[Greenbuilding] Energy Star Clothes Dryers Program Launch

[Paul M. Eldridge]

 Hi Reuben,

As noted earlier, my vision of the future is quite different from your 
own.  In 2006, 80 per cent of the electricity that we consumed in this 
province was generated through the burning of coal.  Last year, that had 
fallen to 57 per cent and this year, with the seasonal shut-down of two 
of Nova Scotia Power's largest coal-fired units, it will likely come in 
closer to 45 per cent.  On the flip side, ten years ago, this province 
had no commercial wind generation whatsoever; presently, we have 317 MW 
and several hundred more MW are scheduled to come on-line over the 
coming years (provincial demand and out-of-province transfers as I type 
this total 1,045 MW).

Ontario is another interesting case in point.  When I joined the Ontario 
Ministry of Energy back in 1983, one-third of the province's electricity 
supply was coal-fired; today, coal's contribution is less than three per 
cent and by 2014 it will be eliminated from the mix altogether.  Our two 
provinces are still heavily dependent upon fossil fuels, but we're 
making steady progress with regards to our electrical power systems.

Another sidebar if I may... when we bought our previous home in Toronto 
we inherited a then twenty year old three ton CAC with a SEER that might 
have been, at best, 7.0.  It consumed over 5,000-watts.  Having made 
various upgrades to our home's thermal envelope, I replaced it with a 
two ton dual-stage unit with a SEER rating of 13.5, one of the most 
energy efficient systems available at that time.  That dropped this load 
to approximately 1,800-watts. If faced with that same buying decision 
today, I would opt for a 20 SEER variable speed inverter model that 
might draw as little as 300 watts when operating at its lowest setting.  
Here again, progress. Just as in typing my reply on a tablet that uses 
less than 3-watts 
(i362.photobucket.com/albums/oo69/HereinHalifax/ComputerPowerRequirements.jpg).

So, for those who argue that we must all forego our tumble dryers, 
irons, kettles, ice cubes, and the like, more power to you, but I won't 
be joining in on your parade.

Cheers,
Paul

>On Fri, Jul 27, 2012 at 5:00 PM, Paul Eldridge <
>paul.eldridge at ns.sympatico.ca  > wrote:
>
>>/  It would seem to earn one's green credentials you have to forego tumble
/>/> drying and toss away your iron.  [...]  What else?  My electric kettle?
/>
>
>Paul,
>
>you tell me. If fossil fuels are on their way out, and yet the overwhelming
>majority of electrons generated in this country are generated by burning
>this very problematic substance, and the only other well-capitalized
>approach to drying clothes in a clothes dryer is to burn natural gas
>directly in them, how exactly do you propose to hold onto this entitlement?
>or any other, really?
>
>Given looming constraints on our use of fossil fuels for they myriad
>purposes we've devised to apply them, burn them, use them up, how is it
>that your/our convenience trumps these larger issues? Or did I
>misunderstand you?
>
>You've explained here that you buy lots of renewable electrons, even more
>than you yourself use, but as Corwyn pointed out here not so long ago,
>we're not really there yet as a society--where we have enough extra
>renewable electrons to just live like we've grown accustomed, but with a
>slightly different contract with the electric company.
>
>I struggle with this too. In our case it is (primarily) water heating and
>cooking that use natural gas, and which I'd like to figure out how to
>accomplish without fossil fuels or grid electricity. Wood + solar makes a
>lot of sense, but figuring out the details of those systems and
>implementing them in a 660 square foot house with a spouse who's only
>medium interested is, well, a challenge. But that doesn't for a moment


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