Do you ever feel as though your money is just getting blown away?
Think about all the things that require electricity to run that you have at your house. Now think about how many of those you never fully turn off. Your heater and air conditioner likely run (at least partially) on electricity. Televisions (with every last gizmo and box attached to them), computers, and microwaves are three of the biggest secret energy hogs. They are frequently left only on standby, not fully “off” but still leeching little bits of energy off of your power. However a little bit over a lot of time adds up, and before you know it your energy bill is through the roof.
So what can you do to check to make sure your appliances aren’t pulling an energy vampire on your house? The cheapest way would just be to assume your appliances are leeches and unplug them when not in use, however this way can end up being more of a hassle than it’s worth due to the addition of another set of tasks (plugging and unplugging everything) to your daily routine (as well as little things like wanting to have the microwave’s clock remain accurate, and recording TV on the DVR). The best way to go about it however would probably be the purchase of a low cost watt-hour meter to test the watt usage of your various possessions.
Once you’ve pinpointed the source of your electric woes, you can start firing the blamethrower at all your housemates for running the bill so high. Just make sure you don’t get hit by the blowback.
