Tomorrow morning, ALDI is selling a power meter to measure your electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions for $12.99. We haven’t tested it, but at that price it’s a low-risk way of getting a better handle on your power usage. [ALDI]
From January 2012, a new code of practice will cover those annoying people who come to your door and try and convince you to change your electricity supplier. While that should in theory curtail some of their more irritating habits, our advice remains simple whatever the rulebook says: ignore them. More »
Converting to solar energy can save you money and help save the planet, but the setup is expensive and there are often high-pressure sales tactics involved. The ACCC is warning consumers to research purchases carefully, and not to feel rushed into a decision in order to grab government subsidies. More »
Just because a product claims to be “green” doesn’t mean it will always deliver on that promise, and actually checking up on it can be difficult. So it’s reassuring to know that regulatory bodies do keep an eye on this stuff. Right now, the ACCC is taking green energy supplier Global Green Plan back to court for failing to actually deliver on its promise of selling environmentally-friendly power plans. More »
Dear Lifehacker, I’m a student using a MacBook Pro for uni on which I’ve got Mac OS X & Windows 7 dual booted. I’m constantly switching between the two depending on what I need to do (though Windows is my preferred OS). Recently I’ve noticed that the battery lasts longer on the OS X side than it does on the Windows 7 side, even when only browsing the internet. Why is this? Does this mean that OS X is more energy efficient (& hence environmentally friendly) than Windows? More »
