Japan electricity supply was not a problem so far this year

[mooncliff]

The summer heat has finally broken, and it is wonderfully cool in Japan now.
Even though this summer was unusually hot, peak electrical demand did not exceed about 90% of supply, so there were no rolling blackouts or brownouts, and there were no particular warnings.
Almost all nuclear power plants are offline, and huge amounts of oil, gas, and coal are being burned to make up the difference, but electricity use was reduced by about 10% across Japan with no particular problems.
Electric bills went up from 2 to 8%, depending on how much you use. Horrendous. From 24 to 35 cents a kilowatt hour depending on amount used. (On the other hand, the washing machine uses 1/3 the electricity, the refrigerator 1/2, the air conditioner 1/3, the LED lights 1/10, of the electricity in the US, so in one way of looking at it, I am actually paying about 10 cents per kwh)
LED installations are going through the roof. Most restaurants and hotels have converted or are preparing to do so. A Denny's type restaurant replaced all its halogens and incadescents and I estimated reduced daily electricity use by 20 kwh per hour, 500 kwh per day since it is 24 hour. Over a month, that is 15,000 kwh, enough to power say 50 modest households. Streetlight LED testing is starting and will roll out soon.

Click on "In detail" at the upper right.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/forecast/html/index-e.html

[touchring]

Re: Japan electricity supply was not a problem so far this year

The summer heat has finally broken, and it is wonderfully cool in Japan now.
Even though this summer was unusually hot, peak electrical demand did not exceed about 90% of supply, so there were no rolling blackouts or brownouts, and there were no particular warnings.
Almost all nuclear power plants are offline, and huge amounts of oil, gas, and coal are being burned to make up the difference, but electricity use was reduced by about 10% across Japan with no particular problems.
Electric bills went up from 2 to 8%, depending on how much you use. Horrendous. From 24 to 35 cents a kilowatt hour depending on amount used. (On the other hand, the washing machine uses 1/3 the electricity, the refrigerator 1/2, the air conditioner 1/3, the LED lights 1/10, of the electricity in the US, so in one way of looking at it, I am actually paying about 10 cents per kwh)
LED installations are going through the roof. Most restaurants and hotels have converted or are preparing to do so. A Denny's type restaurant replaced all its halogens and incadescents and I estimated reduced daily electricity use by 20 kwh per hour, 500 kwh per day since it is 24 hour. Over a month, that is 15,000 kwh, enough to power say 50 modest households. Streetlight LED testing is starting and will roll out soon.

Click on "In detail" at the upper right.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/forecast/html/index-e.html

LED is the way to go, it also saves on maintenance.

[BadJuju]

Re: Japan electricity supply was not a problem so far this year

I am going to be honest, mooncliff. I think the Japanese response to Fukushima has been overwhelmingly stupid. If they had managed the nuclear plant and properly accounted for all major dangers, there would not have been a problem. And in their irrational response to a failure and a fear of radiation, they are opting to use energy sources that produces far more pollution, including radiation, than nuclear power. It is just daft and it boggles my mind that any rational person cannot realize the folly in this.

[mooncliff]

Re: Japan electricity supply was not a problem so far this year

well, yes, there would have not been a problem, but i was kinda a once in a thousand year quake... it was amazing and went on for hours... we were all getting seasick... burning coal, oil, gas, etc, releases huge amounts of radiation into the environment, not to mention mercury and a lot of heavy metals...
But dont forget, there were many nuclear plants along the whole coast, and not much happened to any of the others. That is astonishing.

tepco is idiotic, if i didnt say that clearly enough... you have no idea how much i hate them... i have gone on a campaign of replacing incandescents and have cancelled huge amounts of electrical demand...

[BadJuju]

Re: Japan electricity supply was not a problem so far this year

But dont forget, there were many nuclear plants along the whole coast, and not much happened to any of the others. That is astonishing.

