Save Energy by switching to Fluorescent

I recently went to the store to buy regular light bulbs and decided to do a little comparison of the energy and cost savings of using a Fluorescent bulb vs. a normal incandescent bulb.

For the basis of comparison, I am going to use the worst case scenario for the fluorescent bulbs.  That means for life span I am using the minimum life span of 8000 hours, for price I am using a high price of $3 which is really high, and for energy consumption I am using 28 Watts for comparison with a 100 W normal bulb.

So lets dig in a compare the two bulbs side by side.
 

With these numbers we can easily calculated how much each bulb cost’s per hour in electricity to get 1200 Lumens of light.
Assuming the cost of electricity to be $.12/kWh here are the numbers.

Fluorescent Bulb
$3/8000hrs. + .12 * 26 watts / 1000 watts = $.0035 per hour
COST TO USE FOR 8,000 HRS = $28

Regular Light Bulb
$.50/1000hrs. + .12 * 100watts/1000watts = $.013 per hour
COST TO USE FOR 8,000 HRS = $104

So there you have it.  It is substantially cheaper to use fluorescent bulbs over regular light bulbs.  It is discouraging to see that a fluorescent bulb costs 6 times more money but the pay off comes after only using the light bulb for 17 hrs.

So if you go and invest in all fluorescent light bulbs for your house, the saving will be noticeable within a month.

This is seriously one of the most obvious investments that anyone should make. 

I have been using mine for about 2 weeks now and I can’t tell the difference as far a light or color, so there is no disadvantage.

REMEMBER THIS IS THE WORST CASE SCENARIO, YOU PROBABLY WILL SAVE MUCH MORE MONEY THAN THIS STUDY.

Order bulls now: 

23-Watt Fluorescent Bulb , 4-Pack 100 WATT equivalent

energy, fluorescent, light bulb, regular light bulb, save

CH Flight Yoke and Pedals – Making your flight simulator more realistic

If your like me the thought of flying an airplane has been fascinating but out of reach for most people because of the cost and the time associated with flying.

Many flying hobbyist’s have gone to the next closest thing to flying which is using a Flight Simulator on their computer.  With the speed of today’s computers, flight simulators such as Microsoft Flight Simulator X have become so realistic looking that the experience is quite thrilling. 

The big mistake that most people make when buying Flight Simulator, is that they don’t have the correct flight controls.  Without the correct flight controls, the realism of flying an actual plane is totally lost.  I had always known this and was tired of using a joystick, so I took the plunge and bought the CH Products Flight Yoke and Pedals which are rated as best value for simulator controls.  There are professional grade controls, but they cost well over $1000 and don’t feel a whole lot different than the CH Flight Controls for only a little over $200.

CH Flight Yoke
The CH Products Flight Yoke consists of 4 push buttons, 4 rocker switches, 1 hat switch, and throttle, mix, pitch, elevator, aileron and trim controls. 
The bottom of the yoke has two large plastic clamps to hook the yoke onto you desk.  These clamps are plastic, but are heavy and seem very solid.  When the clamps are tightened the yoke is very sturdy.
 
The yoke controls for aileron and elevator, are resisted by springs which seem to be fairly loose, but do a decent job of keeping the controls centered when left free.  The elevator does have a little play in the center, so it can almost be used as temporary trim.  This is not natural to a real life experience, but for the most part it does not affect the flying.
The ergonomics of the yoke are very good in that all of the buttons are easy to use without moving hands too much.  The size of the yoke is true to life which makes the experience that much more realistic.
The one beef I have with this yoke, is that the trim is way too small and doesn’t have enough travel. Centering the trim can be affected by the slightest touch of ones fingers.
All in all  the Flight Yoke is very sturdy and solid built.  It has a very good value.

CH Flight Pedals
The CH Pro Pedals are not completely necessary for the average user in that most people don’t know how to use a rudder anyway’s, but for the realistic enthusiast, it is a must. 
The pedals are made of a heavy plastic and are fairly large.  The pedals try to duplicate the feel of a real plane in that they slide back and forth for rudder control and have rocker switch’s for the brakes.
The usability of these pedals is very natural and easy.  I don’t know how they compare to the real thing, but they work very well for what they were designed for.

The size is really nice in that I can use shoes while flying and the pedals don’t move all over the place.
As a bonus, the pedals include a piece to prevent the sliding mechanism, so that the pedals can be used for race car games. 
I really like the Flight pedals and think they are an excellent value.

This whole package for around $200 is a bargain and I am sure any flight simulator enthusiast and/or wanna be pilot will just love the experience they have with these pedals combined with any flight simulator from X-Plane to Microsoft Flight Simulator X.

So go out an get them and have fun flying.

CH Flight Pedals, CH Flight Yoke, Flight Simulator, flying, Microsoft, Plane, Simulator, X Plane

Energy of the Future.

If you ever wonder what is the world doing about dependance on oil, then your not the only one or company that thinks that same thing.

Ormat Technologies is a leader in Renewable energy resources and has been on the cutting edge of the industry.  They currently are located all over the world and their corprate offices sit in Reno, NV (Hence the reason I know about Ormat). 

Ormat specializes in using geothermal energy and most recently heat recovery to generate power.  The process is fairly simple in that they use either hot spring water or hot exhaust gases to heat pentane which is run through a turbine connected to a generator.  The pentane is cooled in a condenser and the process starts all over. 

The largest geothermal plant owned by Ormat  is currently operating at over 200 MW. While a normal coal fired plant generates about 500MW. This is less power, but the environmental effect of geothermal is close to zero and the cost of producing the power is the same as coal and gas fired power plants.  Also the technology is capable of producing much higher outputs of up to 1000MW, but none of currently operated by Ormat.

With many states introducing legislation to use 20% of renewable source energy by 2015, the demand for Ormat’s technologies is ever expanding. 

This industry is up and coming bigger than ever before and there is no stopping them, because after all they are essentially pollution free and cost efficient.

Find out more about Ormat Technologies.

energy, future, Ormat, Power generation

Take pictures from the Sky

Have you ever wanted to try aerial photography, but you don’t have the money pay for a plane? I suggest you try out Radio Control Airplane aerial photography. The potential is limitless, whether it is to enter local photo contests or to make money by taking pictures of real estate property.

Today my friend and I went out to try out his camera glider configuration and her is a great shot of Reno, NV ( You can see the casinos in the back), with a hawk saying “Hi”!

Aerial Photography, Hawk, Pictures, Real estate

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