Wall Wart

OK, you are sitting in your home, you have replaced all of your incandescent light bulbs with more energy efficient bulbs, you have added more insulation to your home, you have double pane windows, you have caulked up every crack and crevice, you lower the thermostat in the winter and raise it in the summer, you have purchased energy efficient appliances, so now, is there anything else you can do to use less energy and save money? Yes there is!

Take a stroll though your house, look at your power outlets and plugs, do you see a big black block sticking out of the wall or attached to the power cords? These are sometimes called “wall warts” because they stick out like ugly warts, they are really transformers. Feel one of them, it’s probably warm, it might even have a led light on it to let you know it’s getting power. The problem is these are drawing power even in the item it is plugged into is turned off, even if the item is not even plugged into the cord! Individually they don’t use much power, but I’d be willing to bet you have many of these, plugged into power, all sitting there sucking juice and sucking money out of your pockets.

The other thing you need to take a hard look at, your TV, VCR, home theater system, your microwave and other appliances. These are sitting there, looking for all the world like they are turned off, don’t be fooled, these too are drawing power. These appliances and electronics all have computers and chips built in, they save your preferences, channels, date and time, this uses power. If you are old enough, you will remember when you had to let a TV or radio warm up before you could watch or listen to it, now you don’t have to do that because your TV and radio is really on, but in a standby state, waiting for you to pick up the remote and activate it. This standby state is using power.

Power Strip

So, what can you do about this? It’s very simple, unplug your wall warts and electronics when you aren’t using them. You can make it even easier, you can go out and purchase inexpensive power strips, these are like glorified extension cords, make sure you get the kind with an on-off switch built in. Some of the better ones are also a surge suppressor, so you are not only saving money, you are protecting your electronics from power surges, brown outs and lightening. You will also find your electronics will last longer if they aren’t “on” all the time.

Just put these power strips in zones, have one for your TV, VCR, home theater system, have another for your desk, another for your kitchen and so on. Turn these on ONLY when you are using them, turn them off the rest of the time. At the very least, you can turn them off at night when you go to bed, or when you leave the house. Do you really need to see the time on your microwave? It’s probably blinking 12:00 anyway, why pay extra money every month for the pleasure of seeing that?

I live 100% off grid, so I have to watch every watt I use, you can bet I have power strips all throughout my home, I only turn on what I need when I use it, the rest of the time I have the power strip switched off. I can’t afford to waste any of the hard won power generated from the sun. You don’t have to wait until you are living off grid, you can make a difference right now, every little watt counts and adds up to savings in your pocket, make your electronics last longer, protect them, and be greener all at the same time. :)

Tags: off-the-grid, green ideas, energy efficiency, save energy, energy efficient appliances, wall warts, energy efficient bulbs, outlets, cords, thermostat, strips