>>
>> Is it really "environmentally friendly" or "frugal" to leave your
>> vacuum running for a couple of hours?     -Peter Cronkleton
>> Univ. of Florida
 
>Weighed against the alternatives, I'll stick to my assertion that the
>vacuum treatment is environmentally friendly and frugal.  On the
>occasions I have used this method I honestly can't say that I noticed an
>appreciable increase in my electric bill for that month, but for the
>sake of argument let's say it cost me $1 an hour to run the vacuum,
>times 3 hours.  Hmmm ... still less than what I'd pay for a can of bug
>spray, or so I think - I don't buy bug spray.
 
Actually, Aaron, your cost is much less than this.  Is Round Lake NYSE&G or NiMo
territory? Either way, you're paying about $0.11/kWh.  A Shop-Vac uses, what,
500 Watts?  So it's costing you about 5-6 cents/hour.  Leaving a Shop-Vac on for
a couple of hours is no worse for the environment than watching TV for an
evening, or leaving a couple of lights on overnight, or baking a pie in an
electric oven, or using a electric decapping knife, or how about using an
electric-motor driven extractor.  Need I go on?
 
I would worry more about the ware-and-tare on the vac. :)
 
Ed Kear