Just got my Kill-A-Watt!

[SVOboy]

The more I learn about energy saving, th emore I like this forum compared to the others!

Currently, my laptop is only using 19 Watts! That's surprisingly good, I think! Time to test out some other things!

[MnFocus]

Gratz! Thats pretty cool . I want to do the same eventually with my archaic not-so-enviro-friendly pc .

[krousdb]

I have had mine for a few years. One thing that you learn is that stuff uses energy, even when turned off. Just unplugging stuff that you don't use very often can make a difference.

[SVOboy]

Indeed, I have unplugged 7 Watts worth so far! Not much...but I've only done one room (and we don't own a bunch of **** anyway).

[davidjh72]

TV's use power even when turned off. In fact, my TV has an LED to show that it's plugged in. How stupid is that?

AC adapters use power as long as they're on a live outlet. I turn off my PC's power strip when not in use so the printer and speaker power supplies get a rest. Not only that, saves individually turning off the monitor and master power switch on the back of my otherwise "standing by" PC.

[davidjh72]

Originally Posted by SVOboy

The more I learn about energy saving, th emore I like this forum compared to the others!

Currently, my laptop is only using 19 Watts! That's surprisingly good, I think! Time to test out some other things!

I assume that's 19 watts with your laptop battery fully charged. I'd by curious to know what the power draw is while it's charging the battery. If it's not much more, running the laptop on battery a couple hours a day (no AC draw), then charging up while in use, or better yet, overnight unused, may save you some $ at the end of the month.

[davidjh72]

I'm anxiously awaiting my first electric bill at my new place. The past 6+ years I've had free heat and hot water. $12 to $15 a month except in the summer when closer to $20 with a wall-mount air conditioner.

Now I pay for heat (no need this time of year. Sweatpants and shirt do nicely), central A/C, and hot water.

I'm slowly replacing the incandescent lightbulbs with low-watt fluorescents.
I've pulled 3 of the five 60-watt bulbs from the dining room light, and 4 of the six 40-watters on the bathroom vanity. The living room 75-watt lamp I have on at night now has a 20-watt fluorescent.

I've got a 0.3 watt LED nightlight in the bathroom so night-time visits don't require blinding light on fully dilated pupils in the dark.

[crabbyman]

I know my G4 Apple iBook power/charge cord is rated between 45-60w max. So I assume when charging and using full processor power, it would be the highest rating.

Also look into timers for a lot of your stuff. I set a timer on my desktop computer, wireless routers, cable modem, and monitor. I believe we saved $7-10 on the next electric bill.

[crabbyman]

Oh...and we also changed out our most used bulbs to the CFL bulbs...it helps a lot.

[SVOboy]

I am in the process of changing out all my mom's CFLs, it's just a matter of getting up on the damn chair to do it, already bought all the bulbs. It was sposed to be for her birthday but she got whiney about it, so I haven't told her, .

I'm not sure what it will draw charging, but nice time I discharge it (in the airport perhaps) I will let you know when it recharges...but then I wonder if the kill-a-watt will work in nihon. I assume so!

Home efficiency improvements are the best.