Which is why it is so ridiculous that there has been so much backlash against nuclear power.

[mooncliff]

Re: Japan electricity supply was not a problem so far this year

hmm, no, i think the quake risk is so high that the nuclear plants are potentially more trouble than they are worth. personally, they dont scare me, but they scare everyone else, and that is a real thing that i do not dismiss. nuclear can be useful but is not great, and is not everybodygonnadie nonsense. i prefer to simply reduce my energy consumption.

[BadJuju]

Re: Japan electricity supply was not a problem so far this year

i prefer to simply reduce my energy consumption.

That is ultimately the most sensible and effective approach one can have. There is tremendous room out there for conservation and efficiency. And I think it is the most neglected option despite being the most effective.

[lakedaemonian]

Re: Japan electricity supply was not a problem so far this year

I like the idea of conservation/efficiency.

I still wonder how this will work out for Japan's economy as it's home grown energy generation(nuclear) goes offline and any additional capacity has to be effectively imported beyond just conservation/efficiency gains?

[shiny!]

Re: Japan electricity supply was not a problem so far this year

That is ultimately the most sensible and effective approach one can have. There is tremendous room out there for conservation and efficiency. And I think it is the most neglected option despite being the most effective.

I wish we had the conservation options in the USA that other countries like Japan have. Why can't I get one of those air conditioners that draws 1/3 the power of mine?

The cost of good LED bulbs is ridiculous. $40 for a Philips LED bulb... and like a fool I bought some!

About four years ago I built a cool, silent, low energy-use computer. It's fast, too. I need to replace my 45-watt CPU, but it's been discontinued. There are no CPUs available that offer as much power with such low wattage. Heck, after four years you'd think they could give me the same performance at 25 watts, but no... AMD and Intel went for faster and hotter, with efficiency as an afterthought.

Just like our cars: We should be getting 100 mpg by now.

[lektrode]

Re: Japan electricity supply was not a problem so far this year

I wish we had the conservation options in the USA that other countries like Japan have. Why can't I get one of those air conditioners that draws 1/3 the power of mine?

The cost of good LED bulbs is ridiculous. $40 for a Philips LED bulb...
....
Just like our cars: We should be getting 100 mpg by now.

make sure that any a/c unit you buy uses R-410 refrigerant

and here in SLC, costco is selling a pkg of 4 CFL's for 2bux (thats 50cents ea, for the 13 & 23 watters - the 60 & 100w equiv incandescent) with some sort of subsidy from the elec co.

vs appx 15bux for 3 LED of the 40w equiv.

winner?
CFL and by a wide margin still
so we bought 2dozen CFL's for about 12bux.

and i'm still wondren why supposed 'economy' cars get only 15mpg (in HNL traffic)
(other than what apparently has happened is all the advances in engine tech has gone straight to the bottom line: more HP and off the line accel, vs MPG...)

[shiny!]

Re: Japan electricity supply was not a problem so far this year

make sure that any a/c unit you buy uses R-410 refrigerant

My system's only two years old, so it's probably R-410. Still, does Japan use a different technology? I mean, have you seen their cool toilets with the built-in handwashing sink on the tank? We just don't conserve like than over here... But there's this one.

and here in SLC, costco is selling a pkg of 4 CFL's for 2bux (thats 50cents ea, for the 13 & 23 watters - the 60 & 100w equiv incandescent) with some sort of subsidy from the elec co.

vs appx 15bux for 3 LED of the 40w equiv.

winner?
CFL and by a wide margin still
so we bought 2dozen CFL's for about 12bux.

But the light from CFLs makes me feel ill, plus they have mercury in them. This is the Philips bulb I got- it's come down in price since i got it, natch. The yellow coating is to offset the blue light the LED puts out, giving the light a beautiful color.

and i'm still wondren why supposed 'economy' cars get only 15mpg (in HNL traffic)
(other than what apparently has happened is all the advances in engine tech has gone straight to the bottom line: more HP and off the line accel, vs MPG...)

