Verdant Vocations: An Electrician?
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 01.17.08
Second in a series of posts about that third of our day spent beavering away at our chosen craft.
[Verdant: green, lush, rich
Vocation: calling, life's work, mission, purpose, function; profession, occupation, career, job, employment, trade, business, line, line of work, métier.]
A Green Electrician might:
1. drive a biodiesel vehicle
2. encourage the use of smart power strips to avoid phantom loads
3. be up-to-date on energy-efficient lighting, heating, air conditioning, etc.
4. advise on pay-back periods (or alternative options) for appliances, which are efficient in the long term.
6. be experienced at installing the likes of grid-connected photovoltaics and induction stoves
7. be certified through a program like EcoSmart Electricians
8. be up to speed with occupancy/motion sensors for lighting
9. know about emerging technology, ie, CFL variants, LED downlights, OLEDs, Cold Cathode FLs
10. be able to refer customers to other eco tradepersons, likegreen plumbers
and
11. in an ideal world also specify and only use Polyvinyl Chloride(PVC) free cabling
As with our previous Verdant Vocations post on Dentists, we went looking to see who might be be actually practising such traits. Strangely, not as many as we thought. But we did find some electricians in the USA, UK and New Zealand that had a leaning in the green direction.
And the National Electrical and Communications Association (NECA) of Australia hope to have approximately 4,000 electricians accredited under their aforementioned EcoSmart Electrician program by mid 2010.
But if finding a green electrician in your neighbourhood is presently a tough act, maybe you can enlighten (so to speak) your current one by sending them the links to our posts on: How To Green Your Electricity, How To Green Your Lighting, Green Basics-Compact Fluorescents.
To say nothing of the power saved by using a slightly larger gauge of wire. The single largest waste of power in older homes.
As an Electrical Engineering Student, I see lots of Viridian style Electricians. We think power can be green
I am not sure what Mr. Grim means by saying (my translation) use a "larger gauge of wire" it will conserve power. According to OHM's LAW more current consumed directly relates to the amount of wattage and voltage. Current carried in a circuit directly relates to the size of wire utilized.
The larger gauge of wire only means the ability to carry more current safely...emphasis on safety. More current means more power - relative to the voltage. So, basically, your argument means nothing except spend more money on wiring and gain nothing. I don't undestand - certainly power can be more green. However this is, certainly, not the answer.