I'll save 30% on my electricity bill!

I am pretty surprised and encouraged that I could save that much without counting any heating and air conditioning. Here's the numbers: Last year I spent $3,323.50 on electricity. That is my total bill, not just the price of electricity. (It's interesting to note how much the taxes, fees etc add to the bill and price per kilowatt.)

Based on my recent efforts I anticipate saving $1,056.10, or 31.7% per year. But that's calculated with the price of electricity only and doesn't include the fees, taxes etc. so I expect to save even more.

Here is how you can do that too.

It's best if you think about the number of hours something is on, or on standby. Make a list by hours and days. At the top will be anything on all the time like chargers, computers, TV's on standby etc. Then "long use" items like refrigerators, dryers, water heaters and the small stuff like security lights, pumps, decorative lighting, task lighting, coffee maker etc.

Lastly, list the items that are on only occasionally for a short time and then throw it away. You will have a really hard time getting any payback working on those items.

Bottom Line #1 - Don't try and guess the item's power usage, it's the amount of "on-time" per month that really triggers the possible savings.

Next you choose your weapon. There are five in your arsenal.

1. Smart Strips
   
2. Timers
   
3. Fluorescent bulbs
4. The plug
5. A wad of cash for some new appliances
   

First, the Smart Strip. Anywhere you see a wad of cords, like behind your desk or near the TV you want to consider this device. It basically turns everything off (really off) that's on when the TV or PC are on. Like satellite boxes, sub woofers, printers, modems etc etc.

Timers can be deployed to allow items to use power when you say the can. It's like your own smart grid. Decorative lighting, pumps, chargers, etc.

Fluorescents allow a big reduction in watts used for lights that are on enough to matter. Skip the closets and go directly to the kitchen and living room. If you have lights that are just notoriously left on for no reason, change them to CFLs also. (Kids room?)

The "plug" means you may have items like a clock in your guest room or exercise equipment with an LED display or a TV in the garage, battery chargers, etc...just unplug them or get a regular power strip with a switch, and turn them off!

Last, the wad of cash. Always a good weapon to upgrade a really old appliance. If you have fridges over 10 years old, check with the manufacturer on it's energy use. They have their energy labels online, even for older units. This might be worth the trouble since they are on a long time, and you can get $50 for your old one!

The washer and dryer are next. The new washers are much better, and expensive. The dryers are about the same as the one you have. If yours work fine, I'd hope one failed and then get a new set. And don't get one with a display that's constantly on!

The dishwasher is tricky. They may pre-heat water, and they also heat the air for drying. That's expensive regardless. Again, I would check the manufacturer's energy rating and go from there.

An LCD is your best TV and monitor choice. A new gas water heater with lots of insulation, a high end AC unit and furnace can all help, but will have long paybacks.

For me, I only used the first four weapons and got 30%. My nine year old fridge was better than my new one! (We have two). My washer and dryer are old and work fine etc etc.

Bottom Line #2 - I consider the 30% I saved to be nothing but wasted power. It hasn't changed how I live, or my enjoyment of life. No one visiting our home would know unless I told them. My overall payback is less than a year and I feel better about my footprint.

A note about PCs. I always had trouble with the standby or sleep modes that Microsoft has in Windows. I found a small but fun piece of free software called CO2 saver. It has settings to make sure you sleep when you should and counts the amount of CO2 you saved by doing it...

I measured the "hibernation" mode and it's around one watt for my desktop and laptop. Combine this with a Smart Strip that reacts to hibernation and you can leave your PC on all the time to be ready for you, but without all the power use!