Tuesday 28 June 2011

Pinching The Carbon Footprint at Home

HTemp:  38c
Rain:       0.0"
`-$:         45.00


Probably out of necessity, our apartment -- and others -- have a few design elements geared to energy efficiency.  With rolling blackouts in effect (more on that subject later) and the water delivered rather than serviced by a grid, every kilowatt and gallon is precious.

First up is in the kitchen:  It appears to be just another cabinet above our sink.  But open it up and it's a nice drying rack, ready to drain. Nifty:

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Separate A/C units for each room are common in other parts of the world and India is no exception.  Easy to turn off when you're not in the room:

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Also common but with an added efficiency step is the hot water heater design.  We have four separate units, one for each of the bathrooms and another in the kitchen for the sink and clothes washer.  Similar to the A/C units, there's an on/off switch near each heater so you only turn them on when you need them:


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Switched down means 'ON' here in India

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Finally, if you want to go native, you can save a lot of toilet paper.  There's a hose near the toilet and...well...you figure out the rest and decide how efficient you want to be:

3 comments:

  1. Nice pad. Glad you are getting settled. Efficiencies abound! Nice to see others learning about air splits. I love them. Quiet, efficient, and only used in rooms where you need them. They're inexpensive to buy and install as well. Big believers here in CR. Keep us posted on the latest.

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  2. Looking good! Don't think the kitchen quite lives up to the masterpiece you designed/we built in Miami, but what the hell!

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  3. The Weekly State Department Blog Roundup is up and you’re in it.

    You can view it here:

    http://wifemommywoman.blogspot.com/2011/07/kitchens.html

    ReplyDelete