It seems that cellphone chargers don’t waste as much energy as we have been led to believe. I sort of knew this already. After being plugged in for 48 hours in standby e.g. not charging my cellphone, my cellphone charger registered zero energy use. When charging the cellphone it uses about $0.01 worth of electricity per charge.  This is one of those small wall cube transformers.  When it is not actually charging the cellphone, it is cool to the touch.  This is a good way to check those little wall cubes, if it is warm to the touch when it is not doing anything, it is using power and has a standby loss.

Here are a few good ways to figure out if something has a standby loss without using a Kill-A-Watt meter:

1. If something has a (wireless) remote control that can turn it on and off, it has a standby loss. This is because some circuitry is actively waiting for the on signal. This includes things like TVs, VCRs, Stereos, DVD players, light dimmers and even ceiling fans.
2. If something has a clock or time display, it has a standby loss. Radios, clock radios, microwaves, etc.
3. Laptop battery chargers have standby loss
4. Cordless tool chargers have standby loss
5. If one of those plug in wall cube transformers (like a cellphone charger) is warm when it is not plugged into anything, it has a standby loss.
6. Telephone answering machines, cordless phone bases and charging units, internet modems, cable boxes are simply switched on when plugged in. These are not really standby losses so much as actual small loads.

Regarding the cellphone charger; I decided that the Kill-A-Watt meter results were not good enough, so I took it to work and connected it to a very sensitive Fluke Scopemeter to see if I could find out more. Here are the results:

• Samsung Model TAD077JBE cellphone charger, standby mode (not charging) electrical use
• Voltage: 118.6 VAC RMS
• Current: 0.003 Amps
• Power: 0.3558 Watts

To derive the power, I used the current multiplied by the voltage, 118.6 volts x 0.003 amps = 0.3558 watts. Which means that over a one year period it would use 0.3558 watts x 8760 hours = 3116.8 watt/hours. In kWhs… 3116.8 / 1000 = 3.1 kWh. In dollars and cents… 3.1 kWh x $0.168 = $0.52 per year. To give you some idea, an electric clothes dryer uses 4,000 – 5,000 watts per second.

Standby (phantom) loads for typical household appliances:

Large TV: Philips Magnovox 32 inch
DVD player: Toshiba 5 disk SD-057U
VCR: Mitsubishi HS-U420
Electric rate: $0.168 per kWh
CO² calculation: 1.725 pounds of CO2 per kWh (US EPA national average 2004)

I intend to do a follow up post on regular appliance use in a week or so.

I say that because often times, once the project is started and things are removed, more problems are found. Something that was going to be relatively inexpensive can turn into a major ordeal quickly. The most expensive repairs are often to basement walls.

That being said, fixing up an older home can be rewarding, and can lead to a great unique home.

Advantages of building a new house:

• House can be designed the way you want it
• House can be built the way you want it
• Meets all current building codes
• Can take advantage of energy saving materials, construction techniques, and appliances

Disadvantages of building a new house:

• Possible shoddy construction
• Zoning process (if not in a development)
• Permitting process
• Construction schedules, inspections, weather, supply problems
• Additional living expense

Advantages of fixing up an older home:

• Often times, the house can be lived in as it is being renovated
• Renovations can be paced more slowly according to available budget
• Zoning process may not be required unless external changes to the house are being made
• Home owner can embark on a do-it-yourself adventure
• Depending on structural modifications, and the local jurisdiction, permits may not be required. Always check with the building department first
• Less inspections required. Electrical work should always be inspected.

Disadvantages of fixing an older home:

• Work turns out to be greater than expected
• Work becomes beyond the scope of a do-it-yourself project
• Retro-fitting an older structure with insulation, replacement windows, energy efficient appliances is less effective than building new
• Installing new plumbing, electrical, heating systems in a older house is more difficult than new construction
• Renovating an older house can be more expensive than building new
• Older houses may have hazardous materials such as asbestos flooring, asbestos siding, lead paint, ect. which will need be be properly removed and disposed of.

