Its Earth Hour every night at my place, not to be PC or green friendly, but to keep my operating costs down, as I am on my own.
The whole Earth Hour thing as far as I am concerned as about as realistic as global warming, adn an entire waste of money/time effort. Another Green whitewash as far as I am concerned.
Electricity costs 18 cents/KWH here in Queensland, and another 15% rise WEF 01 Jul, and thats a 50% increase in 3 yrs. In Saskatchewan it is 9 cents/KWH, In Oregon USA, its 5 cents/KWH.
Those new fluro light bulbs, all appliances off at the powerpoints (in Australia each plug-in has its out on/off switch), air-con at 24C when used, and in winter heat at 21C when used (reverse air-con unit). I already have a 300 litre solar hot water tank (w/ 2 panels), and I am seeking solar power 93KW 6 panels) for about $4000 with subsidies maybe by Sep, that is, if I can afford it. I could save about $400-$500/yr, and that means it will take a while to get my investment back.
The rip-off power companies in Queensland (all are private companies here) are more concerned with greed and profit (since sold off by the government). They will however buy each KWR back at 50 cents each. Electricity is expected to rise upward of 66% in the next 3 years, and solar is the way to go for saving $ in the long run. My last electricty bill was $200 for a three month billing cycle.
I run my pool pump 2hrs/day @ 40 cents/hr to run. Things add up, and with the cost of living being outragous here in Australia, means if I save on power, and can spend elsewhere. Here in Australia a Big Mac is $4.45, and as they say, one can judge the cost of living in a country by the price of a Big Mac.
Gasoline is currently $1.38/L for regular unleaded, which is retarded as oil is only about $80/Bbl.
Ripped off and pissed off,
OWDU