Depending on the climate zone you're in (I keep my house at ~55F in the winter, and treatment for hypothermia will eat up your savings). In the right climate, a buck naked policy could be well worth it in entertainment value alone.
Dave
I don't understand why this is a problem.
Or rechargeables. The precharged NiMH ones seem to hold their charge for a long time.
Ours just emits a strangled sort of buzz; replacing it with a cheap wireless one would be a definite advantage if it weren't for the fact that our friends all know to knock -- anybody who rings the "bell" only wants to convert us to something or sell us something.
Don't forget the clock on the microwave.
How about a brass door-knocker which needs no electricity from any source?
I had a big brass Taiwanese taxi horn on the door to my apartment which was at the top of an enclosed stairwell. The booming sound it made when someone squeezed that big old black rubber bulb was breathtaking. Heck that was 35 years ago, I don't recall what became of that damn thing but I wish I still had it.
Jehovah's Witnesses are fun to mess with. I had a big black cape and cap with some horns. In my best Boris Karloff voice I would invite them in explaining that I was in need of a good sacrifice. Have you ever seen a Jehovah Witness run?
TDD
But a transformer with no load consumes power which is largely given off as heat. You can observe this by feeling the transformer. Such loads collectively add up to a lot of waste. If you have purchased any devices that use external power supplies (cell phone charger, router in recent times you will notice that that they no longer use transformers and come with much more efficient switching power supplies. When it comes to power waste slow and steady wins the race.
Such a door bell transformer is typically capable of a maximum of 7 watts or less when it is actually ringing the bell or door chime. Many are not designed for continuous use. Next time I have spare moment will measure the amount of electrcity such a transformer takes in it' 'idle' state. It's most likely a few milliamps. Well lets say 10 milliamps (A 100th of one amp) to be generous to a fairly low grade transformer. One 100th of an amp at 115 volts =3D 1.15 watts per hour, 27.6 watt hours per day or 10,074 watt hours per year. That's just over 10 kilowatt hours per year. Although I doubt it is that high? At my cost of electrcity (ten cents per kilowatt hour) that's just about one dollar per year. A saving of one dollar per year (over 20 years) could probably amortize a capital saving at the start of that period of around $12. Spend more that and it not economic. Our transformer which has been in place for the last 38 years does run slightly warm. In this cool climate that warmth does very, very slightly, but insignificantly, contribute to the electric house heating. Probably less so than normally leaving the bath and shower water to cool down to house temperature. Seemed like rather pointless exercise?
C'mon dude. I'm still working on CFLs for the whole house. Ace is finally carrying CFLs for those overhead recessed lights.
My house is a bit from the street and faces away from the street. Rural area, no street lights. The lit doorbell is the only lit beacon guiding one to the front door. Really helpful on a no moonlit night.
Some of the stuff that is still lit off when "off" is keeping information in a memory chip. The easy solution, if they ever decide to get "green", is to do it like on PCs. Put that information using volatile memory powered by a long-lasting watch battery. The circuit also has a built-in clock for maintaining accurate time. That's why you can unplug your PC from the wall for awhile, plug it back in. The time should still be accurate if the onboard battery is up to snuff.
Cable and satellite receivers have to recover network communication and verify user authenticity when turned on. The satellite receiver that I use is uncomfortably hot to the touch, so its using some significant power compared to say a digital clock. Same when "off".
Make your own batteries? As mentioned before; in the 1950s I found the remnants of of some original LeClanche cells. Leclanche cells were renewable. A glass jar with a carbon stick positive anode that never wore out, immersed in a strong solution of alkali (called Sal-ammoniac) and a zinc plate negative. Wires were attached to the carbon and zinc. When the zinc wore away and/or the Sal-ammoniac dried out spares could be purchased at a local hardware/iron-mongers store. With todays low power solid state (transistor) devices perhaps we could make our own batteries out of sea water, vinegar or household bleach and scrap iron???????? Now if I could only make one (several) big enough to run those 'dud battery' cordless drills I have lying around!!!!!! :-)
well I suppose you could use a battery to power the normal doorbell button with no light and trip a solid state relay, that would power the transformer just to ring bell.
