One of our many goals around the house this year is to reduce the amount of electricity we use. We actually notice a difference in our bill when we’re vigilant about turning off the entertainment center’s power strip, but we’re sure there’s hidden power hogs elsewhere in the house.
That’s where our newly acquired Kill A Watt EZ Electricity Usage Monitor is coming in handy. I can plug in almost any device, set the cost per kWh (SCE&G is charging me $0.094), and it will estimate the total cost per year/month/week/day (though, I recommend also buying a power strip liberator). Here are the first three things I measured:
- Simple lamp with CFL: $3.29 per year
- Entertainment Center (TV/DVD/Stereo/etc.): $95.51 per year
- Phone & Answering Machine: $4.95
This will give me a good roadmap for other devices in the house that should either be used in moderation, or turned off when not in use, helping us reduce our carbon footprint AND save a few bucks. I’ll be sure to post back here with a full report.
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I did this as well. How informative! The most interesting thing to me was that my house was full of phantom loads! Have you ever wondered why your electric meter keeps spinning when everything in your house is turned off? Every electric appliance with an adapter, or a clock (this includes practically everything electronic) continues to sap power as we go about doing other things! A few I found that amazed me:
my digital cable box conumes 25W on OR off!
my cable modem and wireless router gobble 50W combined 24/7.
my computer printer uses 75W in the off position.
all the digital alarm clocks around my home totaled 10W.
That’s a lot of energy wasted. I don’t mind using electricity, but it’s hard to defend carelessly wasting it. I’ve since put my entire computer station and entertainment center on a power strip. I use the strips to be sure all power is cut when these items are not in use. I unplug all the alarm clocks that aren’t used daily (guest room, etc.). I felt good about all these things until I found out my “energy efficient” clothes dryer sucks 3,000W when tumbling! I’ve since been line drying whenever possible. I find it strangely therapeutic. I’m kinda weird like that, though. While I hang my clothes, I fantasize about the solar hot water heater I’m saving up for! Check it out:
http://www.solarhotwaterworks.com/
Josh
Yeah, we’ve been using a powerstrip to turn off the entertainment center – that sucks a ton, even when it’s all off. The only problem is that power strips are often in hard to reach places…there are a few solutions that fix that, but there needs to be more.
Also, I had Thane from Solar Hot Water Works come out to our house a few months ago. You can read about it here.
We like the Kill A Watt and have it in stock in our store for $39.50.
We also have two different types of Smart Strips to help reduce the phantom loads associated with the peripheral equipment for TV’s and computers. The Smart Power Strips will automatically shut down the power going to peripheral devices (cable boxes, modems, printers, etc.) when the main device (e.g. TV or Computer) is shut down.
Please see more at:
http://www.dwellsmart.com/Products/Conservation