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Cutting the Electric Bill
With energy costs rising, most of us are looking for ways to reduce our energy consumption. Where electricity is concerned, some steps are obvious, such as replacing incandescent bulbs with screw-in fluorescents and replacing 20-year-old fridges and freezers with new energy-efficient models. Other measures have been suggested such as unplugging every appliance after use to eliminate the energy consumption that's often present even when the device is supposedly "off." But is doing this worthwhile? How much would I save? Fortunately, there is a way to find out. Many hardware stores and building supply outlets now sell a device for $20 or $30 called an Electronic Energy Meter. These devices measure many electrical parameters such as voltage, frequency, current, and power factor, but the parameter of particular interest to us is wattage. Ten years ago a wattmeter would have cost hundreds of dollars, but advances in solid state technology, coupled with offshore production have drastically reduced the price. If $30 is still beyond your budget, consider getting together with a few neighbors and split the cost. A few hours use will tell you all you need to know to make your cost-cutting decisions. Take the meter and a pad of paper to each appliance, one by one. With the meter set up to measure wattage, plug the appliance into the meter, and on paper record the wattage reading with the appliance ON, and again with it turned OFF. Almost every piece of entertainment-related equipment -- TVs, audio and video recorders and players, radios, amplifiers, etc. -- will consume some power even when off. The same is true of computer and other office equipment -- computers, monitors, printers, scanners, fax machines, etc. In the case of computers it is helpful to check the wattage reading for both computer and monitor 1) with computer and monitor fully functioning, 2) when the computer is in its resting or "sleep" mode, and 3) when the computer has been switched "off." With those wattage numbers written down, you are now in a position to calculate the monthly cost of various usage options. The power company charges you so much per kilowatt-hour. The amount varies from location to location and company to company, but by looking at one of your electric bills you can see how much you are being charged per kWH. Let's assume you are paying $0.10 per kilowatt-hour and let's run through a sample calculation for a typical computer and monitor. Let's start by seeing how much it costs to keep both computer and monitor and functioning 24 hours a day. Let's assume the fully ON wattage for the computer was 40 watts and for the monitor was 80 watts, giving a total of 120 watts. There are 720 hours in a 30-day month, so the consumption for a one month period would be 120 watts times 720 hours, or 86,400 watt-hours. To convert watt-hours to kilowatt hours you divide by 1000, giving us a consumption of 86.4 kilowatt-hours. Multiplying that figure by our cost of $0.10 per kilowatt-hour gives us $8.64 -- the monthly cost of running the fully-functioning computer and monitor 24 hours a day. Using this same procedure, you can calculate consumption under many different ON and OFF conditions, using the data you collected for each piece of equipment. Most computer operating systems let you set the time for fully-on and sleep modes, enabling you to balance cost and convenience to suit you. Another option to consider is plugging all your home office equipment into a single power bar that has an illuminated switch right on the power bar. If the power bar is placed where the switch is visible and easily accessible, all the equipment can be turned solidly OFF when your stint in the office is finished. The same thing can be done with all those units that make up your entertainment center. Plug them all into one power bar that has an illuminated switch, and locate the power bar where the switch is easy to see and get to.
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