[MonteQuest]

I don't have a lot of time today, but would like to consolidate some of the information in this post and keep it updated. It actually fits better in the "Planning for the Future" forrum more than here at Round Table Discussion. I think we can convince Aaron to have a "Practical tips and ideas for conservation and a small energy footprint lifestyle" section.

We are going to have a Conservation forum soon. I am working on it.

MQ

[gg3]

Woo-hoo, this is good. We could start keeping track of our electric usage per month and aiming to keep a downward trend. Right now we're all below 300, whereas the average for 1 person in a small house or apt in the USA is about 450). (Maybe have discrete goal-steps, such as getting below 250 kwh/month, then below 200, then down to 150 or so?)

Right now Leal gets the conservation prize, at 1,950 kwh/year, that's 162.5 kwh/month (!). Question is, does that include your laundry?, and how is heat for your apartment accounted for?

Johnmarkos, dishwashers have electric heating elements to heat the water to the temperature needed to sterilize the dishes. Here's an idea. Let dishes accumulate in sink on alternate days, with enough water in them to keep the food residue from cementing itself in place, and put the accumulated dishes in the dishwasher on alternate days. Now that's 15 days/month of dishwasher usage, and always with the most efficient full loads. Or depending on size of sink & dishwasher, let the dishes sit in the sink for 3 days. Even if they start growing blue fuzz, that'll all be killed in the dishwasher anyway.

Dvanharn, we know about Real Goods & Solfest, two of the guys in my community project went up there this year. Good scene, interesting, though much of it is geared for a scenario milder than what some of us are making worst-case plans for. Conservation forum: great idea. I'll see you there too.

Our community planning group should have an FTP site up soon where we'll be keeping tons of information of this type, organized into logical categories like a library card-catalogue or an encyclopedia. Itch said he has gigabytes of stuff waiting to go on the system. That won't be a "forum style" system, but a document archive. Anything we produce for it will have to be in .TXT, .RTF, .RTFD, and the other RTF format that handles pictures, and .JPG or .GIF, so it's all cross-platform readable, using freely-available applications. Access to the site will require registration for read-only, and membership for read/write. Basically it's our community planning site, with an option for people who aren't members of the community planning group to use our online library:-).

[Terran]

As far as washing machines, it is needed, washing clothing old school style is a bit energy intensive. However what do you people think about a hand cranked washing machine that is found over here?
http://www.majorsurplusnsurvival.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=023797&Category_Code=15


As far as drying machine you can hang dry them in the sun, there is a problem to this however... It only works well for sunny days, what about rainy day?
over time the UV rays from the sun causes discoloration of fabrics, but who really cares?
And finally hang drying in the sun does not get rid of the lint, how are you supposed to get rid of the lint that is on your clothing?

As far as a fridge goes, I think a well insulated earth sheltered room will do the trick for keeping fruits and veggies fresh for a few days, since the temperature will remain in the range of the lower 50*F.
However a freezer is needed to preserve meats for many months.

As far as clocks, get a waterclock.
http://www.addedtouchstore.com/prodinfo ... 4978U&S=GA
Those don't require much power at all, they're LCD based.
Unless your a scientist, there's no need for an atomic clock.


gg3, on a different note, I think an electric vaporizer is not wastful. Combustion destorys alot of the active ingredents in whatever your smoking, lets say tobacco. And the combustion process forms alot of carcinogens. To solve this problem an electric vaporizer is used, the products do not combust, but the active ingredents turn into a vapor state. And it does not produce ash. The amount of smoke is reduced by over 95%. I think for people who smoke whatever, a vaporizer beats pipe smoking.

[bamagirl]

I've been lurking for awhile. This seems like a good place to jump in.

The things I consider essential are the fridge, the washing machine, the fans, and the a/c. We live about 20 miles from Fl. Heat kills people here. That said, people drive me up the wall with the way they use their a/c's. I keep ours on 81, have ceiling fans in all our rooms, and floor fans in others. I also have a programable thermostat. The first month it was installed my electric bill dropped $50. I turn the a/c off and open the windows if it's under 85 outside. We've also started tiling the house (about half done now) and replaced blinds with drapes. It helps. The added benefit is my daughter's asthma has greatly improved removing half the carpet in the house.

