WindParks

Hello everybody, in this post we present the  video of our project. We are waiting for your comments.

Tips for save energy

Hello everybody,

in this post we decide to present some interesting tips for save energy, and please express your opinion if you found this article helpful.

Heating Tips         

• Use kitchen, bath and other ventilating fans wisely; in just one hour, these fans can pull out a houseful of warmed or cooled air. Turn fans off as soon as they have done the job.
• Set your thermostat at between 19 and 21°C. Every 1 C above this adds 10% on to your fuel bills.
• About 15% of an average home energy bill goes to heating water.
• Only heat or cool the rooms you need. Close vents and doors of unused rooms
• During winter, open curtains on your south-facing windows during the day to allow sunlight to naturally heat your home and close them at night to help keep the heat in.

Gas Furnace Tips

• Consider installing a programmable thermostat. You can save as much as 10% a year on your heating and cooling bills by simply turning your thermostat back 10% to 15% for 8 hours with an automatic setback or programmable thermostat 

Air Conditioners tips

• Plant trees or shrubs to shade air-conditioning units but not to block the airflow. A unit operating in the shade uses as much as 10% less electricity than the same one operating in the sun
• Don’t place lamps or TV sets near your air conditioning thermostat.
• Check your furnace or air conditioner filter each month. Dirty filters block air flow through your heating and cooling systems, increasing energy use.
• In summer, use fans whenever possible instead of air conditioning. Using fans to supplement air conditioning allows you to raise the thermostat temperature, using less energy. Fans use less energy than air conditioning.

Lighting tips

• Don’t forget to turn off lights when you leave a room.
• Switch off security lights when you return home or go to bed. Use dimmers, motion sensors, or occupancy sensors to automatically turn on or off lighting as needed and prevent energy waste.
• Use dimmers, motion sensors, or occupancy sensors to automatically turn on or off lighting as needed and prevent energy waste.
• Avoid energy guzzling lightings fittings, for examples fluorescent lights.
• Replace your five most used light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. These light bulbs use two-thirds less energy and last up to 10 times longer.
• Use compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) in place of comparable incandescent bulbs to save about 50% on your lighting costs. CFLs use only one-fourth the energy and last up to 10 times longer

Garden tips

• Plant lots of trees
• Start growing your own vegetables.
• Use a manual lawnmower rather than an electrical one.

Travelling tips

• Try walking a short journey you’d usually drive at least once a week.
• If you’re travelling on a longer journey, take a train instead.
• Choose a car with low carbon emissions.

Appliances

• Upgrade to Energy Star products. Not all appliances are equal. Whether you’re in the market for a new fridge, toaster or air conditioner, look for Energy Star choices, which offer the best energy savings.
• Size counts. When in the market for an appliance, make sure you buy what suits your needs. Items too large or too small waste electricity and your money.
• Unplug. Your electric meter is often adding up kilowatt hours when you don’t think you’re using an appliance. Unplug toasters and cell phone and other chargers when they’re not in use. Don’t use air fresheners that have to be plugged in.
• Use power strips. Cable boxes and video game boxes, and to a lesser extent TVs and VCRs, use almost as much energy when they’re off as when they’re on. Make it easy to turn them all the way off-plug them into a power strip and turn off the whole strip.

Getting started – free and low cost ways to save energy

• Turn off everything not in use: lights, TVs, computers, etc.
• To save hot water, take five-minute showers instead of baths.
• Lower the temperature on your water heater so that you are not having to add cold water to shower.
• Do only full loads when using the clothes washer or dishwasher.
• Look for energy efficiency labels when buying new products such as TVs, furnaces, cell phones, refrigerators and air conditioners. 
• Replace your five most used light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. These light bulbs use two-thirds less energy and last up to 10 times longer.
• Consider buying a laptop for your next computer upgrade; they use much less energy than desktop computers
• Unplug battery chargers when the batteries are fully charged or the chargers are not in use. Many chargers draw power continuously, even when the device is not plugged into the charger.
• Use compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) in place of comparable incandescent bulbs to save about 50% on your lighting costs. CFLs use only one-fourth the energy and last up to 10 times longer
• Use your kerbside recycling collection Recent research shows up to 40 per cent of a regular household shopping basket can be recycled. You can reduce your waste by avoiding excess packaging and buying products that will last.
• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Repair, Make It Over, Make Do, Do Without
• Take the bus, ride a bicycle, walk
• Dont leave the fridge door open for longer than necessary, and try to avoid putting warm food straight into the fridge – wait until it has cooled

with our bests, the Comenius Team of Thessaloniki

How do we use energy?

Hello everybody!! We have prepared this mind-map to understand how the energy in our cities is used and particularly in our school. In order to discuss it, we ask you to answer the questions written in the following mind-map or to add other elements. In this way we will be able to compare the different situations in our countries. We’ll try to find new initiatives and possible solutions to use energy in the best way without wasting it. Thank you for your collaboration. See you at the video meeting in December. The Italian group————————————————–TRAVEL:  How do you usually travel?  o       CAR: What do you use your car for? How often do you use it?o       WALKING: Has your city a pedestrian area?o       BICYCLE: Has your city any bicycle paths?o       PUBLIC TRANSPORT: How is the public transport organized? Have you got a personal bus pass?  CITYo       RUBBISH : How is rubbish disposed of? o       LIGHTING : What kind of lighting is used for the city?o       HEATER : Are there local government rules for the use of heating system? (period of years, max temperature, etc…)o       TRAFFIC : Are there any limits to the use of private cars (car-free day, alternate number-plate circulation,…)? FOOD: Do you buy local food?o       FRESH FOODo       FROZEN FOODo       PRE-COOKED FOOD SCHOOL o       ELETRICITY – LIGHT BULBS : What kind of light bulbs does your school use? HEATER : What kind of heater system does your school use? APPLIANCES (computers, multimedia blackboard…):Do you have energy saving habits? ( pulling out electric plugs)o       MATERIAL : Do you use recycled materials? o       RUBBISH : Have you got separated bins for different materials?

  DOING SOMETHING ! ! !

ENERGY: usage not wastage

Comenius team students are going to create a poster about energy as  final product for the next meeting.
In this Blog have the opportunity to express their opinions and exchange ideas and informations about this.