I live in NYC and I got a text message from the local power company. It said due to increased heat that they are requesting lower energy usage between 2-10. Sure I can do that.
Normally the only thing on in my apartment is my two laptops and the projector screen. I usually have the lights off because I am sensitive to light. I thought about doing laundry but I can do that tomorrow outside of those times.
If the lights start to flicker I will turn off the projector although it has its own internal battery. It was made for use outdoors so that is why it has that feature. I also thought it might be helpful if I had a power issue and I am in a meeting. I try to make my meetings as reliable as possible with the client.
In my last apartment I had a second internet connection because it was part of the apartment rental. Why didn’t I use it? It was so slow and I was doing heavy heavy downloads of the Mac and reinstalling it. It would have reduced my efficiency and frustrated me. So the $80 I spent on a faster connection was worth it. It came in useful a few times when the more expensive Verizon FIOS connection went down a few times.
In my new apartment the FIOS connection has been more reliable. It still has gone down but I was able to contact support and they helped me. It wasn’t great support and it was silly what I had to do and how long it took to get someone who understood the issue. I hope I never have to use the Verizon FIOS support again.
If the power goes out with the solar generator I have lots of power I can use. I will move it into the kitchen and plug my router into it and then go back to work. So I’m as prepared as I can be for power issues.
Still conserving power only helps others and yourself.