5 Things to Know About Losing an Hour of Sleep

As you are no doubt well aware by this point in the afternoon, Daylight Saving Time has brought its destruction to our sleeping patterns over the weekend, rending them unrecognizable. While the idea of jumping forward in time is neat to us sci-fi geeks that love time travel, it's no fun to wake up at a time that feels like an hour earlier to our bodies. I've been in Austin all weekend for South By Southwest Interactive, and I've seen some sleepy and tired people wandering the halls of the Convention Center. Note to SXSW planners: parties plus DST do not equal happy convention goers.

However, even if you're bitter about never getting that sixty minutes of sleep back from Sunday morning, there are some actual benefits to DST that go beyond putting that daylight away to use for later. Here are 5 things to know about losing an hour of sleep...

The New Hybrid Vending Machine

Cars aren't the only ones being grouped into the 'hybrid' category, you can now include vending machines. Yes, that's right! So the next time you reach for a soda, make sure you're being green and shopping where there are eco-friendly vending machines.

Coca-Cola and Pepsi are two soda giants that are doing their part to be environmentally friendly and reducing their carbon footprint by using vending machines that use carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons instead of harmful refrigerants.

To learn more read, New Vending Machines Stay Cool without Warming the Planet, at MotherNatureNetwork.

Installing a Programmable Thermostat at Home

If the weather where you live is as volatile as it has been lately in Houston, then you may understand the pain of always having to fiddle with the thermostat in your home. I know that in my previous apartment unit, the thermostat was hard to read, which resulted in a temperatures that I was never quite satisfied with. The unit in our house is better, though it is also old and not always accurate. Through all of this, I've learned that if there's anything that can mess with both electricity and natural gas bills, it's a fickle thermostat.

One way to save money on those monthly bills is through the installation of a programmable thermostat. That way, you can manage when your heating/cooling is running during hotter or colder periods of the day, effectively cutting off the wasted energy when you are not at home or sleeping. This can cut your energy bill substantially, and is well worth the the time it takes.

Luckily for us, the guys over at Microsoft Hohm have put together a handy video that demonstrates the installation process for a programmable thermostat. We've written about Hohm before, so if you've never been there, it's definitely worth checking out to see how you can find some savings each year. In the meantime, check out the video.

So, who out there has a programmable thermostat in their own home? What have your experiences been? Tell us in the comments!

“Smart” Electric Meters on the Rise, Will They Curb Energy Use?

According to a new study from ABI Research, "Smart" electricity meters, which enable two-way communication between the meter and the utility, and may enable greater consumer control over consumption, are being deployed at an increasing pace, especially in North America and Europe. The number of smart electric meters deployed worldwide will rise from a 2009 level of 76 million to reach more than 210 million in 2014.

In the US, $3.4 billion in federal economic stimulus funding was directed to smart grid development in November 2009. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA 2007) also directly encourages smart grid technology adoption by the states, and funds NIST’s efforts to develop a standards-based technology framework to facilitate smart grid adoption.

However, ABI says the path to smart metering is not always smooth, siting PG&E; in California, one of the early utilities to deploy smart meters. The company has faced claims by consumers that they have been overcharged. Still, there are many environmentalists who believe that smart meters will help consumers curb their energy use and save money, simply by being more educated about the amount of energy they use. And there are those that say people may use more energy if they see that electricity is cheaper than they expected.

For more, check out the NPR Morning Edition podcast Debate: Do Smart Meters Curb Energy Use? and ABI Research's study.

America’s First Wave-Power Farm Could Power 400 Homes

Construction of the first wave-power farm in America has recently begun off the coast of Oregon. New Jersey-based Ocean Power Technologies is in the process of installing ten wave-power harnessing buoys that they say will be able to power 400 homes.

Wave power is still a very young technology, and is therefore much more expensive at this point than more established renewable energy options such as wind and solar. Costs can be up to six times greater than wind, and this one project is expected to cost around sixty million dollars. However, as time goes on and wave-power projects become more common and costs fall, there is potential for the technology to produce an almost unlimited stream of clean energy. Just think, while weather changes often, waves are much more consistent.

So, how exactly does a wave-power farm work? A series of large buoys are placed in an area of ocean with lots of wave activity. Each buoy has a float that rises and falls along with the water surface, driving a plunger up and down. That plunger’s vertical energy is then converted into rotary motion and produces electricity by spinning a generator. The resulting electricity is then sent on shore through an underwater cable.

Wave-power has always fascinated me and it’s great to see it finally becoming a reality. I love how diverse the green energy industry is, with power coming from wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, and now waves. What will be next?

Image Via OPT

Slash Printing Wastes with the Paperless PrePeat Printer

At this point, we all know we should be moving towards a paperless office for the sake of both our wallets and our planet. While printer paper is relatively cheap, printer ink is one of the most expensive liquids on the market. And even when you recycle your used paper like we do here at WhiteFence, printing is still far from an eco-friendly activity.

