AboutW.A. (Bill) Stevens Expertise I'm a professional mechanical engineer.
I can explain the economic tradeoffs of making electricity from natural gas, coal, nuclear, solar, and biomass energy sources. I have a pretty good understanding of the science on global warming and can explain how these energy conversion technologies affect that process. I can tell you why we have to build more nuclear plants, keep using coal, and cut way back on using natural gas to make elctricity. I can de-mystify the concepts of efficiency and energy conservation. But, I'm not an electrician so I don't do wiring! :-)
Experience
Past/Present clients EPA, DOE, USAID, World Bank, Bechtel, U.S. Generating, numerous electric utility and independent power companies, industry.
Expert: W.A. (Bill) Stevens Date: 5/21/2008 Subject: electric energy consumption
Question Does it use more energy to turn a light off when you leave a room for a few minutes, then turn it back on when you return or just leave it on? my wife thinks you use more energy to turn it back on. I always try to turn out the lights when I leave a room even for just a minute or two.Thanks Thank You
Answer David -
I personally wouldn't bother to turn off a light for only a minute or two, but that's the right kind of habit to form and example to set. It does not use any more energy to turn it on and off, but of course it uses a lot of energy if left on needlessly. I used to think of turning a light on/off at a high frequency as a kind of fatigue or wear and tear on the electric filament, possibly causing the bulb to burn out sooner than otherwise. There may be a little bit of truth in that for incandescent bulbs that have a filament, but it would not be true for a compact fluorescent bulb. In any case, I'm with you ... Keep turning off the lights unless it seems to be damaging your marriage. Nothing is worth damage to a marriage!
Good luck -
- Bill
