BenefitsEnvironmental Benefit: ★★★☆☆
Most electrical devices these days are "on" even when they're "off"! They work like energy vampires, slowly sucking the electricity from your power lines even while you're sleeping. Put a figurative stake in their hearts by unplugging them when not in use and help save the planet. Vampire devices send an estimated 87 billion pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere each year.
Money Saved: ★★☆☆☆
This savings measure probably won't cut a big "bite" out of your electric bill, but every bit helps! Set-top cable boxes and digital video recorders are some of the biggest energy hogs. Unfortunately, there's not a lot you can do there since shows can't be saved if the boxes are unplugged - but if you don't need them then you can unplug them. Other devices can be dealt with more easily: computers, printers, TV, DVD, VCR, CD players, and microwave can be unplugged. When added up, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory says that standby power can amount to 10% of residential energy use. This extra energy, taken across all U.S. households, adds up to an estimated 65 billion kilowatt-hours of electricty each year, costing consumers more than $5.8 billion annually.
This savings measure probably won't cut a big "bite" out of your electric bill, but every bit helps! Set-top cable boxes and digital video recorders are some of the biggest energy hogs. Unfortunately, there's not a lot you can do there since shows can't be saved if the boxes are unplugged - but if you don't need them then you can unplug them. Other devices can be dealt with more easily: computers, printers, TV, DVD, VCR, CD players, and microwave can be unplugged. When added up, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory says that standby power can amount to 10% of residential energy use. This extra energy, taken across all U.S. households, adds up to an estimated 65 billion kilowatt-hours of electricty each year, costing consumers more than $5.8 billion annually.
Lifestyle Benefit: ★★☆☆☆
Plugging your electronics into a power strip will protect them from power surges, even when turned on. The strip draws no power when it is turned off, and makes it easy to shut down multiple devices (computer, monitor, printer, DSL modems, etc.) with one switch. Another benefit of turning your computer off when not in use is that this helps protect it from viruses and hackers by making it less accessible to them. Yes, there is a small inconvenience of having to wait for your PC to boot up each time you turn it on. We generally switch it on as we're on the way to do something else for a minute or two, and come back when it's ready-to-go!
What We're Doing
Shannon unplugs our kitchen microwave when not using it, as we don't need it for a "clock" which is all it does when sitting there. All of our TV & audiovideo devices are plugged into a power strip which gets shut down when we're not watching. Similarly, all of our computer equipment is plugged into a power strip which is switched off when we're not on the computer. The printer switch is kept off unless we are printing something, which besides saving energy can make your ink cartridges last longer (since they don't go through as many "ink cleaning cycles" that occur when it's on).
Shannon unplugs our kitchen microwave when not using it, as we don't need it for a "clock" which is all it does when sitting there. All of our TV & audiovideo devices are plugged into a power strip which gets shut down when we're not watching. Similarly, all of our computer equipment is plugged into a power strip which is switched off when we're not on the computer. The printer switch is kept off unless we are printing something, which besides saving energy can make your ink cartridges last longer (since they don't go through as many "ink cleaning cycles" that occur when it's on).
A Little Humor
What Thomas Edison's mother might have said to her son:
"Of course I'm proud that you've invented the lightbulb! Now turn it off and go to bed."
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