I was sitting down in my easy chair in a darkened living room last night, looking at all the little green and red dots of light around my house. They looked like the eyes of a werewolf or vampire in the night. It occurred to me that maybe I was onto something. Maybe those little lights are like vampires and werewolves. Maybe those little lights were telling me about the waste of energy that was going on right under my nose.
Another word for these little energy wasters are: "Wall Warts." Wall Warts refer to those over sized plug in adapters found on DVD players and recorders, cable boxes, XBoxes, Nintendos, Playstations, etc. So, the question is: "How much power do these little wall warts consume in a typical year?" And, "How much money am I spending on these appliances in standby mode each year?"
Estimates are that between 4 to 10 percent of your energy usage are for these electronic vampires and werewolves. So, after calculating 4 percent of my power bill, it only amounted to around $7.00 a month. Then, I started thinking about how much of a pain it would be to plug and unplug all of these devices. I decided to throw in the towel. I wouldn't be wasting my time on silver bullets and garlic. I was content with spending the $7 on the convenience.
However, here are some tips you can use to still save money:
1. Do you really use that old VCR? Unplug it along with any other rarely used device that have those little red and green lights
2. Use a power strip. Keep the power strip within easy reach so you can turn it on and off with your foot.
3. Change power settings. Some appliances and computers have standby settings that reduce the amount of power or turn it off completely.
4. Offset any energy use by these power vampires by increasing your insulation in your home, adjusting your water heater temperature, or, getting a tune up on your furnace or heat pump/air conditioner.
Put away the garlic, the wooden stakes, the silver bullets. You can take a few steps to reduce your energy consumption and still keep the vampires and werewolves at bay.
Another word for these little energy wasters are: "Wall Warts." Wall Warts refer to those over sized plug in adapters found on DVD players and recorders, cable boxes, XBoxes, Nintendos, Playstations, etc. So, the question is: "How much power do these little wall warts consume in a typical year?" And, "How much money am I spending on these appliances in standby mode each year?"
Estimates are that between 4 to 10 percent of your energy usage are for these electronic vampires and werewolves. So, after calculating 4 percent of my power bill, it only amounted to around $7.00 a month. Then, I started thinking about how much of a pain it would be to plug and unplug all of these devices. I decided to throw in the towel. I wouldn't be wasting my time on silver bullets and garlic. I was content with spending the $7 on the convenience.
However, here are some tips you can use to still save money:
1. Do you really use that old VCR? Unplug it along with any other rarely used device that have those little red and green lights
2. Use a power strip. Keep the power strip within easy reach so you can turn it on and off with your foot.
3. Change power settings. Some appliances and computers have standby settings that reduce the amount of power or turn it off completely.
4. Offset any energy use by these power vampires by increasing your insulation in your home, adjusting your water heater temperature, or, getting a tune up on your furnace or heat pump/air conditioner.
Put away the garlic, the wooden stakes, the silver bullets. You can take a few steps to reduce your energy consumption and still keep the vampires and werewolves at bay.
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