And I thought I was 'Foolish' when I bought this

[letsroll]

Well, a few months ago I bought a electricity consumption meter for about 50 USD.Felt bad the day I got it and was going to return it on my next visit.But changed my mind once I started using it and got the results.

What this device does is that you plug it in a socket and then plug your electric device on it and then after a period of time gives you the consumption of electricity in USD from that socket(based on the rate per KWH that you enter beforehand).It also tells you the Wattage of the used device being measured.

Following are some results in my case.I now know where and what action to take.Based on a unit cost of 0.189 per KWH.
Kitchen fridge..... found out costs $ 154 per year
Basement fridge $ 110 per year

Now for the Wattage.Plugged in the Power supply strip.Removed every thing one at a time and then replugged the items one at a time.Gave a few minutes to settle and then took the wattage difference to workout the consumption for that device.Not a very accurate method though but got a number to think

1)Table lamp in Off position 1 Watt.
2)Monitor in Off position 1 Watt
3)Printer in Off 1 Watt
4)Computer in Off 4 Watt
5)Modem and Router in ON 4 watt each

Following are in the increase from the plugged in position

6)Printer turned on(not printing) 5 watt extra
7)Printer printing ******* Not checked yet
8)Computer in ON 70 watt extra
9)Monitor in ON 12 watt extra
10)Phone 4 watts

My unscientific readings lead me to do the following

1)Think on changing my fridge.
2)Unplugged about 25 lamps/devices in basement and other rooms. Did not get time yet but there are atleast 10 more which can be safely unplugged.
3)Turn off printer when not in use.
4) Turn of Computer when not in use,specially at night.Same applies to kids computers.
5)All video games etc will be plugged off as they are being used no more that 2-3 hrs a week.
6)Radios,toasters etc to be plugged off.

I figure that just by making a habbit of the above should save atleast 3 KWH per day or about 90 KWH per month which is 17 USD per month.

[momofone]

you'll have that $50 dollar purchase paid for in a few months. Where did you find this, it sounds like something we would like to buy!

[Mouse]

This is great data - I need one of these.........thanks for sharing the results. If I am not mistaken, my electric company will come out and do this type of measure but I'd much rather do it on my own - great finding's letsroll!!

Mouse

[nerdycoupongirl]

Sounds like your research will pay off in future savings! I had no idea that stuff uses so much electricity. Thank you for sharing your findings.

<runs off to unplug things>

[lucid]

Very cool, and very inspiring! I will definitely look into doing that.

[seawulf71]

I have a Kill-A-Watt meter. It doesn't do the cost analysis for you but it does kwh and some other bits. Cost was about $20 on sale at Newegg with free shipping. My most surprising find so far? Every adding machine I have tested uses the same power whether turned on or off. The internal power supply/transformer is always on. An inline lamp switch on the cord would fix that(so would unplugging). Annualizes at about $5-6 per machine.

[jojoshort]

Thank you for posting your results. I have found that power strips make it easy to keep the toaster & coffee maker and computer on or off as needed. Now that I see your results, I think I'll go around and unplug some of the lamps we only use occasionally around here. Every little bit adds up (although DS seems to think I've totally gone crazy with my cost-cutting measures. Wait til he has his own home ...)

[Irishgirl4u2c]

We have the computer, printers, monitors, modems, etc. all pluggd into one power strip. Every night, he last person to go to bed has the responsibility of unplugging the power strip. They also have the responsibility of turning off the hot water heater. We've seen cost savings in the electric bill already!

[ameeker]

Our local library has a bunch of these meters in bags with directions that you can check out for FREE, 2 weeks at a time. Thus saving you $20-50!