so... is that like how many watts per hour it uses or something?

[gorcorps]

Does anybody else have family and/or friends that just can't understand the concept of power and such? It hurts my brain when they try to break down a watt rating and ask how many watts per hour or something it saves.

-"So this compact florescent only uses 60 watts... that'll save me like 40 watts an hour right?"
-"No... it saves you just 40 watts. A power measurement already has time in it, as it's energy per second"
-"Oh, so I save 40 watts per second"
-"NO! You save 40 units of ENERGY a second! It's called a joule... you'll use 40 less joules per second"
-"40 Jews? WTF do jews have to do with anything?"
-"Not JEWS! JOULES! GOD FUCKING DAM... you know what? Yes, yes... you will save 40 watts an hour. Just buy it"
-"Ok cool man, thanks"

I need some less moronic friends.

 

[Ika]

should've explained it in kilowatt hours, which is what they get on their power bill.

 

[Lean L]

he's talking about the acceleration of energy... gawd... talk about ironing.

 

[Blackjack200]

I'm pretty bad with electricity myself, I can't keep amps, voltage, wattage, cycles/second and all that shit straight.

I do know, however, that I get charged for 'kilowatt-hours' so I think of kilowatt as a flow rate that you would multiply by time to arrive at total energy quantification.

 

[rcpratt]

To be fair, it is kind of convoluted that we measure energy by both joules and kWh. Also, I don't think people like having a rate unit without "per hour" or "per second" in it.

But yes, people are dumb.

 

[lxskllr]

40W per hour's close enough, and correct. I'd just let it go.

 

[Mermaidman]

Does anybody else have family and/or friends that just can't understand the concept of power and such? It hurts my brain when they try to break down a watt rating and ask how many watts per hour or something it saves.
. . .

I need some less moronic friends.

People have different aptitudes for different things. It appears your talent is in understanding electricity.

 

[meltdown75]

50,000 unstoppable watts

 

[pmv]

60W is a heck of a powerful CFL. I've not seen one over 30W.

Also those things are over-rated for saving energy. They aren't as bright as they claim, and there's the whole power-factor/phase thing they don't take into account. And they all have to be imported from China, and they don't last nearly as long as they say, and because they cost so much you lose more when one accidentally breaks. And you can't get them in as wide a range of fittings/sizes and colors as the normal kind.


(I'm surprised the conversation didn't get into "What's the unit of energy?" "yes, Watts are the unit of energy" "that's what I asked"....)

 

[Rubycon]

Watt's this thread about again?

 

[gorcorps]

60W is a heck of a powerful CFL. I've not seen one over 30W.

Also those things are over-rated for saving energy. They aren't as bright as they claim, and there's the whole power-factor/phase thing they don't take into account. And they all have to be imported from China, and they don't last nearly as long as they say, and because they cost so much you lose more when one accidentally breaks. And you can't get them in as wide a range of fittings/sizes and colors as the normal kind.


(I'm surprised the conversation didn't get into "What's the unit of energy?" "yes, Watts are the unit of energy" "that's what I asked"....)

I was just making up numbers for the story. I don't remember what was actually said number wise.

 

[edro]

Stop trying to make your non-educated friends feel stupid.
You knew what he meant.

 

[DrPizza]

To be fair, it is kind of convoluted that we measure energy by both joules and kWh. Also, I don't think people like having a rate unit without "per hour" or "per second" in it.

But yes, people are dumb.

But, 10 cents per kilowatt hour is a little more meaningful to dumb people than 10 cents per .0000000277777 joules.
Or 10 cents per .0277777 megajoules
Or 1 cent per .27777 megajoules
Or 1 dollar per 27.777 gigajoules


At least you can explain a kilowatt hour as "using 1000 watts for a total of one hour" and there's some comprehension.

Would you rather see a lightbulb stamped with "60 watts" or "216,000 joules per hour"

 

[BurnItDwn]

Ehh ... I don't have stupid friends.

They either 1.) are smart enough to know elementary physics or
2.) smart enough not to ask me stupid questions because they know it will result in their humiliation.

 

[rcpratt]

But, 10 cents per kilowatt hour is a little more meaningful to dumb people than 10 cents per .0000000277777 joules.
Or 10 cents per .0277777 megajoules
Or 1 cent per .27777 megajoules
Or 1 dollar per 27.777 gigajoules


At least you can explain a kilowatt hour as "using 1000 watts for a total of one hour" and there's some comprehension.

Would you rather see a lightbulb stamped with "60 watts" or "216,000 joules per hour"

Watts are fine of course, but if we had labeled energy cost as "3.6 cents/MJ" from the beginning, I think that would make just as much sense as kWh. The two main problems that dumb people struggle with are the fact that there are two different units for energy (J, kWh), and that having a unit of time in a unit (kWh) makes them think it's a rate.

Maybe if people just weren't dumb...

 

[Rubycon]

Would you rather see a lightbulb stamped with "60 watts" or "216,000 joules per hour"

Lumens per watt.

It's all about the efficacy.

 

[tatteredpotato]

Watts are fine of course, but if we had labeled energy cost as "3.6 cents/MJ" from the beginning, I think that would make just as much sense as kWh. The two main problems that dumb people struggle with are the fact that there are two different units for energy (J, kWh), and that having a unit of time in a unit (kWh) makes them think it's a rate.

We could change watts to "Watt-Hr/Hr"

 

[Homerboy]

50,000 unstoppable watts

Thanks Neil.

 

[gorcorps]

Stop trying to make your non-educated friends feel stupid.
You knew what he meant.

This particular 'friend' deserves it, and he gets picked on from a lot of us because of it. It's all in good fun.

 

[silverpig]

But, 10 cents per kilowatt hour is a little more meaningful to dumb people than 10 cents per .0000000277777 joules.
Or 10 cents per .0277777 megajoules
Or 1 cent per .27777 megajoules
Or 1 dollar per 27.777 gigajoules


At least you can explain a kilowatt hour as "using 1000 watts for a total of one hour" and there's some comprehension.

Would you rather see a lightbulb stamped with "60 watts" or "216,000 joules per hour"

What numbers are those? 1 kWh = 3 600 000 J

So it'd be 10c/3.6 MJ

and 0.000000027777 = 0.02777 microJoules

 

[DrPizza]

Ooops, didn't even realize I had done that. That's what happens when you're on vacation & not paying attention.

 

[StrangerGuy]

Wait till you see people that doesn't even know how switch video inputs on their TV.

 

[Mike Gayner]

Ehh ... I don't have stupid friends.

They either 1.) are smart enough to know elementary physics or
2.) smart enough not to ask me stupid questions because they know it will result in their humiliation.

Wow you sound like an awesome friend. Not a nerdy shut-in or anything.

 

[Eli]

60W is a heck of a powerful CFL. I've not seen one over 30W.

Also those things are over-rated for saving energy. They aren't as bright as they claim, and there's the whole power-factor/phase thing they don't take into account. And they all have to be imported from China, and they don't last nearly as long as they say, and because they cost so much you lose more when one accidentally breaks. And you can't get them in as wide a range of fittings/sizes and colors as the normal kind.


(I'm surprised the conversation didn't get into "What's the unit of energy?" "yes, Watts are the unit of energy" "that's what I asked"....)

Care to guess?

 

[Colt45]

This is a total jerboy thread.

I kinda prefer watt hours to joules. I know I can run a 100W bulb for 10h and have used 1kWh. I don't really have a frame of reference for joules.