the food (how far did this meal travel before it got into my mouth?). I did forgo any meat (other than eggs), and did not have any coffee. I must add that I got a cup of coffee earlier (in my mug) from Panera.
On the way home, I stopped at a garage sale, and found a nice little foot pump for bike and scooter tires. My front tire3 was a little low anyway, and the pump worked very well. The price of $2.00 was right, and I will carry that on the scooter instead of buying any more Fix-a-Flat.
Once I got back home, it was time to wash my sheets. Nice clean rain water for the wash, and a single rince with municipal water. I was also able to wash some other odds and ends with the sheets. It was dry and windy when the washing machine finished, so onto the clothesline everything went. About 20 minutes later the sky darkened, and there was the sound of thunder. Everything had to come off of the line.
The sheets were dry enough to go onto the bed, and the rest had a short 5 minute run in the dryer to get mostly dry. Since there were three hand towels, this short stint in the dryer actually helped make the towels soft. I found that towels get like sandpaper if they are allowed to dry fully on the line, but a short turn in the dryer will cure this, that is as long as the towels are a bit damp from the line.
Later, it was off to downtown again. I probably make about ten round trips to downtown and back each week, and I have been for years now. Most all of my friends live there or beyond, so it is a convenient meeting place.
I used to drive my car there each time using gas until I got the truck. Then I drove it almost all the time until I decided to reduce my electricity use by riding the bike. The bike worked very well whenit was reasonably cool, but the heat made for a smelly me when I got to my destination. Then, I got my first electric scooter. It was really nice, but there was always a problem with the batteries. When the batteries no longer held a charge, the manufacturer bought the scooter back. I must say that Baja does a good job standing behind their products.
When I got he refund from Baja, I found another electric scooter made by Konced. I bought it on line from BJ's, and thought that it would be awesome. It had Lithium-Ion batteries, and was quoted as having a range of 40 miles at 35 MPH. The scooter never lived up to these figures, and I sent it back. It took quite a while before I got the credit from BJ's. I found e-scooter # 3 on Craigslist. It was not working when I bought it, but the guy only wanted $65.00 for it. After a new speed controller and some new batteries (about $350.00), it is my most efficient non-human-powered mode of transportation.
I really want some nice American-made elecrtic two-wheeled vehicles!!!
Well, back to Saturday night. Four of us went to the golden trough (GoldenCoral) for dinner. I had one eight-ounce steak, and some shrimp and scallops. The rest of my meal was veggies and fruit, and dessert. A little more restraint than my usual pound or more of steak! The four of us shared a ride to the restaurant for a round trip of about 12 miles and about 12 pounds of CO2.
Total grid energy use for the house was 17 KWh. This included 5 KWh for charging the truck for the 20 miles put on it Thursday and Friday. Some of the batteries still need topping off, but I can do this with solar power. I have been able to save power by using the small chargers to top-off the batteries. When I let the big charger complete its cycle, the truck only got about 2 miles per KWh. Now I can stretch it to quite a bit more. The truck also is more efficient when driven a lot. Since I now use other forms of transportation; my truck might be better off in somebody else's hands.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
I slept in some today, and didn't get Astro out for his walk until about 9:15. We had just started down the sidewalk when Walla (my neighbor's Husky) met us. Well, how could I refuse Astro some good play time; so off the leash he went. They played for about 20 minutes, and we all enjoyed every minute of it. After drying Astro off, it was off to Panera for a bagel and coffee. That is where I am writing this blog. I like to watch people while writing; it makes it much more enjoyable.
I ordered my bagel with two butters, but no knife or napkin. I brought my own. There was no funny looks from the guy at the counter, and I managed to keep some stuff out of the trash. I know that the bagel was baked locally, but as always, the coffee has some mileage on it.
I will update the rest of the day's impacts on the next blog, and also add some much-needed pictures.
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