taken futher a solar panel could keep the battery charged.
or heck go solar completely with LED lights you might be able to have the button light up:)
probably cost a few hundred bucks, to save a dollar or two a year.
put the solar panel somewhere it cant be stolen. they can be costly.
someone has too much time on their hands:(
cut out a decent candy bar a day, at a buck each and save 300 to 400 bucks a year
My transformer is mounted just outside the power box in the basement. Since all the heat in my finished basement where my office is located is supplied by the ambient heat of the boiler and water heater, it adds to the ambient heat. Right now, it is 28º F outside and it is 66º F inside the basement.
And probably spent more money on something that is perhaps unsafe than if you'd just let it be... (IMHO!)
At rest, with no secondary current, a properly designed transformer will draw virtually no primary current. We're talking perhaps a quarter watt max, usually less.
Now, at a quarter watt, that's six watt-hours per day, or 186 watt hours per month. At $0.15 per KWh, you are talking perhaps $0.03 on the electric bill each month. Now, what's the payback for your project? Say you spent $30 on the romex and switch and box (probably spent more) you'll get your money back, oh, about the time hell freezes over!
Another prime example of people acting without thinking. Just like every other knee-jerk reaction to a percieved (and non-existant) problem.
How about the electrodes being stuck in a potato? :-)
Why not just a plain-old fashioned door knocker? No batteries, works well, very reliable, even works if the power is off, and it's *green* (especially if made from cheap brass imported from China!)
One can be sure that light used about 2.75 watts of the three that the user measured. Not that I'd trust a toy like the 'Kill-A-Watt' to make accurate power measurements, especially at those lower power levels...
The OP claims to have rewired the entire circuit with romex... He used
14 AWG, though considering how little real thinking he did, I'd suspect anything and everything he did.And thinkg "Wow, what a good guy I am, so smart!"
That's my calculation too.
Don't ignore the cost of rewiring the button, the romex, the new box, and the labor. Like I said earlier, payback is sometime about the time hell freezes over, assuming it can.
Let's be thankful that he's not living near us! (At least I hope not...)
But...but...but...what is the payback? A brass door knocker will run some bucks and if you only spend 25 cents/yr on electric....
Harry K
And what was your electric bill last month?
My electric bill is about $120 less each month because of things I have done in the past to save energy. Basically many little things and a couple of big things which all add up.
1 plus 2 plus 1 plus 8 plus 1 plus 1 = 14This same idea works at the gas station. 10 cents less a gallon at a particular station, fill up 15 gallon tank, do this 3 times a week... Can make quite a difference if you know how to add.
This project was paid for by money I am saving on my electric bill. And it was only about $8 because the transformer is in a closet by the door, so short wire run. So $120 savings minus $8 leaves me with $112 *extra* money actually.
Everything was installed and wired to code. Metal box and brass plate are grounded, on GFCI circuit (wet location), wire is 14 gauge romex (regular electrical wiring, not doorbell wiring), and the momentary push button switch is rated at 120VAC (not a low voltage doorbell button).
This is my 401K. What better way to go into retirement than to set yourself up for a low cost of living!
My electric rates went up 13 percent just this year. How much will they go up in the next 20 years?
Basically there has been a trend to manufacture products which always use electricity. I'm reversing that trend at my house. I turn this stuff off when not in use (power strips with switches on them). And switches similar to this...
Oh, I dunno, a couple of hundred dollars. We have an outdoor hot tub, so the power consumption of doorbells and light bulbs really is in the noise.
Cindy Hamilton
Hi, So what is the pay back time for the materials you used? The transformer when idle uses very small amount of energy. Turning it on/off frequently may shorten it's life. computers, most appliances draws small amount of energy when idle. Automobiles are same. Do you see decreased mount in power bill as a result? I pay 7 cents for 1KW/h. For that door bell to use 1KW/h will be quite long time. MTW, our house has motorozied chime palying Westminster bells.
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