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#1
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Lighted ski trail cost - ??
Our local owners association is trying to "bully" us into agreeing to an
increase in our dues. It was recently put to an association vote and didn't pass. So, in a "cost savings" measure they shut off the lights to our lighted 1 mile trail for nordic skiing. Its lit from 6-10pm normally. How much are they really saving? Can anyone help me here? I need some numbers to back up my argument that they are NOT really saving any money. Seems as though a ONE MILLION dollar budget isnt going to be helped by shutting off the electricity to our little loop. Its really bureaucratic positions that need eliminating. HELP PLEASE JK |
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#2
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I wish *I* had a place to ski at night. Heck, I wish I had a place to ski
that was closer than 200 miles from my home, but that's my problem ;-) Count the number of lights, multiply by the power for each light (the hard part), and multiply by the on-time. Example: lights every 20 meters over 1600m means about 80 lights. If the lights are like my local (San Jose, CA, USA) street lamps then they consume about 20 Watts each. These are the most efficient, ugliest (monochrome yellow "low pressure sodium") lights I know of. I'm not sure they work in cold climates. Anyway, that comes to 1.6kWatts. Using $0.10/kWHour as the rate, you get $0.48 per night. Of course, if the lights are the most inefficient (incandescent) then multiply the power by about 10 and you get $5 a night. If electricity costs you 0.20/kWH then double it. And if you have more lights or brighter lights then... well you get the idea. Do they save any payroll money by turning off the lights? Paying a single employee to sit around for 4 hours a night would cost more than the electricity, I would think. Bob "32 degrees" wrote in message ... Our local owners association is trying to "bully" us into agreeing to an increase in our dues. It was recently put to an association vote and didn't pass. So, in a "cost savings" measure they shut off the lights to our lighted 1 mile trail for nordic skiing. Its lit from 6-10pm normally. How much are they really saving? Can anyone help me here? I need some numbers to back up my argument that they are NOT really saving any money. Seems as though a ONE MILLION dollar budget isnt going to be helped by shutting off the electricity to our little loop. Its really bureaucratic positions that need eliminating. HELP PLEASE JK |
#3
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Oops, more specific.
No sodium vapor lamps or anything like that. Regular 110volt light bulbs on little poles strung out about every 50-80 feet. That would make around 80 lights. cost to run for 4 hours? JK |
#4
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OK, then $5 per night times 30 nights is $150 per month. Have you thought
about just buying a headlamp? Orienteers use good ones. Ask Terje. Bob "32 degrees" wrote in message ... Oops, more specific. No sodium vapor lamps or anything like that. Regular 110volt light bulbs on little poles strung out about every 50-80 feet. That would make around 80 lights. cost to run for 4 hours? JK |
#5
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"32 degrees" wrote in message ... So, in a "cost savings" measure they shut off the lights to our lighted 1 mile trail for nordic skiing. Its lit from 6-10pm normally. How much are they really saving? Can anyone help me here? I need some numbers to back up my argument that they are NOT really saving any money. Our association manitains 1.5km of lit trail from 5-9pm, and we recently (a few years ago) estimated the cost at about C$250 per year for electricity. Rates have gone up about 20% since for each kw/h. Say $300--$400 per year. The equipment sounds similar. Blake |
#6
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On Tue, 7 Feb 2006, Bob wrote:
Do they save any payroll money by turning off the lights? Paying a single employee to sit around for 4 hours a night would cost more than the electricity, I would think. That reminded me of this cartoon :-) http://www.skiforeningen.no/stripe/i...ke=2&year=2006 "There should be a better warning when the lights are shut off for the night" -- David Dermott , Wolfville Ridge, Nova Scotia, Canada email: WWW pages: http://www.dermott.ca/index.html |
#7
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Bob wrote:
OK, then $5 per night times 30 nights is $150 per month. Have you thought about just buying a headlamp? Orienteers use good ones. Ask Terje. Indeed. Here in Oslo we have miles & miles of lighted trails, but all serious xc skiers have bought night-O headlamps anyway: This way we can ski anywhere on the 2900 (2600?) km trail system. :-) A proper NiMH battery and 20 W halogene bulb seated in a good reflector results in better light than even the best lighted ski trail. Terje -- - "almost all programming can be viewed as an exercise in caching" |
#8
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David Dermott wrote: On Tue, 7 Feb 2006, Bob wrote: Do they save any payroll money by turning off the lights? Paying a single employee to sit around for 4 hours a night would cost more than the electricity, I would think. That reminded me of this cartoon :-) http://www.skiforeningen.no/stripe/i...ke=2&year=2006 "There should be a better warning when the lights are shut off for the night" This has happened to me several times. I didn't wipe out, but I scared myself in the middle of a descent once. The most scary time was once the lights shut off at our speed-skating track while I was at full speed mid-turn. Joseph |
#9
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Terje Mathisen wrote: Bob wrote: OK, then $5 per night times 30 nights is $150 per month. Have you thought about just buying a headlamp? Orienteers use good ones. Ask Terje. Indeed. Here in Oslo we have miles & miles of lighted trails, but all serious xc skiers have bought night-O headlamps anyway: This way we can ski anywhere on the 2900 (2600?) km trail system. :-) A proper NiMH battery and 20 W halogene bulb seated in a good reflector results in better light than even the best lighted ski trail. Terje Sometimes (always?) the shadows from a headlamp highlight the surface better than a lit trail. At least for me. I still prefer a well lit trail, but that makes it extra fun to take a small unlit side trail sometimes. Joseph |
#10
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Maybe I'm missing something - and maybe the $150 per month is accurate.
But if you're trying to arugue a point with the association, why not just caculate the power consumption (watts/bulb X # of bulbs), find out what the power company charges per KWH - and do the math. I'm thinking it's probalby closer to $50 - $75 per month max. 5 or 6 cents per KWH, 100 watts per bulb (whatever these numbers happen to be). Throw in 10% power loss in the lines. That could even be calculated if you know the gauge of the wire and you think you need to shave that gnat's ass, probably unnecessary detail. I "think" you're probably talking about 1000 KWH per month, which would be about $50 - $60 per month + the 10% fudge factor. If you want to make a point with your association, don't guess, make a calculation. I'm pretty sure it's even cheaper than you thought. As for headlamp: yes one can ski with a headlamp, but lit trails are much, much better and more fun. |
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