Energy saving in the news again...

[Loosehead]

Ok light bulbs are in the news, lets save energy, bl00dy brilliant, I whole heatedly agree we should save energy. So why is it that everyhwhere I go there are lights on all day. . My local supermarket had its car park lights on all day on New year's day! No one there not to mention it's bleeding day light. My office lights everyhwhere all day every day we have blinds to turn out the sun but we must sit under blazing flourescent lights all day. Even in the fire escape where nobody goes! (can they not connect them to the alarm). We have the health and safety gestapo, it's time we had the energy saving equivalent. So why do we tinker around with light bulbs when zillions of watts are being wasted all the time in various establishments all up and down the country, or world for that matter??

[Goodsoulette]

My dad works for a massive company and they get fined for their energy inefficiency. He was saying something about the massive servers they use eating up loads of energy so they have to save it in other areas and then they get fined on actual waste too if that goes over a certain amount.... I kind of sitched off during the conversation (probably distracted buy something sparkly or in skinny fit jeans) but my point is, I think they probably do get either fined or make up for it elsewhere.

[Postdog]

I work for Royal Mail. They have recently introduced an in house TV channel,.Aside from propoganda aimed at putting the workers in their place, they transmit all kinds of stuff, and have done so with energy saving tips like turning lights off etc. The Office is only occupied for half a day, and when we are there we are working, yet this TV is on all day and all night 24/7 - what a waste of money in more ways than one.

[vehelpfulguy]

I remember going to Blackpool a few years ago when the lights were on (7 miles of them). Our hotel room was right on the sea front and if I looked out the window all I could see in both directions were lights.

As I went to leave the hotel room there was a sign on the back of the door saying:

"Please turn off your room light and help save world electricity"

Ironic or what.

[shaneystar2]

We have a lovely 11th century church just across the road This is lit with floodlights all night long .It's a lovely church and looks wonderful lit up but I doubt any nobody is creeping around it in the dead of night looking at it . What a waste of energy .
Yet we will soon to forced to use energy saving light bulbs in our homes .Other streets in my area are poorly lit and they need more light ,yet roads that are hardly used are lit up like beacons .
It's the same old story ....too little to late ...look at the recycling fiasco.

[jno]

the car park thing may be to do with avoiding lawsuits if anyone slips over on a dull day. But they'd quite likely be glad off the opportunity to switch off - I don't imagine they want to spend a penny more than necessary. Why not write to the manager telling him so? Same for your office manager

[vehelpfulguy]

>It's a lovely church and looks wonderful lit up but I doubt any nobody is creeping around it in the dead of night looking at it .

The problem is that due to the poor level of society in this country (good old New Labour) thefts from churches (such as lead) is now a major problem - as well as church vandalism.

Maybe it is cheaper to leave the lights on all night than to pay the insurance premiums.

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/wales-news /2007/12/30/churches-on-alert-as-lead-thefts-s oar-91466-20296025/

[jno]

nowhere is safe, vehelpfulguy

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorks hire/7168908.stm

[meglet]

I work in the City of London and every day walk past an office lit up like a Christmas tree with a huge mulitscreen wall on one side with Sky News playing all day. The sign on the building says Ace Trading Floor but I have never seen anyone ever working at any of the 50 or so desks so I reckon its a disaster recovery site. I walk past it fuming every day at the complete waste of money and resources. I shoud write a strongly worded letter to their md!

[shaneystar2]

I can appreciate that the church and public buildings have concerns about theft and vandalism but they are sitting on more money than I am .I also have to pay hefty insurance premiums so perhaps i should have my property lit up by floodlights just in case someone wants to strip my roof or run off with my candelabra.At least I would be able to see it as I feel my way towards it along the poorly lit streets.
Joe public is continually being urged to save energy and we will all soon be forced to use energy saving lightbulbs but that's Ok as long as the church is brightly lit .
I wonder if they will be using energy saving floodlights .
Pretty soon we will have Hodges types yelling at us to " Put that light out ".
In the meantime I shall continue to stockpile lightbulbs and torch batteries and when they run out perhaps the vicar will let me sit in the churchyard to read my book .

[kwicky]

When we all turn the lights off does that mean fewer power stations will be built. Of course not! Every time you boil a kettle you are using 100 times the amount of electric as a light bulb. We should be looking in other areas rather than bulbs which if swirtched on and off regularly shorten its lifetime so more need to be made..

[Haggisdj]

I have a feeling that no-matter how much energy we save our energy bills will stay the same. The companies are still going to want their massive profits and as we use less of their product so they will up the price to compensate themselves.

[Avatar]

you are right there haggis, npower have already announced 12% rises.
Its a complete stupidity having a profit driven company running things like power, transport etc. because as you quite rightly point out, all they are interested in is year on year profits. In some busineses this is fine but in cases where the public and the environment are at the sharp end it is wrong.
Its time to de-privatise these sector companies. But then would you trust the government to run these businesses ethically either?

[anotheoldgit]

If the politicians are so interested in saving power why do they not put there own house in order "The Houses of Parliment"? Turning off the flood lights would be a start.

I say lets revert to the "Black-Out" of WW2, it would not see an increase of crime on the streets, they would just carry on committing it during the daylight hours, as they do now.

[Quinlad]

Let's make everything like it was in 1945.