On Thursday, November 2, 2017 at 11:35:16 AM UTC-4, micky wrote:


That you can afford to pay it does not mean it's not a waste.

If it were $1000/month but you were a billionaire, would you think that
was not waste?

Muliply it by the 2 million people who live near you, or the 300 million
people who live in the US.


Lemme see - do you reset your alarm clock every day? Or do you use your cell phone? Takes about 3 minutes.
Do you recalibrate your flat-screen TV every day? Takes about 10 minutes.
Do you reset your stereo tuner memory every day? Takes about 5 minutes.
Do you reset the clocks on your stove and microwave every day? Or just not use them at all? Takes about 2 minutes.

EVERY DAY. 10 x 30 = 300 minutes. 300/60 = 5 hours. That comes to me paying myself $0.3025/hour.

I keep vintage audio equipment that leaves a very low current on the power-supply capacitors to avoid thumps on Start/Stop, and prevent deterioration. That is just the obvious. One electrolytic recapping on a vintage AR receiver will use about $48 worth of parts and about 2 hours in time.

You bet your ass it is worth it. And, quite obviously not a waste - if that is what I want. One less visit to Starbucks each month, no hardship there.

We do our part in reducing energy use overall. We keep a 4,200 s.f. house built in 1890, with 44 windows, several of them wider than five (5) feet and higher than six (6) feet. I have very nearly entirely rebuilt the heating system from the boiler out to the radiators, and between the use of thermostatic valves, a high efficiency boiler, zone sensors, and more, we keep a very comfortable house on less than $240/month average for all gas, electricity, hot water (including the water), cooking and drying (cloths line in good weather). Oh, and not to forget 30 miles per day on the plug-in hybrid. I would think that is not bad for an energy footprint, and that paying 2.5% of our total cost in convenience is not bad either.


Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA