I mentioned that we've been installing some compact fluorescents in our house, most recently the cute little ones I bought at IKEA. I've also mentioned my childhood discovery of the electric meter behind our house.
Well, yesterday morning I decided to assess the speed of our current meter. The wheel was moving pretty briskly and so I started playing the game of turning off electricity around the house. I had thought there were no lights on, but I found closet and bathroom lights burning upstairs.
I turned off every item in the house, even a digital clock, but the meter was still moving pretty quickly. So I unplugged a battery charger, shut down the computer (versus putting it to sleep), and--ta-da!--the meter slowed significantly. I then shut off the power strip that controls the stereo, tv, and dvd player and bammo, the meter appeared to stop completely. It was moving at a barely perceptible rate, most probably from the digital oven display.
Go give this a try at your house. It takes a long time to get the meter to stop, and when it does, take a look around and assess whether you "needed" to be paying for all that electricity you weren't even aware you were using. I had heard that appliances and computers use a lot of energy while they're in standby mode, but watching the meter wheel clip along with the computer and tv/dvd/stereo in standby mode (I wasn't even using them!) really brought the concept home for me.
Now that I am paying such careful attention to our electrical usage, I am very curious to see what our next bill will look like. I'll l let you know.
Well, yesterday morning I decided to assess the speed of our current meter. The wheel was moving pretty briskly and so I started playing the game of turning off electricity around the house. I had thought there were no lights on, but I found closet and bathroom lights burning upstairs.
I turned off every item in the house, even a digital clock, but the meter was still moving pretty quickly. So I unplugged a battery charger, shut down the computer (versus putting it to sleep), and--ta-da!--the meter slowed significantly. I then shut off the power strip that controls the stereo, tv, and dvd player and bammo, the meter appeared to stop completely. It was moving at a barely perceptible rate, most probably from the digital oven display.
Go give this a try at your house. It takes a long time to get the meter to stop, and when it does, take a look around and assess whether you "needed" to be paying for all that electricity you weren't even aware you were using. I had heard that appliances and computers use a lot of energy while they're in standby mode, but watching the meter wheel clip along with the computer and tv/dvd/stereo in standby mode (I wasn't even using them!) really brought the concept home for me.
Now that I am paying such careful attention to our electrical usage, I am very curious to see what our next bill will look like. I'll l let you know.
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I just watched a documentary this morning about this guy in Nashville who started taking stock of his energy consumption. He claims that changing out all his bulbs to fluorescents, and buying a second-hand energy star fridge saved him about $50/month in electrical bills. He also mentioned --as you discovered--the huge consumption of electricity by "standby" computers. I was always told that the start-up energy required to bring a computer back "up" was more than what was consumed on "standby", but evidently that was false. I'm going to go do the same thing you did and see what happens. I wonder whether cutting the hot water heater off before I go out in the mornings would also make a difference? It's worth a try, I guess!
Blessings, Beth
My computer was always in "power save" mode unless I touched the keyboard, when it would revive and the monitor would pop back on--but when in power save mode it was still making the meter run quickly. That's when I shut it down completely and saw for myself that the computer really does hog a lot of energy. At first I panicked--how can I live without my computer all day?! But we have a battery powered laptop I can use. Otherwise, I would probably use my energy conservation efforts to help me get more disclipline with my internet usage: restrict my usage to twice a day--morning and evening--then shut it down completely.
If you want to cut down on electricity, also look for those little energy sappers, such as appliance lights (the overhead light on the stove) or chargers left in wall sockets. If a charger is warm, it's pulling electricity.
Good luck with your energy savings!