I dare anyone who thinks washing machines are only for convience to come here and do laundry for my family of 5 for a month lol. You should know that one of those 5 is a 3 year old boy who is just as filthy 10 minutes after a bath as he is before it, and one of the other 5 is a police officer who often comes home, um, exposed and covered in some of the grosser parts of our modern society. Twice this week he's come home and gone directly to the washing machine. I will not be handwashing those clothes until the day the power goes out for good. I suspect by then he will be unemployed anyway.

I've seen the dishwasher debate on some other boards I go to. Curiosity finally got the better of me and a couple of months ago I switched to all hand washing dishes. You have to pre-wash them anyway, what's the point of using the dishwasher? My utility bill dropped another $20. Maybe a newer model would be more efficient (mine is a 7yo Kenmore), but I have better things to spend my money on.

I hang clothes to dry. Most of the year, it's hot enough outside to dry the clothes even if the sun isn't shining. Rain is the only thing that keeps me from hanging stuff. I use the dryer for heavy bedding and jeans. Jeans just feel funny line dried.

All my lights have cf bulbs.

I can live without my microwave, tv, and computer (I'd rather not). We have more books than anyone I know so there's plenty of entertainment. I have a portable cd player that I use a lot also. Can live without it obviously, but I'd really rather not.

Anyone know what the average kw use for a family of 5 is? I'd like to compare those numbers with what we use.

Lori

[skateari]

gg3, on a different note, I think an electric vaporizer is not wastful. Combustion destorys alot of the active ingredents in whatever your smoking, lets say tobacco. And the combustion process forms alot of carcinogens. To solve this problem an electric vaporizer is used, the products do not combust, but the active ingredents turn into a vapor state. And it does not produce ash. The amount of smoke is reduced by over 95%. I think for people who smoke whatever, a vaporizer beats pipe smoking.

Yeah, vaporizers work good, but depends on what one you get. I have a crappy $100 one here and I never use it. It doesn't seem to work and using a regular 'smoking device' or rolling papers seems to get the 'active ingredents' out better. BUT, there are some worthwhile vaporizers out there, the Volcano works great and the Vapordoc works good too. Watch out for the ones that have a little glass bubble dome thingy as those dont seem to work that well either..

And, just think how many lighters we could save by not having to light up the pipe all the time! Vaporizers use actualy a lot of energy, something like 250 watts or more. Either put down the money for a good one or your gonna be wasting your $. Im gonna stick to the papers and the devices for now. hehe

[gg3]

My pipes are the oldfasioned kind, for smoking tobacco. Using some kind of newfangled electric gadget might be appropriate for someone who's concerned with "active ingredients" but that doesn't apply to pipe smoking, otherwise I'd smoke cigarettes (no thanks).

A pipe is an inherently simple artifact, basically just a carved briar bowl with a vulcanite stem; nothing could be simpler; it typically lasts a lifetime and often gets passed down through generations. It evokes a spirit of tranqility and mindfulness that are, if anything, more compatible with the slower pace of a pre- or post-petroleum world, than with our presently frenetic existences.

Terran, I tried that hand-cranked washer during my lengthy experiment in methods of hand-washing. Yes it certainly takes a lot of the effort out of washing, but it holds at most one day's complete change of clothes at a time, and rinsing still takes more time and water than you want to use. It also requires considerable care in getting the proportions of water, clothing, and detergent right. It's a good inexpensive backup system for use during lengthy power outages, however, it still requires that you have plenty of clean water, especially for rinsing.

Best place to conserve is on the drying cycle, by using an oldfashioned drying rack or an outdoor or indoor clothes line.

Welcome aboard, Bamagirl! Looks like you have a sensible approach and a lot of practical results to show for it, especially considering the climate in Florida. Understood about A/C, in fact most of the post-WW2 development in Florida was only made possible due to dropping costs of air conditioning. There are other places in the US that have a similar need for A/C. So if the public power grid starts to become unreliable, expect to see people moving out of those areas as fast as they can sell their houses (and those that stay doing serious retrofits as needed).