I was reading some of the other blogs on the Houseblogs.net web site. I noticed that most of the blogs there are about people fixing up there older houses. What do you think?

In our house, the washer and dryer have their own little closet to the left of the door in the kitchen. Directly below the washer and dryer is a crawl space, which is pretty easy to get in and out of. The problem is the the deck attached to the outside corner where the french doors are and the door that leads to the master bedroom. Also the ground elevation there is only a few inches below the level of the deck. I did not want to blow hot steamy dryer exhaust on the underside of my deck.

I had no choice but to go up into the wash room ceiling and through the attic. This is a picture of the 6 to 4 inch reducer poking through the ceiling. I need to finish sanding this down and paint it to match the ceiling.

For the attic run I used 6 inch galvanized duct work even though the dryer vent is only 4 inches. I figured the increased cross area would mitigate the longer vent run and 45 degree elbows required.

On the outside of the house, I used a 6 inch exhaust vent. This particular vent
had a plastic grid criss crossing the output, I suppose to keep birds out or something. What
happened is the grid got clogged with lint, which it turn made the dryer not work so well.
I cut the grid out with a pair of diagonal cutters and used a shop vac to get all to accumulated lint out. It has worked fine ever since. I have never had a problem with critters in the dryer vent thus far.

First of all, I needed to have a separate 15 or 20 amp appliance circuit (depends on the rating of the appliance) dedicated to the dishwasher as required by the NEC 2005. I ran this from the electrical panel in the basement myself using #12/2 NM (aka “romex”) to a metal box on the floor near the wall. From the dishwasher, I used a #12 two wire plus ground “stinger” to a single outlet. This allows the dishwasher to be easily pulled out from under the counter for maintenance or replacement.

Then I connected the hot water supply feed. I tapped into the sink hot water supply, putting a shutoff valve on the supply line. It was a pain, but I soldered in a 1/2 inch copper T in the hot water line. I used soft coper tubing carefully bent into an S to get the supply line to the inside of the dishwasher opening under the counter top. On the dishwasher side, I used a flexible metal jacketed hose to connect the copper pipe to the dishwasher water supply. I used a metal jacketed hose because of the potential mouse mischief. In our rental house, mice chewed through the plastic water supply hose on the dishwasher creating a flood.

Finally, I installed a special “tail” with a dishwasher drain on the sink drain. This replaces the original tail that came with the sink. I ran the dishwasher drain to the tail and secured
with hose clamps.

Once all that was connected, I tested the unit. All worked well, so I slid it into its space in between the cabinets and secured it with two screws to the underside of the counter and installed the kit plate.

All done. The installation instructions that came with the dishwasher were easy to follow and understand, but I say a picture is worth a thousand words. This is a Kenmore model 363.1522 dishwasher.

July 31 ‘79
New electric stove and new washing machine delivered to cottage – Russ Thompson came to put in plug for washing machine, changed kitchen light to better position, put outlet in cellar for power tools etc. and put in new fixture in boat house. No connection on stove so Nancy and I went to Seeley’s Bay to get it. Then Nancy helped jack connect wires to stove. Result! Our first meal cooked on nice new stove! Aug 1st we tried out new washer – just fine! Three tubs of clean clothes! What a luxury!!

It is a semi manual washer, in that it has a water tub and an agitator, but that is where the similarities with a modern washer end.

This particular washer has a wringer attached to the “back” of the machine. When you are satisfied that the clothes have been agitated enough, you turn the handle and the rollers start moving. All the water gets squeezed out of the clothes by feeding them between the roller one piece at a time. Then you move the handle the other way and all the water gets pumped out. Repeat process for a rinse cycle.

With this type of machine, I can imagine that once or twice something unintended like somebody’s hair got caught in the rollers. For that situation you smack the large bar on the top of the rollers and they “release” so you can pull whatever it is out.

This machine was a huge move forward from the old method of clothes
washing, which was a washboard attached to the side of a 5 gallon tub. The clothes dryer remains the same as it always was.

In case you are interested, it is a McGraw Edison (of Canada) model 26-110L. One of the last ones made.