[lotrfan55345]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cube', '
')I'm guessing air conditioning would be the biggest energy hog in terms of electricity use. I know I'm not the only person here who had a father that would sneak down at night when everyone was alseep on a hot summer night to turn off the air conditioning hoping nobody would notice.

[I_Like_Plants]

You can still go to any supermarket in the US and buy clothes pins, yes, the wooden ones, so *someone* is line drying their clothes!

[Jdelagado]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tuike', 'Q')uote from po.com news.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]As TVs grow, so do electric bills

Not long ago, Andrew Fanara was shopping with his wife for a new big-screen television. Everything was going fine, until the sales clerk discovered Mr. Fanara was an energy watchdog for the federal government. Pulling Fanara aside, the clerk confessed: His own new 61-inch TV gulped electricity the way a big SUV guzzles gasoline.

"The month after he got it, he got a call from his landlord, who noticed a big jump in the utility bill," recalls Fanara, team leader of the Energy Star program at the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). "It was the kid's big-screen television."

[Jdelagado]

ggfg

[Sgs-Cruz]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Jdelagado', 'T')his is another example from a European Socialist who can't stand the USA and their prosperity.... Just because his country has gone NOWHERE in 1000 years he has to rip the USA up.....

I wonder if he even owns a color TV over 13" or maybe his socialist government paid for it for him since he is so used to paying 70% in income taxes.

I am amazed that people on this forum can't stick to the ISSUE and have to go off onto tangents like this.

[ubercrap]

This is still somewhat on topic, though barely. We may need to think about conserving electricity as well in the near future. Natural gas looks like it will be sharing a similar fate as oil, and from what I read, natural gas powers a number of our electric powerplants in the U.S., especially the ones built more recently. Ouch. Also, strangely enough, natural gas is my highest fuel/energy cost per month. I only spend about $30 on gasoline many months (walk/bike to work), my electric bill has been $30 the last two months (haven't been using A/C), but my gas bill, just for operating my water heater, has been $50-60 for some damn reason, and during the winter with the furnace running, it was $220 one month (cheap, inefficient old house)!

P.S. I don't even own a TV

[Tuike]

I don't understand Jdelagado's rant. Plasma tvs are sold all over the world not just Usa.

[I_Like_Plants]

Energy Star is a good thing to look for in TVs and computer monitors and appliences etc.

And put enough energy sucking electronics in your place, and run it all the time, and your electric bill's going to go up. If you're trying to get your fixed expenses down, it's something to think about. If you want to keep them down and electricity prices are heading up, it's something to really think about.

I pay under $20 a month for electricity during the warm/decent months, $30-$40 in the colder months. Bigger places generally cost more to heat and cool.

Paying 70% of *taxable* income might be OK considering all the neat stuff you get in France, say, such as health care taken care of, a less car-centric culture, and you get to speak French. Merde. There, I did it. I just spoke some French.

Comparing living in the US and living in Europe is more and more becoming comparing apples and oranges, I think it would make much more sense to look at the impressions of people who have moved from here to there, or from there to here, than to look at tax rates. Social mobility and life expectency have been better in Europe than in the US so the high tax rates aren't killing anyone.

[Grimnir]

Last summer I put my main electronics on power strips and keep them switched off when not in use. It didn't cut my bills in half or anything like that, but it did make a noticible difference. I also line-dry my clothes. I'm a bit surprised anyone would consider this "extreme". If that's the biggest sacrifice I'll need to make in the coming years, I'll be a happy man!

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I') don't understand Jdelagado's rant. Plasma tvs are sold all over the world not just Usa.

[Jdelagado]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tuike', 'I') don't understand Jdelagado's rant. Plasma tvs are sold all over the world not just Usa.

[Tuike]

Jdelagado,

If you really want to know, my tv is a conventional 20" Nokia 4:3. (There are no longer Nokia branded tv's made) It's over ten years old and I'll do just fine with it.

I still think electronics power consumption is still an issue, if energy prices shoot up. It's not so horrible as peak oil, but still. We have Energy effiency and conservation forum, where this thread should have been put in a first place.

[Free]

Yes go frontprojection!
I love my Infocus X1, best gadget I ever bought! Unfortunately it seems to be a well kept secret that with minimal effort one can have a home cinema experience which is technically better than some old style cinemas. The bulb is a 250 W one, which doesnt seem to be too outrageous to me. I will never understand how people can spend so much money on a lousy plasma when they would get 2 or 3 projectors for it who's picture is both bigger and better quality!