Denise's Blog Spot

Unplugging — the Ultimate Power Smart Strategy

When you turn off a light, it no longer consumes electricity. But when you turn off some household electrical devices, such as VCRs or DVD players, they continue to draw small amounts of electricity known as ‘standby power’.

For example, even when turned off, a DVD player can consume up to 10 watts of standby power, a TV up to 12 watts, and a VCR up to 13 watts.

Such devices could be drawing standby power 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Unplugging them would shave up to 10% off the average Canadian household’s annual electricity bill.

To eliminate wasteful standby power, consider unplugging battery chargers as soon as they have finished charging. Plug computers, monitors, printers, and scanners into a power bar that you can turn off instead of having to unplug each device separately. Power bars also protect electronic devices against power surges and spikes.

It may not always be practical to unplug certain devices. Some microwaves won’t work unless the clock is set, and built-in microwaves are not convenient to unplug. In all cases, check the instruction manual before unplugging something to eliminate standby power losses.

A fierce summer thunderstorm swept through Winnipeg late Thursday, with bolts of lightning that spooked residents, split a tree and apparently set a house on fire.

"It was raining, pouring and thundering like crazy out here," said Kevin Wood, who lives in Transcona. "All I heard was a big boom."

Wood immediately stepped outside his side-by-side home and was horrified to see the house across the street at 524 McMeans Ave. engulfed in flames.

"There was a lot of smoke. It looks like it (the lightning) caught the right side of the roof," Wood said.

The blaze caught the attention of most in the neighbourhood, who gathered to see the commotion. The Winnipeg Fire Department said the fire occurred around 4:20 p.m. No one was injured and damage was estimated to be $140,000 to the structure and $40,000 to the contents. The cause of the fire is still officially under investigation.

Elsewhere Thursday afternoon, lightning struck a tree near Flora Street and Charles Walk.

The bolt split the tree and edged toward a wrought-iron handrail. No one was hurt.

Environment Canada meteorologist Mike Russo said lightning is a part of every thunderstorm and warned Manitobans to take precautions.

"When there is lightning, the best thing you can do is get indoors, avoid any trees and tall objects.

If you're on the golf course, the best thing to do is to make your way back to the clubhouse," he said.

Russo said the thunderstorm activity was fuelled by a cold front that moved through Manitoba and collided with moisture in the air.

Severe thunderstorm watches and warnings were in effect for most of southern, central and northeastern Manitoba Thursday night.

"We're into prime-time summer now, this type of weather is normal actually," Russo said.

It was so dry before the storm that a grass fire started along the CPR La Rivière railway tracks on the east side of Kenaston Boulevard, between Sterling Lyon Parkway and McGillivray Boulevard.

A district fire chief at the scene said it took 10 fire trucks and 31 firefighters to bring the blaze under control.

This weekend, the cold front is expected to cool temperatures off slightly.

The forecast calls for showers and possible thunderstorms today, with temperatures no higher than the low-20s through the weekend. Temperatures are expected to climb back into the high 20s early next week, Russo said.

In central and northeastern parts of Manitoba Friday, rainfall is expected to continue, along with winds out of the north gusting to 50 km/h.

The province is warning Interlake residents to brace for some overland flooding today and Saturday.

A strong storm system is moving slowly in from Saskatchewan and was expected to deliver heavy rains from Thursday night to Saturday.

The Interlake has already had a wetter-than-normal summer, so soil is saturated, ditches are high and streams are close to overflowing. More rain could produce heavy run-off and overland flooding.

The province is warning residents to take precautions and protect their properties.

Taken from the Winnipeg Free Press.

Neighbours Helping Neighbours expands across Manitoba

The Salvation Army, with support from Manitoba Hydro, has expanded its Neighbours Helping Neighbours program to reach out to all residents of Manitoba.

This energy assistance program provides low income individuals, families and seniors who are unable to pay their energy bill due to personal hardship or crisis with:

• referrals to community support services, counseling and job training;
• one-time emergency funding to assist with energy bills.

Neighbours Helping Neighbours relies on private and corporate donations to fund its services. Manitoba Hydro matches all program donations dollar for dollar.

“Just going home and realizing that I had finally stepped one little step forward made it much easier for me to want to keep going… From this support, the realization that I could do something, made me feel much better about myself… Yesterday I started back to work at a casual position. Now I can see I can even make more progress in turning my financial circumstances around… Thank you Neighbours Helping Neighbours.”

— Karen, Manitoba Hydro Customer

Taken from the MB Hydro website