matthewelvey

Would like something like a 220v, functionally simpler, DIY version of the kill-a-watt. Working with folks running an electric dryer by venting it into the small room containing the dryer. Though the window is open, the door is closed. I am betting not venting to the outside is making the dryer use about 1/3 more electricity, or more! (I think this because the intake air is so humid.) But I'll need hard numbers to bring about change.

Please include references if possible.

I know to respect 220v current...

Application: Keeping food in a cooler cold with dry ice, for several days.

We don't want the food getting too cold; we want to insulate the dry ice within the cooler to keep the food below freezing (of water; 0 Celsius), but no colder.

On the one hand, putting the dry ice in cooler with the food after wrapping it in foil, which is an excellent heat conductor, creates a path for heat from hot spots on the cooler's inner surface to the entire surface of the dry ice, to make it sublime faster. On the other hand, the aluminum foil is a good http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiant_barrier.

My feeling is that at freezing temperatures, most energy transfer will be via conduction, and little will be via

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_radiation or convection. I figure at 0, there's very little thermal radiation (see graph on that wikipedia page.) But that's a gut feeling of an ex-physics student. Overall energy levels are much lower, so maybe I'm mistaken.

If no one answers, I guess I could try an experiment. That would be pretty easy.

Oh, and we'll be using other insulation as well (I'm thinking foam or small-bubble bubble-wrap), raising the cooler, keeping it shaded...

At http://www.nationalgeographic.com/everyday/greenho... the first tip is:

Power outlet vs. Power strip: Plugging your TV and VCR/DVD into a power strip rather than an outlet will save you about 2 percent on your annual electricity bill. Even when you turn these appliances off, they continuously leak up to 15 watts of electricity if they're plugged into an outlet. When plugged into a power strip, however, these appliances leak only about one to three watts.

Now this seems completely nonsensical to me. What magic in a normal power strip could possibly reduce the electricity the TV pulled, other than the off switch? I ask this in Physics, because I want an answer from someone even more knowledgeable than me in the fundamentals of electricity (E&M), not some well-meaning tree-hugger who just parrots what others say if it sounds good. Of course, using the off switch would save watts, but I'm certain that if a TV pulls 10 watts when off, it's going to pull that whether plugged directly into the wall, or via an 'on' power strip, and will pull nothing via an 'off' power strip, but 'one to three watts'? No way it'll pull that. Right? My kill-a-watt indicates National Geographic is full of it.

By what mode of transport are most fresh fruits and vegetables bought in supermarkets shipped long distances?

I'm most interested in food bought in California that's not local, but am interested in other information too.

In other words, which fruits and vegetables from South America that are sold when they're in season there but not here, travel *mostly* by boat? rail? truck? plane? (Examples: peaches and nectarines from Chile; bananas from Ecuador; avocados... )

Sources would be appreciated.

I've created a blog about a class action case I filed, and some of my blog posts have been entered into evidence, but others have not. I'm wondering how likely the judge is to view the rest of the posts. IANAL.

That is, is it more of a hazard than ancient ball and wire wiring without insulation on top of it? Someone I know said it was, but that makes no sense to me; it's a superb electrical insulator, and it can't burn. It's made from extremely fine fibers of glass. Perhaps the theory is it could allow heat to build up and cause something else to catch fire. Maybe that's the thinking.

I hired lawyers to prosecute a class action case (in California) and they're refusing to provide time records, etc. Retainer agreement doesn't specify. It doesn't have an arbitration clause.

It's a top loader, and still works; we're considering getting a front loader.

Would like to know what the capacity (cubic feet) and energy rating is. Any other info would be a plus, like does "heavy duty" in this case mean it's built to withstand near-commercial use (e.g. a 7-person household)?

This is sort of similar to/the opposite of the already-answered "How can I get my caller ID to show up when using a prepaid phone card?" question. (http://ca.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=200... Only when I make a call to my local OneSuite #, OneSuite can tell what # I'm calling from even if I dial *67 first; ZipDial works, and the called party gets my phone # too! However, *67 does work as it should when I dial other #s, like my cellphone. I want to be able to make calls w/o giving out my # sometimes. I've looked at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caller_ID already.

I tried with an MCI prepaid card too; same problem. Strange.

Let's say I'm talking about a conventional super-thin plastic bag (the kind found in the produce section) used to keep lettuce, and it takes a pint of hot water to wash/rinse it, and landfill the ones I don't use.

I'd like to be able to use the same info to determine if it's better to reuse bags or throw away plastic wrap. Let me know what you factor in -e.g. the energy used to make the food to provide the energy used by the bag washer (I wonder if it's significant), the energy used to obtain the plastic, the components of crude that goes into it. Let's assume the water is heated with natural gas. Please identify your assumptions.