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I’ve been going a little nuts with my latest gadget, the Kill-A-Watt. In my last two posts (here and here), I talked about using a Kill-A-Watt meter to track energy usage on specific devices to see what they are costing me. Primarily, I’m trying to eliminate phantom electric loads — electricity used by devices even when they are turned “off”. Below is an update to my progress and the changes I’ve made to lower energy usage.

• Home Entertainment Center — the TV, Dish Network receiver, DVD player, etc. were using about 1 KWH of electricity per when turned OFF! This was costing me $30 a year just to keep the system turned off. The easiest way to remedy this is to put everything on a power strip and turn it off when not in use. In my last post, I expressed my concern that the power strip couldn’t be located in a place that would be convenient. Well, after some re-arranging of cords, I mounted the power strip inside the entertainment center in a place that isn’t noticeable, but is convenient to use.
• Upstairs TV — We have a 2nd Dish Network receiver, TV, and DVD player in an upstairs playroom for the kids. This system is using .6 KWH per day when turned “off”, costing me around $18 a year. I connected these components to a power strip as well and turn them off when not in use.
• Computer — Our computer system was using approximately 1 KWH per day when turned off, costing me $30 a year. After about an hour of re-arranging cords and mounting the power strip on the inside of the computer desk, we can now turn the system off when not in use.
• Night lights — I checked the usage on a couple of our night lights. The electricity used was negligible. While I didn’t expect to be blown away with how much electricity was used by our night lights, I figured it would at least be noticeable.
• Refrigerator — Our non-Energy Star refrigerator costs me $8-$10 a month to operate. I won’t be replacing the fridge any time soon, but at least now I can compare my model to an Energy Star model.

In going through this process, I’ve realized that energy efficiency is very much an issue of attitude.  If you decide to make the changes necessary to save energy, you will be successful.  Attitude means you think about energy conservation when walking through the house and turning lights off.  Attitude means turning off brighter overhead lights in favor of smaller lamps.  Small changes are what will make the difference over the long haul.  I keep hoping I’ll find the big energy hog that will reduce my electricity usage in large amounts.  Reality is, if I keep at it over the long haul I will eventually get where I want to be — energy independent.

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