Lighting & Electrical

As with mechanical and plumbing systems, your main goal is efficiency, or better efficacy: delivering the lighting and power you want at the least cost at current (and future) energy prices. Effectiveness comes at many points in the system: efficiency of pumps and motors, reduction of “ghost” or “plug” loads (all those little red and green lights that you see around the house at night), and especially in the quality of lights. Incandescent light bulbs can (and usually should) be replaced by compact flourescents (CFL’s), but the CFL’s must be disposed of properly because they contain mercury. An even better option for general lighting purposes are light-emitting diodes (LED’s), and the technology of LED’s is rapidly improving as the costs go down.

There are many types of “dashboard” systems available by which you can see how you use energy, and find ways to eliminate waste (of kilowatt-hours and of dollars) that you were just throwing out the window.

Finally, it bears mentioning that a great many toxic materials such as PVC and brominated fire retardents are routinely used for the insulation, cable jackets, and other elements in electrical and electronic systems; if you can smell the wiring, you’re probably smelling something you don’t want to inhale. Nor does anyone have much of an idea of how we can safely recycle or dispose of most electronics, so by shopping conscientiously you can be part of the effort to reduce the burden we bequeath to our children.