"Earth Hour" 8:30-9:30 tonight. So turn everything on.

[A.J.M]

I switched on a few tv's and lights and left the ps3 running while i went for a drive for the hour.

God bless my landrover,

[S7Paul]

I was at the O2 Arena at the time. I regret to say that Metallica didn't appear the slightest bit interested in switching off the lights, or the lasers, or the flames/fireballs. They did play "Hit The Lights" though, which was a nice touch.

[cazzer]

I only just noticed this thread now.
So I missed adding any extra consumption.
But as a consolation I have spent the afternoon swapping a 3.9 for a 4.6 so I'm doing my bit

[Colonial]

I was at a pub

Listening to metal

Played live

Through massive speakers.

With a decent light show

That is how it should be celebrated

[Airbag]

Consumption down 15% here!

[turbobloke]

Airbag said:

Consumption down 15% here!

Must be Toronto. Mixed results in Canada so far e.g. Calgary and Vancouver down 1% (insignificant).

ETA Edmonton -5%

A typical city-wide load variation can be +/- 10% with no campaign operating.

Edited by turbobloke on Monday 30th March 08:09

[Jasandjules]

Surely someone can get the data which shows whether or not demand actually went down in the UK.....

[turbobloke]

Jasandjules said:

Surely someone can get the data which shows whether or not demand actually went down in the UK.....

They're not playing ball, why this should happen is anybody's guess, but it will be seen as suspicious:

National Grid 7 day power demand website page one minute ago said:

Timeout expired. The timeout period elapsed prior to completion of the operation or the server is not responding.

[Jasandjules]

Yes, it's timing out for me as well....

[anonymous-user]

as much as i dont buy the climate change spin, quite often the streetlights go out in my neck of the woods and the area is plunged into darkness. its only then that you appreciate just how many stars there are in the sky. on a normal day you can see the brightest, boldest and most familiar constellations, but on a night like that you can see countless more. it would be nice to see them on a regular basis...

[turbobloke]

pablo said:

as much as i dont buy the climate change spin, quite often the streetlights go out in my neck of the woods and the area is plunged into darkness. its only then that you appreciate just how many stars there are in the sky. on a normal day you can see the brightest, boldest and most familiar constellations, but on a night like that you can see countless more. it would be nice to see them on a regular basis...

Light pollution is one of those genuine environmental issues that the environ mentalists are marginalising over their baseless obsession with lemonade fizz.

For the sake of a few quid, street and other municipal plus corporate lighting could be directed where it's needed (down) not where it isn't and where it's wasted (up). There are local statutes near most professional observatories banning development in order to keep 'dark skies' but with little investment and some more thought in the design and application of illumination for various purposes, the problem would be much less anyway.

It affects wildlife as well as human amateur and professional astronomers, city residents can often hear a continuous dawn chorus from songbirds through the night, as it never gets fully dark and the birds react accordingly; migration can also be affected, as can marine creatures such as egg-laying and newly hatched turtles, whose instinct seems to use starlight reflected off the sea as an inceased brightness directional beacon - they're now drawn off the beach away from the sea towards artificial lighting. And so on.

[ShadownINja]

Jasandjules said:

Surely someone can get the data which shows whether or not demand actually went down in the UK.....

What would it prove? Turning the lights out uses less power?

[Jasandjules]

ShadownINja said:

Jasandjules said:

Surely someone can get the data which shows whether or not demand actually went down in the UK.....

What would it prove? Turning the lights out uses less power?

What I am hoping is that consumption went up, i.e. the public don't believe in the CO2 b***it and would be telling the Govt in no uncertain terms.

[ShadownINja]

Jasandjules said:

ShadownINja said:

Jasandjules said:

Surely someone can get the data which shows whether or not demand actually went down in the UK.....

What would it prove? Turning the lights out uses less power?

What I am hoping is that consumption went up, i.e. the public don't believe in the CO2 b***it and would be telling the Govt in no uncertain terms.

Ahhh! I like yer thinking!

[sneijder]

Here in Oslo office lights are left on friday night, and turned off moday morning.

I think it looks quite nice all lit up.

[bigTee]

Local Woolworths have had their lights on since they went bump!