Re jeans feel funny line-dried: Yeah I noticed that too. So this suggests an invention. Think of a horizontal composting drum painted black on the outside, with holes drilled in the cylinder similar to a conventional dryer drum, or a screen-mesh portal at each end for natural air circulation. (One end is removable for loading & unloading.) Now stick this out in the sun, with a PV panel to operate a 1/10 HP electric motor that would slowly rotate the drum. The black paint would cause it to get quite hot inside; moisture would be carried out by the ambient breeze through the mesh portals; the speed of rotation would be proportional to the intensity of the sunlight. So, you wash at night during off-peak electricity hours, hang-dry the clothes indoors overnight until just damp, and then transfer them to this contraption in the morning, leave it out in the sun all day, and come home to blue jeans that are fluffy, not stuffy:-). Seriously.

[jpatti]

As far as drying machine you can hang dry them in the sun, there is a problem to this however... It only works well for sunny days, what about rainy day?

We have a very long clothesline across the yard for sunny days. Laundry dries in about 2 or 3 hours.

We have a couple short lines on the porch for rainy/snowy days. Laundry dries in about 2 days.

We also have a couple temporary lines in the living room. We only use these when it's below freezing round the clock outside. Also takes about 2 days.

The reason being... if had a dryer just for when it was freezing or raining, being lazy, we'd end up using it all the time and never use the lines. There'd be an excuse or reason every time. So we don't have a dryer.

Basically, we don't let ourselves run out of laundry cause it can take a couple days to get it dry. We do laundry before we need it.

If you wash clothes in hard water, they sometimes dry really, really stiff. Especially jeans and towels. The "cure" for this is to throw some vinegar into the wash water (actually would work better in the rinse water, but I never catch the cycle). Softens better and cheaper than fabric softener.

[Eustacian]

Jpatti, you're welcome to eat buried food, I'm not stopping you, but I'll put my faith in other methods.

I'm not sure you have given enough thought to burying your food.

A> You bury it in dirt that remains frozen!
B> You bury it in a lined box that keeps out the dirt (and any insects that might make there way there).
C> Lots of other animal species bury their food.

I saw a special on PBS recently where a guy went out to live off the land in Alaska. He lived for 30 years in the alaskan wilderness with little other than what he brought with himself in the 1st year. He buried all his food to maintain refrigeration and 30 years later the only reason he moved is because his bones were too achy to keep up with the winters. I didn't hear him say anything about botulism, salmonella or any other food borne illnesses.

Burying food is perfectly safe and can provide energy free refrigeration.

[Eustacian]

gg3, on a different note, I think an electric vaporizer is not wastful. Combustion destorys alot of the active ingredents in whatever your smoking, lets say tobacco. And the combustion process forms alot of carcinogens. To solve this problem an electric vaporizer is used, the products do not combust, but the active ingredents turn into a vapor state. And it does not produce ash. The amount of smoke is reduced by over 95%. I think for people who smoke whatever, a vaporizer beats pipe smoking.

Although this is a bit off topic, let me say that I have had very little luck with a vaporizer, despite all the hoo-haa that that you hear about how efficient they are. For what it's worth, while smoking cannabis I've found the vaporizer to be lacking.

You can find plans on the net to build your own vaporizer. Two common methods are used - converting a soldering iron or using an electric light bulb.

Happy smoking!

[small_steps]

Refigerators, washingmachines, microwaves and especially pool pumps should all be 220V. This simple change reduces consumption by about 40% and lets the appliance work easier.

An explination why you think this would be appreciated!

Good luck

[Keith_McClary]

Microwave ovens: Conventional ovens need to heat up the oven and the pot before the food gets hot. Microwaves heat the food directly so they are much more efficient. They are good for heating or re-heating food. Does anybody actually "cook" anything in a microwave? Our 1976 microwave (which we're still using) came with a "microwave cookbook" (which I probably still have somewhere).

Electric Frypan: Probably more efficient than oven or stovetop since it's smaller and heats up faster. (Sunbeam from 2nd hand store, $3, 30 years ago).

Washing machine: In the olden days washing machines did not run the hot soapy water down the drain - they would run it into a tub (can't remember what these were called) and then re-use it for additional loads of laundry. This worked just as well at loosening the dirt and the clothes came out just as clean after rinsing.

Clothes dryers: I remember people hanging out clothes in the northern winter. They would freeze solid and take a long time to dry. There was some risk that your frozen-solid clothes could get broken.
Gas dryers are more efficient then electric. Hanging clothes to dry inside a gas heated house actually uses the same energy as a gas dryer (the energy goes into evaporating the water).
The big saving on clothes drying is to remove as much water as possible by spinning. We have an expensive Bosch washer that does 12000 RPM. (Some do 1600 RPM.) Tends to wrinkle clothes, tho.