Exactly what they've done with microprocessors. Used their technology to make them faster than what most people need for everyday use, rather than making them cooler running. Can you imagine the conservation savings if every new computer was 50% more energy efficient? It's not just what each device draws out of the wall, but the extra A/C required to dissipate the heat they generate. I'd like to use a 17-watt mobile processor in my box, but they only sell them to manufacturers. Crazy!

[flintlock]

Re: Japan electricity supply was not a problem so far this year

I just priced some LED under cabinet lighting for a customer today. Compares very favorably on price and light quality with the better Xenon and Halogen lights. Should be more reliable over time. No bulbs to replace @ $7 each like Xenon. Low heat. Low energy use, though this is not really a big factor with this type lighting.

I agree the individual replacement type LED are not really cost effective yet. Just as likely, we will begin to see more fixtures set up for LED only come into use. When priced as fixture/lamp combo, they can be more competitive.

I'm still a little skeptical of the 70,000 hour rated life. I see long life claims for CFLs too and have replaced several in my home within a year.

[flintlock]

Re: Japan electricity supply was not a problem so far this year

I wish we had the conservation options in the USA that other countries like Japan have. Why can't I get one of those air conditioners that draws 1/3 the power of mine?

The cost of good LED bulbs is ridiculous. $40 for a Philips LED bulb... and like a fool I bought some!

About four years ago I built a cool, silent, low energy-use computer. It's fast, too. I need to replace my 45-watt CPU, but it's been discontinued. There are no CPUs available that offer as much power with such low wattage. Heck, after four years you'd think they could give me the same performance at 25 watts, but no... AMD and Intel went for faster and hotter, with efficiency as an afterthought.

Just like our cars: We should be getting 100 mpg by now.

And like computers, they often go for faster and more powerful, rather than more efficient. The HP ratings of some cars today are getting absurd!

[flintlock]

Re: Japan electricity supply was not a problem so far this year

make sure that any a/c unit you buy uses R-410 refrigerant

and here in SLC, costco is selling a pkg of 4 CFL's for 2bux (thats 50cents ea, for the 13 & 23 watters - the 60 & 100w equiv incandescent) with some sort of subsidy from the elec co.

vs appx 15bux for 3 LED of the 40w equiv.

winner?
CFL and by a wide margin still
so we bought 2dozen CFL's for about 12bux.

and i'm still wondren why supposed 'economy' cars get only 15mpg (in HNL traffic)
(other than what apparently has happened is all the advances in engine tech has gone straight to the bottom line: more HP and off the line accel, vs MPG...)

Cars have come a long way in just the last few years in terms of MPG. Things like Variable valve timing, lightweight materials, and direct injection gives my wife's full size car 24 mpg city and 200 HP. We occasionally hit close to 40 mpg on trips. But bumper to bumper traffic is going to ding any gas car's mileage pretty good.

[BadJuju]

Re: Japan electricity supply was not a problem so far this year

I just priced some LED under cabinet lighting for a customer today. Compares very favorably on price and light quality with the better Xenon and Halogen lights. Should be more reliable over time. No bulbs to replace @ $7 each like Xenon. Low heat. Low energy use, though this is not really a big factor with this type lighting.

I agree the individual replacement type LED are not really cost effective yet. Just as likely, we will begin to see more fixtures set up for LED only come into use. When priced as fixture/lamp combo, they can be more competitive.

I'm still a little skeptical of the 70,000 hour rated life. I see long life claims for CFLs too and have replaced several in my home within a year.

It will take a couple years, but LEDs will become the next big thing. LEDs are as much of an improvement over CFLs as CFLs were over incandescent lights. I worked in electrical and lighting sales for a while, so I got to see all of that stuff regularly.

The problem with regards to your CFLs may be the result of improper environmental conditions or operation. Where are they housed? How are they used?