Renewable Resources: Could a potato power your house?
Could potatoes be the renewable resources we need to solve the energy crisis? Find out how many potatoes it would take to power your home!
You know that you can build a potato-powered clock. What if you sized that project up to generate renewable energy for an entire house? The folks at Movoto crunched some numbers to figure out just how many potatoes it takes to power a residence based on total square footage. You can plug in your own home's size and any time period that you like to get your own potato power numbers:
By Movoto
My house is around 2,000 square feet, and it would take 1.8 million potatoes to keep it running for a year. The calculator estimates that would cost around $596,000. Hmmm...so I think potatoes might not make it onto the list of viable renewable resources right now.
What the calculator doesn't take into account is energy efficiency. It doesn't seem feasible to run power any home with potatoes, obviously, but I do wonder about the difference between an efficient home and one that's old and drafty with inefficient appliances. I think seeing the difference in number of potatoes would be a fun way to highlight the disparity in efficiency, don't you?
More on Energy Efficiency
Want to read up on how to make your home more energy efficient? Check out these articles!
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What steps have you taken to make your home more efficient? Are you using renewable resources for some or all of your home's power? Let's talk energy conservation in the comments!