[HamRadioRocks]

I'm surprised I've never seen this mentioned as a conservation technique, but it seems to me that going to bed earlier would conserve energy by reducing the need for lights. Additionally, it might also mean less time spent watching TV or using the computer, both of which are energy-using activities.

What do you think. Should we all be in bed by 9:00 each night or at least on most nights?

[rogerhb]

Yes, and it's way past your bedtime.

[americandream]

I'm surprised I've never seen this mentioned as a conservation technique, but it seems to me that going to bed earlier would conserve energy by reducing the need for lights. Additionally, it might also mean less time spent watching TV or using the computer, both of which are energy-using activities.

What do you think. Should we all be in bed by 9:00 each night or at least on most nights?

You also rise early at the other end...in time for the worm!

[Shiraz]

It might save a bit of power, but is unlikely to have the desired effect with regard to population...

[gg3]

In fact, "going to bed early" doesn't help, at all.

First, your largest household energy usage is for heating & cooling, not for lights and computers/telecom. One compact fluorescent is about 30 watts. A laptop is about 30 watts. A small television, either B&W tube type or flat-screen color, is anywhere from 15 - 60 watts. An ordinary table radio is 1 to 3 watts, or a small stereo might be 15 - 60 watts.

So if you're sitting at your desk using the computer, that's about 60 watts. If you're sitting up watching a late-night movie, that's not much more.

Second, and conclusively: There is already enormous surplus generating capacity at night. This is why overnight rates are so much lower than daytime rates.

In fact the best thing for efficiency, is for 1/3 to 1/2 of the population to be fully nocturnal, so as to make most efficient use of overnight generating capacity.

The only case where it makes more sense (from an energy efficiency perspective) to sync your awake hours to the daylight, is where your power is mostly or entirely from solar PV panels and your storage capacity is minimal or nonexistent.

[Frank]

I feel obligated to comment on the off-peak business. Off-peak hours usually cost less as "producers" seek to maximize return on investment i.e. this phenomenon is driven by economics, not by any energy considerations. It doesn't magically require less fuel to produce electricity in the middle of the night; the same amount of fuel is burned. Electricity companies are merely seeking to make the most of the equipment they've already got online to generate, transmit and deliver electricity.

[Doly]

It doesn't magically require less fuel to produce electricity in the middle of the night; the same amount of fuel is burned.

This is not entirely correct. One of the ways that electricity companies have of providing more electricity on peak hours is "storing" the electricity of non-peak hours by pumping water up in dams and getting the electricity back on peak hours. Obviously, this is much more inefficient than just using the electricity straight away. So off-peak electricity does, in fact, burn less fuel than peak hour electricity.

[oilfreeandhappy]

I've found that in the last few weeks, going to bed later is better. Our bedrooms are 2nd story, and we don't have to run the AC if we turn some window fans on after it cools down, about 10 pm.

We have cool evenings and low humidity in Colorado. Still, almost all our neighbors are running the AC. Fifteen years ago, most houses didn't have AC here. Now, all the newer homes do. Our early 70s builder must have foreseen global warming, because they installed AC. We bought the house 8 years ago, and we never use the AC. Go figure....

[Ludi]

Too hot to go to bed early. We don't have AC in the bedroom, so we have to wait until it cools off a bit before turning in, and even at 11 pm it's still uncomfortably hot. We use fans. But definitely need to improve on the passive cooling of this house.

[Fergus]

I'm surprised I've never seen this mentioned as a conservation technique, but it seems to me that going to bed earlier would conserve energy by reducing the need for lights. Additionally, it might also mean less time spent watching TV or using the computer, both of which are energy-using activities.

What do you think. Should we all be in bed by 9:00 each night or at least on most nights?

You must not be a parent.

[small_steps]

I feel obligated to comment on the off-peak business. Off-peak hours usually cost less as "producers" seek to maximize return on investment i.e. this phenomenon is driven by economics, not by any energy considerations. It doesn't magically require less fuel to produce electricity in the middle of the night; the same amount of fuel is burned. Electricity companies are merely seeking to make the most of the equipment they've already got online to generate, transmit and deliver electricity.

Maybe you should look up heat rates and economic dispatch, and stop your journalism.