Jeanie, I had heard that also, a while back. So far I haven't managed to remember to do any of that, but if we get another walloping electric bill next month I may have to write myself a note about it. Between the pump and the A/C, 3 computers and 3 TV sets, the bill is reaching astronomical proportions.

Pat

Well I do find CH interesting but I challenge this premise. Yes somethings are power vampires using more power than you think. But I bet he wasn't concidering ACs.

Simple test turn off AC then look at the meter to see how fast it is spinning. Unplug small devices turn ac back on check meter again. Now I would try this myself ..but it's too hot to go out side. Plus many things have to be reset
if without power for very long.

I have no idea who that guy is but this reminded me of my grandma. She used to be downright religious about unplugging every single thing. Me, I'm too lazy right now or I'd go check it out. LOL

Diane

Oh, Punkin,
Slip on Your Flip-Flops, take a deep breath of AC air and run a test. I can't because I have total electric with no meter. They tell me down at REC that they take readings at the office, thus no house to house meter readers. Roy Cronk would starve to death.

Jeanie

My electric usage keeps climbing and I think it is directly proportional to my aging air conditioner. It is a 17 year old heat pump and needs to be replaced. We have plans to replace it before next summer as it just runs constantly this summer.

We cut the number of TVs at our house from three to two, and got the new box from Dish Network that runs both sets off one box. I do not unplug it and probably never will.

I unplug many things when not in use. We were a military family and were required to attend annual fire prevention classes anytime we lived in base housing. They would always have lots of small appliances on display and ask the question, "Which one causes the most house fires?" Of course, someone would always say the iron, but they said no. They said it was the toaster, and to always unplug it when not in use. I don't use a toaster much, but I never leave one when not in use with power running to it.

If you plan to unplug small appliances when not in use, why not plug them all into a surge protector that has a switch and you can just flip the switch on when using them, and off when you finish. A lot of times outlets are not in convenient places for things like TV and cable boxes.

Our computers stay on during the day but are turned off at night, well half the night anyway, because I am a night owl. The modem is never unplugged unless I lose my connection and have to reset. I have a freezer, two full size refrigerators and a dorm size. I have lots of places that I could cut usage before I went to the trouble of unplugging instant on appliances. I have a lamp that only goes off when the bulb dies. Otherwise it is on 24/7s. I have turned off a sensor light because otherwise it stays on in the daytime some days because it in a shady area.

Years ago in CA I had a meter that you could watch and take readings from as it rotated around. When I was having trouble with the electric bill in an all electric house, I did shut off everything and then turned some of the baddies on one at a time, so I could see just what they were doing. I could see it go from a near standstill to spinning like a top, with the numbers going up accordingly. I checked the baseboard heaters, the water heater, clothes dryer and so on. Top on the list was the dryer, of course. I didn't find any significant change with the TV or computer. The baseboard heaters were pretty bad, but not nearly matching the dryer. For the water heater, since I live alone, I installed a timer on it so that it only came on for 2 hours a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. If I needed more than that, it was easy to flip the switch and let it heat up a bit, but usually I found that it held more than enough hot water for my needs. The new demand ones now do it automatically, and are a big savings.

Unfortunately, I now have one of the more modern meters that doesn't tell me a single thing. It's all read at the utility office. I did find out what happened when we had a leak in the pasture water line and the pump was running almost constantly to compensate for it. It was definitely not pretty.

Pat

I use Individually Switched Outlet Power Strip in the main hall with connects all entertainment boxes including Xbox, TVs,phone,DVDs/internet, etc. Which help me to turnoff power supply to not-in-use devices by button instead of pulling cord from the outlets. One can use Electricity Usage Monitor meter ($10) to see usage of the energy when in stand-by mode and while running. You can see very clear picture how much you can save.

Our house equipped with all energy stars equipments and all lighting are energy efficient CFLs. House is build on most energy efficient system. Our centralized AC unit runs about 6hours only, as we set temp @78 degrees, which make huge difference and our annual average electricity bill is $64.96!

I have also signed up for the OGE"S Smart Study Together program since its beginning, OGE installed digital meter stick on refrigerator and tells current, daily and monthly energy usage, they also send price signal and peak hour price. That tells not use power guzzling appliances such as washing machine in peak hours. All together we are saving lot of the money on energy use in home.

regards -Chandra

I'll unplug the Beta Max, the turn table 8 track combo and the telephone answering machine. And even though I like to keep the bedside George Foreman Grill on and set to Mid Max in case I need an emergency grilled cheese sandwhich sometime during the night I'll test that as well.

