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terry terry is offline
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Default Calculating your carbon footprint - a load of ********

Just filled in ours and came up with the following.

Home Appliances Travel
Total
Carbon Footprint 11.96 1.57 5.91 19.44
Target Footprint 9.57 1.26 4.73
15.56 (That would be for the UK?)
National Average 4.53 1.62 3.81
9.96 (UK?)

But I'm in eastern Canada. And guessing mine is low.

This is an insulated 'stick built' (wood frame etc.) all electric
house about 40 years old. Four bed About 1600 sq. feet, plus an
attached garage/storeroom that are unheated 99% of time. And with now
only one occupant (myself) most of the time.

If was built today these walls etc. would be two inches thicker and
much more heavily insulated to what is called R2000. That standard is
for a well sealed structure with an electric powered air/heat
exchanger. This house is still 'leaky enough' to not to require an
electrically driven exchanger. Exchangers which incidentally run
continuously.

Most of the electricity here is hydro produced, except for a small
amount of peak demand for heating mid winter which is from an oil
fired power station.

Within this house most of the 'wasted' heat from appliances such as
fridges, incandescent light bulbs etc. helps heat the house. Most
months of the year in this cool climate require some heating, usually
at night when lights are likely to be on anyway.

In this part of North America (unlike further south or in the interior
of the continent) we don't need or even own an air conditioner,
although do run a dehumidifier most months except the coldest and
driest in the basement workshop. We use reconditioned 48 inch
commercial fluorescents for areas where lights are on for long periods
such as kitchen, workshop etc.

Will admit to travel on an average once every couple of years, last
few years, long distance return, air flight! Of course while doing so
the house heating is virtually off at around 50 degrees F! With the
electric hot water tank and water pressure also off (just in case)
that alone saving probably some 25 - 30 cents of electricity per day.

We do occasionally use a basement wood stove burning scrap wood that
would otherwise go to the tip. Also during the 40 years we have
planted and grown some 67 trees on this half acre many of which are
now 30+ feet high. So they absorb carbon; right? We also own some 6
-7 acres of occasionally used fairly heavily treed woodland which also
are busy absorbing carbon, growing falling or blowing down and then
rotting and their nutrients returning to the soil.

So what are we doing right or wrong?

Oh btw our average daily consumption right now is around 44 kilowatt
hours per day. Annually it averages about 70 k.w.hr per day. The
outside temp right now (Sept 17th) is about 9 degrees C (roughly 49 F.
Low wind) average cost of domestic electrcity is about ten cents
(roughly 5p) per kilowatt hour or unit. No heat per-se on at all,
house is being warmed by miscellaneous lights, two PCs running
continuously, cooking etc.

Cheers.