http://climateprogress.org/2007/10/31/some-vampires-suck-energy-not-blood/ The Latest on Climate Science, Solutions, and Politics Thu, 16 Oct 2008 07:15:50 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.1 http://climateprogress.org/2007/10/31/some-vampires-suck-energy-not-blood/#comment-6550 John Mashey Thu, 01 Nov 2007 01:04:34 +0000 http://climateprogress.org/2007/10/31/some-vampires-suck-energy-not-blood/#comment-6550 Yes, good topic. I've found a "Watts Up?" or similar device to be very useful. Plug your appliance into it, and either see the instantaneous wattage, or leave it on for a day and get the accumulated watt-hours, i.e., good for things like fridges. Among other things, it made us put all our office gear on swtiched power strips, so it is easy to just turn the whole bunch off. Yes, good topic. I’ve found a “Watts Up?” or similar device to be very useful. Plug your appliance into it, and either see the instantaneous wattage, or leave it on for a day and get the accumulated watt-hours, i.e., good for things like fridges. Among other things, it made us put all our office gear on swtiched power strips, so it is easy to just turn the whole bunch off.

]]> http://climateprogress.org/2007/10/31/some-vampires-suck-energy-not-blood/#comment-6556 Shannon Thu, 01 Nov 2007 20:58:35 +0000 http://climateprogress.org/2007/10/31/some-vampires-suck-energy-not-blood/#comment-6556 People love to talk about energy vampires, wall warts, etc. If you look at the typical energy consumption in the home there are a lot of other important things to consider first (and the 4% estimate seems really high). Things like insulating and crack sealing, replacing your lightbulbs with those twisty CFLs, reducing your car trips, drying clothes on a rack or on a line, and replacing your old thermostat with a programmable one. These can save you more like 30% of your energy costs and your direct carbon emissions from energy use. People love to talk about energy vampires, wall warts, etc. If you look at the typical energy consumption in the home there are a lot of other important things to consider first (and the 4% estimate seems really high). Things like insulating and crack sealing, replacing your lightbulbs with those twisty CFLs, reducing your car trips, drying clothes on a rack or on a line, and replacing your old thermostat with a programmable one. These can save you more like 30% of your energy costs and your direct carbon emissions from energy use.

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