I have to keep up my strength while shopping for loose gem stones, samuri swords, Christmas decorations and talking to those hot babes who are always waiting for me to call.

I am with PHJ...this guy is just spreading falsehoods.

I have a Kill-A-Watt meter, and my cable box, dvr, tcs, etc take WELL under $10 per month. My A/C bill is cllose to $200.

While power vampires exist, in the grand scheme I don't worry about them. It is not worth $10 or less per month for me to unplug/turn off evrything every day

Jo

It reminds me of James Thurber's aunt or granny who thought if a socket didn't have a light bulb in it, it would leak electricity.

This story reminds me a little of global warming. LOL No hate mail please.

Soonergrandmom,

I was one of those who almost burned the house down with the toaster. I had put in one of those struedels, then got in the shower. When I turned off the shower I heard the fire alarm, and entered the kitchen to see 3 foot tall flames shooting up the cabinets. I had left the toaster halfway under the cabinets, and when it popped, it only released the streudel halfway, then burned it til it caught fire, which caught the cabinets on fire. I had a canvas tote bag on the counter, went ape on the flames with it, and carried the flaming toaster out to the sidewalk. My husband wears hearing aids and only woke when he heard me scream at the sight of the fire.
All that and I still made it to work on time that day, lol, with one tiny burn on my thumb where the melted paint had dripped.
For such an innocent looking appliance , it sure can pack a punch.
Jammie

Even if I save "only" $10 or so per month, it's worth it for me. I have my TV and fan on a power strip. When the TV goes off at night, I flip the power strip off as well.
I always have my toaster unplugged (unless in use, duh), as well as my computer modem and my rechargeable toothbrush (I plug it in only to recharge when it's drained).
Along those same lines, I really try to conserve water where I can, recycle where I can, and just plain do without things. My AC is timed to run at 80deg when I'm at work and 78 when I'm not.

I had Depression-era parents, what can I say?? At least, in the end, I'll know I've done my best with what I've been given and I haven't squandered it.

Sharon

We have way too many electronics and I'd spend all day plugging and unplugging. Four networked computers, five tvs, two blue ray players, stereos, dvr, playstation, Wii, etc etc etc. We love our electronics almost as much as we love tomatoes. :P

Here's another way to tell how much your vampire power is. What is your winter bill vs your summer bill? In the winter, our electric bill tends to be in the $30-$40 range...that's for laundry, lights, fridge and freezer, stove, tvs, computers, AND the vampires. ;)

In the summer it's closer to $200, so I KNOW my A/C is my single largest electrical hog at $160 per month.

I am always sweaty and running around after kids, exercising, in and out the door watering, etc. We have a poorly insulated home and ideally would keep the A/C at 70-72, but our units can't keep up with the heat so even when I set them to 70, the house usually can't go any lower than 75-76.

Jo

I keep our A/C thermostat set at 80 degrees in the summer, and found that I can easily tolerate that. Even so, our unit it so huge and inefficient that the electric bill is in orbit. My neighbor looked at it a few days ago and said his is twice that much, even though they installed a heat pump system at this house.
No matter. We can't afford the $$$$ it would cost to replace what we have, so I guess we live with it and try to keep the bills paid.

Pat

We are trying to make ours last all summer. We know it needs to be replaced but since that is a significant expense, we hope the AC makes it until the house is paid off, which is about 3 months. However, it is a heat pump and is OK for heat, so I may make it last until Spring. LOL None of us want to spend that money until we have to, do we?

I hate heat pumps, but the new ones are better than the old ones. We have a window unit in our bunkhouse that is a heat pump. It looks like an air conditioner, but both heats and cools. It is built into the wall instead of covering up a window tho. It is a very efficient unit, so I guess if my house unit goes out, I can at least sleep in a cool place. Carol (who has been hot since April)

All those electronic gizmos maintain a certain amount of current which does add up. I charge my cell phone while I sleep and unplug the charger when I retrieve my phone. It does add up. However, it isn't a huge expense to keep these things plugged in; just an expense. I don't unplug the charger for my blue tooth ear piece. It's just too hard to get to the plug :)

Jerreth and I have not turned on our air conditioning this summer. We believe our situation is not stable enough to justify that luxury. For us it is a luxury. Anyway, we invested in a couple of box fans, which cost much less to run. Surprisingly, we're not suffering as we thought. Our house is well designed. Night time is particularly nice. I woke up this morning thinking how "luxurious" it felt to have that fan blowing 70 plus degree air across me. Not using the air will save us over $200 a month, which may help pay our watering bill :)

George
Tahlequah, OK