[Grasshopper]

I can't believe people use leaf-blowers. Talk about a comlete waste of time and energy.

[gg3]

Electrified smoking accessories: Wasteful and also out of step with the inherent nature of the ritual, which in part is about fire as an element.

If you like the aesthetics of a glass globe and a hose, get a hookah: a real, oldschool hookah. The Indian variety tends toward the use of brass for its main components, the Middle Eastern variety tends toward the use of glass. There are some Middle Eastern artisans currently making glass hookahs in a kind of modern psychedelic swirl of multicolored glass.

If you're concerned about filtering the smoke for health reasons, the water in the hookah does that for you, with no need to plug it into the wall for power. Tobaccos for smoking in a hookah tend to be very moist and include some pretty wild flavored blends (e.g. strawberry (!)) that tend to be favored by the college crowd. Hookah tobacco should not be smoked in a regular pipe; too moist, and somewhat harsh when the smoke isn't passed through water. If you're using it for cannabis, I suppose you can probably buy an appropriate smaller bowl for that purpose, which fits into the regular tobacco bowl.

But consider this: if you're smoking cannabis as a way to relax, a good part of what happens there is really the psychology of the ritual, i.e. the archetypes of earth and fire and breath. You would be surprised at how much of that naturally occurrs while smoking a pipe with nothing more than a good tobacco. Ancient archetypes are more psychologically powerful than people generally give them credit for.

Re. hang-drying clothes for two days in the cold: beware the potential for molds in clothing that takes more than a day to dry; if the clothes start smelling slightly "off," you gotta' mold problem, and you could end up getting a skin rash or itchy sensations or other allergic reactions.

I don't see a problem with having a dryer for occasions when it's too damp or cold to hang-dry. The dryer puts more wear on the clothes by tumbling them, than would occur while just hanging on a line even in a breeze. Personally I've done the hang-dry routine even while having a dryer; the labor factor is the same either way. By the way try this: if your attic gets hot in the summer, and if it even gets decently warm from sunlight in the winter, it's a great place to string some clothes lines. In the summer it's almost as fast as a dryer cycle.

Today while watching someone using a micro-excavator at a construction site, I came up with a design for a set of hand tools that would accomplish the same goal, with almost as little manual effort, and with a crew of two workers rather than one. The key to this is to recognize that the special benefit of the micro-excavator is in being able to dig trenches that are too narrow for humans to get in there with pick and shovel. Then you consider the work done by the pick, and the work done by the shovel, and the leverage disadvantage of a shovel in a somewhat deep and narrow trench; and the design almost suggests itself from there.

Last night I invented something that would solve the problem of keeping bedding fresh and aired-out under unfavorable indoor conditions. All without electricity of course, and with as little manual effort as it normally takes to "make" a bed. (Hint: "making" beds is an obsolete practice.)

Damn, I need a patent lawyer..! And I'm probably not the only one. A while ago I thought it might be interesting to organize an "inventor's co-op," in which the members would jointly hire a patent lawyer fulltime. More about that idea in another topic, which I'll open under the "energy technology" header.

[fastbike]

Here's an interesting perspective on how out-of-touch some people are, regarding how many appliances are enough !

What's more, Americans are adding refrigerators so they don't have to travel far for a cold drink. "We're seeing that second, third, or fourth refrigerator in a home," says Elliott. "People want a small one upstairs, one in the basement, maybe one in the garage."

The rest of the article makes you want to barf.

[gg3]

Fastbike, you just won the prize for finding the largest number of execrables in one place.

Anyone who hasn't seen that article, go check it out, but keep a barf bag handy. (non-English speakers: barf bag = air sickness bag, or more generally, a container in which to vomit)

Back in 1981 or so I made the following prediction: The requirement for unlimited economic growth is as inherently inimical to the nuclear family as it has been to the extended family and the neighborhood community. For example, the appliance sector reaches a theoretical limit when every household is fully equipped with appliances: a fridge, washer, dryer, dishwasher, etc. After that point, the only way to increase demand for these goods is to break down the nuclear family into sub-units of single-parent families, each with its own household, thereby doubling the market for appliances... (See, even when I was a "college-radical," I was still pretty conservative, and nowadays I think the word "square" is cool:-)

Well, the prediction about breaking up families for economic reasons came true with a vengeance. But I never imagined that households would sprout multiple fridges! Least of all so people don't have to get up and walk to the kitchen!

