Our Energy Consumption Trends

Dear Housemates ***,

I finally put together a few charts showing how our energy consumption has changed over the past couple of years. I hope you find it instructive.

Electric


So first note that the left side of the chart is present, and the right side of the chart is 2006, so time is moving backwards, which is kinda mind blowing. The blue line represents the daily mean energy consumption (KWh/day) and the pink line represents our monthly electric bill. The black trendline is on our daily energy consumption. There are a couple of key findings:

1. Our energy consumption is highest in summer and winter, and low in the spring and lowest in fall.


2. We have been using less and less electricity over time, to the tune of -0.1 KWh/day, which is great. Let's keep it up.


3. Our summer energy consumption this year, compared to previous years was similar. This suggests that the impact of replacing the dehumidifier with an air conditioner was minimal.

Natural Gas


Here the blue is our energy consumption by month (not adjusted per days in the month) and the pink is our monthly bill. There is no trendline, but you can see a few clear things.

1. There is a really clear annual signal, with use maximizing in the winter and minimizing in the summer


2. We used less gas in 2007 than in 2006


3. We used a lot more gas in spring and summer 2008, than in spring summer 2007. This was not reflected in the energy bills because the cost per unit gas went down. Are we using more hot water?


4. So far, we are down this winter from last winter!

Anyway that's my analysis. All our energy conservation is paying off, even if the bills aren't coming down as fast...

Waging a War on Christmas

A video even Sheyl would enjoy!

http://www.wagewaronchristmas.com/

The Periodic Table of Awesoments

Check out the rest of the Periodic Table of Awesoments at dapperstache.com

Cutest Dinosaur Ever

From the movie Meet the Robinsons, which I will now have to find and watch.

Eye of Sauron?

Nah, it's just the Retina Nebula as seen by the Hubble telescope.

Check out more spectacular Hubble Telescope images in the Hubble Advent Calendar, a new image is posted every day leading up to Xmas.

not that we have this problem...

i like to think that we just start throwing things at each other instead - just erase the "passive-" part of the "aggression" and add "snide comments and fist fights" :)

Is there a word like Engrish that means bad Chinese used by English speakers?

The Max Planck Institute's journal certainly learned the hard way that you have to be careful when using your non-native language. They'll certainly think twice about using Chinese "classical poetry" on the cover of their journal any time in the near future.

Check out this article on how the Max Planck Institute accidentally put a brothel ad on the cover of the latest journal issue.

Water Conservation

Discover Magazine has an interesting article entitled "Everything You Know About Water Conservation is Wrong"

Party Like It's 1933

Happy 75th anniversary of the end of Prohibition!



"The great beneficiary of the age was gin and, by extension,
the cocktail. Neutral grain spirit needs no ageing, and is thus easier to produce. But, with water and dosed with juniper flavouring, it provided a tolerable substitute for real gin. Gin also mixes well. Thus an explosion of cocktails, of exotic colours and ingredients to mask the fiery raw taste of the illegally produced spirit. Never has necessity been a more prolific mother of invention."

what's that i smell, a birthday girl?

well, i don't smell it either (neither Ruth nor the cake!), but perhaps if Ruth were here, we all would. happy birthday in Guam!!

Hafa adai from Guam!

Well, I survived the long trip here, and have done a little bit of exploring. It's quite beautiful! So far, no sign of my equipment, but hopefully Matt, the WHOI researcher I'm collaborating with, will find it when he arrives tomorrow.

I'm in Guam, woohoo!

First Puppy

In some light news...

"US President-elect Barack Obama is still working on the make-up of his cabinet. A far more important decision - for his daughters at least - will be choosing the puppy that accompanies the new First Family to the White House."

I'm very pleased by the the idea of them getting a rescue dog.

"Michelle Obama has been quoted as saying she would like a rescue dog - which would certainly be a story of canine rags to riches."

Slightly less enthused about it being a designer goldendoodle. But at least it's for allergy reasons.



and they are pretty cute

Before she falls off the face of the Earth

Enjoy listening to evil Palin get pranked by a radio station in Montreal pretending to be Nicholas Sarkozy HERE.

Wait, you mean there are more elections going on than just the Presidential one!? (bumped)

That's right, folks. There is more to this election season than just the race to be the Commander in Chief. For us here on Beacon Hill, here are the main local races:

**US House of Representatives: 1st district
Tim Bishop (D- incumbent)
vs.
Lee Zeldin (R)
(newsday article)
(votesmart.org)

**State Senate: 2nd district
John Flanagan (R- incumbent) (website)
vs.
Michael DePaoli (D)
(newsday article)
(votesmart.org)

**State Assembly: 4th district
Steven Englebright (D- incumbent) (website)
vs.
Bruce Bennett (R)
(newsday article)
(votesmart.org)

**NY Supreme Court Justice: 10th district - vote for 4 candidates
Jerry Garguilo (D)
Robert A. Lifson (R)
Kenneth A. Davis (R)
Edward A. Maron (D)
William J. Condon (D)
Hector D. LaSalle (D)
Patricia Filiberto (R)
(League of Women Voters page)
(more details needed)

**State Amendment - proposal 1
Proposal to eliminate requirement of receiving disability pay in order for Veterans to qualify for extra credits on civil service examinations.
(League of Women voters page)

Note: this article is a stub, please feel free to edit and add new links

Bumped post. Originally posted on 10/20/08.

Free coffee

Starbucks is offering a free tall-size brewed coffee Tuesday to voters. Sounds like a good deal.