June 22, 2005
How to Save Energy at Home with "Kill A Watt"
Whether your house is 1,000 square feet or 5,000, we're all looking for ways to save energy. Why pay more than you have to? It may come as a surprise to you to realize how many devices in your home are sucking up power 24/7. Some of of them are obvious: alarm clocks, VCRs and DVD players with clocks, cable modems, your computer if you leave it in stand-by instead of turning it off... Other devices are less obvious. For example, my cable box doesn't have a clock or any LED indicators that would suggest it's on even after I've flicked it off, but electronics like this continually use power in order to remain receptive to the remote control signal.
So, how can you save energy at home? Well, an easy way is flick off the power strip that controls your computer, home entertainment system, etc. at night, but who wants to reset clocks everytime you use them? It might be easier just to look for appliances and electronics that use less energy than others. How do you do that? That's where P3 International's Kill A Watt comes in.
By attaching your devices to the Kill A Watt, you can figure out how efficient (inefficient) they are. This will help you know which energy hogs to replace with more efficient models down the road. To work Kill A Watt, you just plug it into a wall outlet, then plug the device you want to test into the Kill A Watt meter. The LCD screen displays energy consumption by kilowatt-hour, much like the utility company does. It shows volts, amps, and watts. It also forecasts costs so you can figure out a device's electricity expenses by the hour, day, week, or year. Cost is about $40 for the Kill A Watt unit.
Kill A Watt
http://www.p3international.com/