I think we should call these things "Fatty Fridges" since their other main effect is to encourage unthinking consumption of calories, thereby contributing to what Aaron so brilliantly called "America's grotesque jewelry" (rolls of fat on peoples' bodies).

My moralistic side favors outlawing the more egregious examples directly, but my libertarian side says stick to a powerdown scenario with energy (and water) rationing, and let people freely choose what they want to use their energy for. If someone wants a showerhead at "below the belt" height, that they can set for Massage and get a Special Thrill, fine, they can do without clean clothes and they can crap in a bucket. If someone wants a big-screen TV, they can take cold showers, or power it from the high-tech exercise treadmill/generator that they buy to work off the calories gained from too many visits to the Fatty Fridge.

Lemmings. I swear! "Amusing ourselves to death."

By the way, here's another fatal flaw in a consumer-driven economy: Where "convenience" is a key competitive selling-point, the necessary result is the *infantilization* (making-infantile) of the consumer. Whatever need is being met, has to be met with less and less effort until the result is indistinguishable from going back to the womb. The Fatty Fridge is a key illustration.

First you have to walk to the kitchen. Then you get a Fatty Fridge in each room. Then you get a Home Robot to automatically stock the calories into the Fatty Fridges. Then the next step is that the Fatty Fridges are put on motorized wheels so they can roll right up to your Easy Chair when you press a button on your Universal Remote Control.

The next step is a radical redesign of the Fatty Fridge so it can automatically dispense your choice of excess calories and serve them up on a platter (like a Serving Robot), so you merely reach & eat without having to open the packaging. What comes next? A drinking-tube that's positioned where you merely need to turn your head in order to suck down the calories. And next, a machine that delivers the solid food to your mouth via a conveyor belt or robotic spoon, so you only have to open your mouth and wait for the calories to be inserted.

You see where this goes? The only further steps possible are to deliver pre-chewed "solid" food, pre-warmed, through a tube under slight pressure (so you only need to apply a very slight suction to obtain the calories). Just like being a baby and having Mom always at the ready with breast or bottle, and with a jar of Gerber's Baby Mush and a spoon.

Then we will also see the Easy Chair on Wheels, that drives you into the bathroom or bedroom. Eventually the bathroom itself will be replaced by a little protuberance on the Motorized Easy Chair, that you sit down upon and never have to worry about taking a poop in the middle of your favorite movie! And of course an attachable funnel so you don't have to get up to go pee.

And the bedroom itself will give way to the Easy Chair automatically turning itself into a bed, by reclining when it sees your brain emitting delta-frequency EEG signals. This will either come with an attachment that pulls some covers over you, or a radiant heater on an extendible arm, that uses up about 250 kilowatt-hours per month in lieu of having sheets and blankets, just to keep your oh-so-pampered body warm while you sleep like a proverbial baby (in more ways than one) in front of the always-on Big Screen.

Well folks, I just thought of a way to prevent it getting any worse. See my "inventors' co-op" topic (in the Energy Technology section) for this one, since there's a patent attorney corresponding there, for whom I have a vey special question in this regard. I do believe we can save the world from any further execrable appliances....! And I'm as serious as a heart attack about this.

[Bytesmiths]

... mobile phones use microwaves...

Cell phones do NOT use Microwaves. They use frequencies ranging from 900mhz to 1900mhz. Microwaves require a line of sight in order to transmit data (one dish must be physically capable of seeing the other dish) - therefore microwave technology wouldn't work for cell phones.

Just a nit-pick from an RF Engineer...

"Microwaves" are generally regarded as above 1000 MHz. So cell phones are darned close.

Cell phones <b>do</b> operate "line of sight." Just about anything over 30 MHz is more-or-less "line of sight." Perhaps you haven't noticed those relatively short towers with three antennas on the top every few miles?

What you think is different about microwaves is simply antenna technology. As wavelengths get shorter, it becomes more practical to design highly directional antennas, which require less power than omnidirectional ones. Thus, the false belief that microwaves somehow "require" two dishes pointing directly at each other.

