[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by wolf_bluejay

The same stuff applies to our reef tanks. I think the most common debate is always "what give the most light vs. power" initial cost is only a small part of the debate. Of course it works out nicely the the greenest way to do things is usually the cheapest
How many reefers have a kill-a-watt kicking around?

how do you figure green is cheeper. 9 out of 10 times green is more expensive and yes I am including the initial costs as they are still part of the cost.

take home building for example, to build green is usaly substantualy more, normaly taking 10 years of living in the house to recover the extra cost. Would I build my next house green yes, but I plan for my next to be my last, if I was only building it to live in for 5 -10 years, there is no way I would spend the extra money for something I would never recoup.

green making sence is a game of payback, if you have a car that costs 10K and gets 15mpg or a car that costs 65K and gets 60mpg but are other wise the same, which are you going to buy? I know I am getting the 10K car as 55K worth of gas is a lot of miles.. mind you we did pay 30K for a 65mpg car over a 24K 40mpg one, but that wasn't based on only gas milage.. the car is also a diesel, had more interior room and the wife liked it better. I liked the fact it is deisel as I feel diesel is the way to go. as it is less refined than gas, cheeper, has a higher BTU factor, and the engines are built to last longer. the untapped power in diesel engines is increadable also. take my truck, was a 16mpg in town 22 on the hiway, I took it from 200hp/500ftlb to 400hp/938ftlb and 20mpg in town and 30 on the hiway and there is still more gas milage and power to be had.. I am just happy with what I have now as the next round is going top be expensive.

I guess I just feel there is so many other places we can look to save the enviroment. heck just tuning up your car will do more than a week with out lights. this light thing is a tolkin campaine especialy in BC where we have a lot of hydro power and very cheep rates. want to do something meaningfull then take measures to drop your green house gas emissions, or carbon foot print.. I still need to caluculate the reduction from modifying my truck and for getting rid of the wife's old car and getting the new one. I also replaced my furnace and hotwater heater in the fall from normal units to ultra high efficiency units. now the hard desision is how to heat the shop for next winter....

Steve