DATA!

Like Johnny Five (robot from short circuit for those of you born too late for 80s movie references) this guy needs MORE INPUT!
Here's a blogger who graphs his home power usage every 10 seconds.

clipped from www.picobay.com This post details a real-time web based household power usage chart. The end result is a live chart in a web page that updates every 10 seconds with the instantaneous power usage for my entire house. The electrical current is measured on the main lines entering my home with AC clamps. The signal is then conditioned with a simple circuit and monitored by an ioBridge module. The ioBridge module takes care of feeding the data to the internet without the need for me to host a power hungry home web server. By using ioBridge widgets with a few JavaScript API calls on my web page, I am able to chart the data with Google Charts as it is measured and make kilowatt-hour calculations in real-time. clipped from www.picobay.com

Garmin for the win!!!! (routing based on fuel economy)

In driving my commute to work I have the option of a much longer highway route or a bunch of stop lights. By my rough calculations though based on the much better gas mileage in my car, I would save gas by driving the long way around. I've been wanting google to do this calculation for me in google maps (I've been bugging my friends that work there...) but to no avail.

However Garmin has announced that they have created "ecoroute" a route planning algorithm for nuvi 200 and 700 series GPS units

Garmin's website ecoroute page says:
"users will have a “less fuel” option as a routing preference. When selected, nüvi will determine the best route for saving gas."

"Fuel Report tracks fuel usage over time, and Mileage Report monitors mileage and fuel usage on a per-trip basis. You can also customize your nüvi by entering vehicle type, your car’s fuel economy and the current price of gas."

Word of the day: Wastricity

I learned a new word today! and I found another person wanting to reduce energy used on street lighting

clipped from blog.makezine.com Wastricity is the use of electricity in a way that provides no personal or public benefit. There is no public benefit to the money spent lighting streets and the exterior of buildings during the daytime. Who should you talk to when you see municipal money being spent on electricity or other utilities for zero constructive use? How will they respond when you point out that they are burning their budget? Are they planning on going in front of the voters asking for some emergency reprieve in the budget meltdown of the year? In our personal lives, we use wastricity whenever we leave our phone chargers plugged in to the wall when the phone is not attached. We also use wastricity by leaving gaming systems running while we are out of the house. Leaving lights on in the room when nobody is in the room is classic wastricity.

Remote controlled surge protector $23 after rebate

Here's a nice looking remote controlled surge protector with remote for $23 after rebate from buy.com (I have no affiliation/kickback with them but found them to be a reliable internet purchasing place)

I would suggest taping the remote to the door frame so it's like a switch you can hit when you leave the room.

Of course, you need to make sure you are going to save $23 worth of energy (but be a good citizen and calculate sustainable energy costs based on solar not our subsidized coal!)

clipped from www.buy.com Features Six (6) Remote Switched Outlets Two (2) Always On Outlets Detachable Wireless Remote Switch with Wall-Mount Sliding Safety Covers Cable Management   Save energy, save money...conveniently. Conserve's one-touch remote switch easily powers off up to six (6) devices plugged into its "Remote Switched Outlets", while two (2) "Always On" outlets let you keep devices such as your answering machine or router constantly powered. Don't standby. Conserve. Conserve energy-saving surge protector with remote switch makes it simple to eliminate wasteful standby power, helping you reduce energy consumption, save on energy bills, and lower your overall impact on the environment.