a quick scan of our living room shows lots of possible waste--a television that we don't watch, a record player that we use, a dvd player and a receiver. we're all set up to be totally eco here, with all of the aforementioned items plugged into a power strip. but eco we aren't--the power strip stays on 100% of the time, which totally defeats the purpose.
until now. i'd known in the past that electronics drain energy, but i wasn't aware of just how much it could be costing us. over the summer i went around the house unplugging things that weren't in use--the toaster, the dryer, a couple of lamps. it didn't really stick. tomorrow i plan on going around the house again, pulling plugs. i'll leave plugged in only what's hard to get to & used daily--the living room stereo, for instance.
who knows if there'll be a difference on our energy bill, but it's worth a shot--last months grand total was $175 (running the heater, longer showers, baths for lucy in the real bathtub, christmas lights--it all adds up, i guess.). paying out on this small fortune makes me long for the $35 bill of no-dryer july, that's for sure!
3 comments:
Our electric bill last month was over $800 :(. We don't even use our heater when it is cold or our AC when it is hot!
A tip for you, I read that if you plug t hings into a surge protector strip, then you can just turn the strip off instead of unplugging things. don't know how true that is though.
we just got the LCG3 power strip that has specific outlets that can stay on all the time (DVR) and ones that will power off completely when the control outlet is not on. At least that is my understanding!
http://www.amazon.com/Smart-Strip-LCG3-Autoswitching-Technology/dp/B0006PUDQK
Other than energy vampires, we must be wary of our own electrical wiring to make sure that the flow of energy has no obstruction. We should also check if the cables are exposed or not. It is ideal to have these checked a few times a year so both your energy bill and your safety won't be compromised.
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