Yet, despite the environmental and financial impacts, there are times where you simply have to print something out. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a budget-friendly green solution for those occasions?

Japanese firm Sanwa Newtec think they have just that solution. Their PrePeat printer uses not paper, but heat-sensitive PET plastic sheets. These sheets can be used up to 1,000 times according to the manufacturer and totally cut out the need for both paper and ink. Think of it as the paper version of the CD-RW, those rewriteable CDs you could burn files to over and over again.

Of course, this is very early in the life of paperless printing market and costs are still pretty prohibitive for the average consumer.­ The PrePeat itself will currently set you back over five grand, not to mention the ream of 1,000 PET sheets you’d have to buy for over three thousand more dollars. But hey, even at those prices you’d be able to get one million prints for less than $10,000, which works out to less than one penny per print—not bad for an environmentally friendly printer.

As much as I’m looking forward to this, I do have one question: will people be able to see the “history” of your sheets?

Image Via Sanwa Newtec

Have a Green Valentine's Day

Typically Valentine's Day is associated with the color red – red roses, red boxes of chocolate and red heart-shaped jewelry. I say be different this year and go green – enjoy an energy conscience celebration with the one you love.

Here’s how to be an environmentally friendly Cupid.

• Cook a Romantic Dinner – Make your Valentine’s a feast-for-two in the microwave, or prepare cheese or chocolate in a fondue pot, two low energy ways of preparing small meals. Also by not driving to a restaurant you will have lowered your carbon footprint for you and your sweetie.

• Homemade Gifts – Using recycled items to make Valentine's cards and gifts is the way to go. Also the gift is more memorable to your sweetheart.

• Take a Moonlight Walk – Taking a walk with your sweetie is not only special, it's environmentally friendly.

• Snuggle Up – Turn down the thermostat and curl up with your loved one.

• Go Organic –  Purchasing organic flowers and chocolates is a pesticide free way of showing you care.

TXU Energy Cash Back Loyalty Reward Programs Up to 27 Million

TXU Energy recently announced that over the last three years the company has given its customers more than $27 million through its cash back loyalty rewards program that pays cash back to customers on eligible TXU Energy plans.

TXU Energy says that it is the only electricity provider that has cash back loyalty rewards based on customers' annual electricity purchases. Customers on plans with cash back will be paid more than $15 million, in 2010 alone, based on their 2009 usage. Customers receive three percent cash back on their annual electricity purchases in the form of a Visa® prepaid card.

In addition to the cash back, the eligible plans include 10 percent renewable energy. TXU says it allows customers to choose lock in price protection for up to two years to avoid the risk of a variable rate plan.

See if TXU Energy plans are available in your area.

Save Wasted Energy with a Smart Power Strip

We’ve written about vampire energy before and recommended you upgrade to a smart power strip to fight the problem and increase your energy efficiency. TrickleStar has just released a new line of these green power strips, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to walk you through how they work.

Devices that you always want on, like your cable modem or phone, plug into special “always on” outlets. You pick one device that you want to function as the switch for the system, maybe your computer or TV, and plug that into the “control” outlet. All other devices get plugged into the remaining outlets. When you turn off the control device, the other devices are turned off and will no longer draw any current; it’s that just easy.

You might think that very little energy and money could be saved this way, but TrickleStar estimate that by using one TrickleStrip you can save up to $38 in electricity charges. Given that the TrickleStrips only cost a few dollars more than that, you’ll pay for the device in less than two years and then save on energy costs for years to come. In fact, they estimate that you could save over 300 dollars over the life of just one of the strips. That’s not a bad return for just swapping out a power strip.

TrickleStrips for PC and TV use are on sale now at the TrickleStar store.

Image via TrickleStar

Ever Wish You Could Pluck Electricity Out of Thin Air? Now You Can

After posting about the cell phone you spin to charge, the charger that harnesses yo-yo power and the solar-powered cell phone, you’ve probably guessed I’m a little obsessed with free and green ways to power gadgets. Well, as cool as all of the chargers I just listed are, I think I’ve found one that tops them all. RCA’s Airnergy charger harvests energy from WiFi signals in the air and turns it into clean electricity that can be used to charge gadgets. How cool is that?

Sure, they might not be the first company to have this idea, but they are the first company to produce a unit with high enough energy efficiency to be viable. During a demonstration in this year’s CES event, RCA was able to charge a cell phone from 30 percent battery to full in just 90 minutes. The device contains a battery, so you can leave it on spot or carry it around, harnessing energy from WiFi signals throughout the day.

What would you expect to pay for such an awesome device? $200? $100? Try just $40. RCA is planning on releasing the Airnergy this summer, and I cannot wait to get my hands on one!

Image via OhGizmo!