I’m Back! Kill-A-Watt update, Phantom Loads, etc.
Sorry for the gap in posts. We have had some major problems with our home internet connection over the past two weeks. What started out as intermittent outages turned into numerous phone calls with AT&T. Ultimately, the problem required a visit from a technician who changed out a port at a junction box somewhere in our neighborhood. Problem solved, right? Wrong. Now the modem had to be reset. More phone calls with AT&T. Finally got that fixed and then our wireless network went down. It took me a couple of days to diagnose and fix the wireless network. Everything has now been stable for 24 hours, so I think we’re good to go.
The Kill-A-Watt project is progressing, however. I measured the energy usage of my home theater system when turned “off” over the Memorial Day weekend while we were out of town. In just over 48 hours, the system used 2.13 KWH. Round this to 1 KWH per day at $0.08 per KWH and it’s costing me $30 per year just to keep the home theater system “off”. I wasn’t sure what the cost would be, but I must admit to being a little surprised. There are probably at least 6-8 other places in my home where these phantom loads are costing me.
The easiest solution is to use a power strip and turn it off when the system’s not in use. Sounds simple enough. However, most of our power strips are ugly, hidden behind furniture. My solution is to integrate a switch into my power strip setup. The switch will be located on the entertainment center in a convenient location. We can turn it on only when the TV is in use. This definitely fits in the category of making small changes. If I can make several of these changes, the savings will add up.
Other projects: I’m planting a couple of trees on the south side of our home. During the summer the sun beats down on this side of the house causing the brick wall to heat up and transfer the heat to the interior of our house. It will take a few years for the trees to provide any real shade, but they are Bradford Pear trees, which are fast growing.
Once again, sorry for the gap in posts. It’s great to be back!
Filed under: Small Changes, Uncategorized