Most homes, apartments, and offices have small exhaust fans in the bathrooms and potentially the kitchens. These small fans are designed to operate for a short time to remove odors or humidity from a room and exhaust to the outdoors. When the fan operates, it pulls air from the room, creating negative air pressure. Air from other parts of the building or from the outdoors will move into the room to replace the air that was removed. Most of the time, this replacement air comes from the outdoors. Even though the fan is small, a kitchen or bathroom exhaust fan can remove a lot of heated or cooled air from a home or office. Unless the outdoor temperature is the same temperature as the indoor air, the replacement air from the outdoors must be heated or cooled. This means that the exhaust fan contributes to energy use in two ways: to operate the fan itself and to heat or cool the replacement air. It’s easy to forget and let the fan run longer than needed. Some ideas to consider:
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The news and social media are filled with short articles summarizing scientific studies or technical information. Many of these articles (including frequently this blog) try to summarize the key idea or ideas in a few sentences or paragraphs. This can sometimes lead to confusing or unintentionally misleading conclusions. Be a discerning reader and follow up so that you have the full story. You may want to check more than one source to see if the information is disputed elsewhere. Here’s an example.
A brief article a few months ago stated that a study shows it is more energy efficient to heat water in a teakettle rather than in a microwave. However, I have many questions about this study, and the answers to these questions might change how I apply this simple conclusion.
I like this article. It includes some topics the others don’t. http://insideenergy.org/2016/02/23/boiling-water-ieq/ This article has a nice explanation of one set of conclusions plus some additional tips on saving energy when you heat water. https://www.treehugger.com/ask-pablo-electric-kettle-stove-or-microwave-oven-4858652 Here is another article from the US Department of Energy. It did not look at using a teakettle on a stovetop. https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/articles/electric-kettle-takes-down-microwave-final-round-energyfaceoff |
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