For a contrasting example, consider wireless networking, which also uses microwaves in the 2400 MHz band. These typically use omnidirectional antennas. Imagine how useless wireless networking would be if you had to carefully point your laptop's dish antenna when you went into Starbucks for some on-the-go web surfing?

Coming the long way back to the topic: if we used more directional antennas, energy use for radio communications would be more efficient. If you <b>had to</b> carefully point your cell phone at an antenna, the power required might be 100 times less. There's a convenience we could give up -- the freedom to yak totally without thought!

Perhaps if one had to take more care to set up a cell phone call, the overheard calls might be more intelligent.

[Bytesmiths]

4> Lighting. (3) 48 inch fluorescent T8 tubes consume as much electricity as a single 100 watt lamp (each tube rated at 32 w) for more lumens. Compact fluorescent lamps rated at 15 watts produce as many lumens as incandescent lamps rated at 60 watts. LED lighting is even more efficient, lasts longer and produces a higher quality light.

Good stuff in general, but I have another nit to pick.

When considering energy efficiency of lighting, consider its use as well.

Just as my previous posting pointed out that directional antennas are more efficient than omnidirectional ones, it is less efficient to illuminate (for example) a desktop with a ceiling-mounted light than it is to use a tightly focused light.

This aspect, <b>directionality,</b> is what makes LED lighting desirable, <b>not</b> their gross efficiency, which is about on par with incandescent lights.

On the other hand, fluorescent lights are extremely efficient in a gross sense -- number of photons produced per electrons passed -- but fail miserably at directionality. Even with shiny reflectors, you just can't get a tight beam out of them!

So for "task lighting," LEDs or even halogens are the most efficient, but if you need a hemisphere of light, fluorescent is more efficient.

(Also, the spectral response of LED lighting is "spikey," meaning it only contains a few colors. Good fluorescent light is better quality than LED lighting. Early fluorescent lights gave it a bad name, but all but the very cheapest are <b>much</b> better these days.)

[Bytesmiths]

Refigerators, washingmachines, microwaves and especially pool pumps should all be 220V.

"Pool pumps?" Now <b>there's</b> a good example of execrable use of energy, no?

This simple change reduces consumption by about 40% and lets the appliance work easier.

First off, it generally is no "simple change." Some motors can be re-wired, and some electronic devices have switching supplies that will operate on either voltage, but most likely it will mean <b>replacing</b> the appliance, in which case the embedded energy in the new appliance is far more than what you'll ever make up in electricity savings.

Second, I disagree that you'll save anywhere near 40% by changing voltage on those appliances. Maybe a couple percent on the microwave, negligible on the 'fridge or washing machine.

FOR EXAMPLE: assume the microwave pulls 1100 watts from the wall. That's ten amps on 110V, or 5A on 220V. Let's say you have a 50 foot run of #14 wire feeding it. That's 100 feet for two conductors, or 0.26 ohms of resistance in the wire.

Power consumed by a resistance is I squared times R, so the 110V microwave wastes 26 watts in the wiring; the 220V microwave wastes about 7 watts. This appears to be a a nice 400% savings.

But we should be comparing TOTAL use: so the 110V microwave is using 1126 watts, vs the 220V microwave's use of 1107 watts: a 1.7% savings.

[nocar]

Granted that microwave ovens use a lot less energy than the ordinary stove to heat leftovers, I really wonder if I really save energy by owning one. Until we had a microwave, when coming home late and being hungry, I would just eat the leftovers cold. Now of course they go into the micro. Anyone else with similar experiences?

I agree that leafblowers are one of the worst things invented.

Lawnmowers that you ride on are excre-whatever. Walking is good for you.

[Guest]

Agreed, get rid of overhead street lights, though perhaps small LED lights could be used to mark dangerous turns and so on. People can carry wind-up flashlights. As for the public safety issue of badguys taking advantage, that's where citizen-watch ambushes come in. And/or carry a pistol while out walking in the newly-darkened cities; chances are you'll have one anyway for household defense, may as well carry it on the streets.

How about putting the street lights on motion detectors - everyone believes that badguys are scared away when these come on .

I read somewhere that in Russia they don't have streetlights and it is illegal to drive at night with headlights on (as it might blind other drivers) - you're supposed to use your "parking lights".