Trying to save on energy ??

[pampam]

I've unplugged pretty much everying except the clocks and toaster. Will I save more if I unplug the toaster.

 

[ksloane]

Will you save? yes

Will it be enough for you to notice...not so sure, but the combination of doing everything should. We keep a lot of things unplugged at my house as well.

I don't do it as it's not feasible for us, but my uncle also flips the breaker on his hot water heater over night...again, I can't do this as I shower first thing in the morning....Just an extra tip if you haven't thought of it.

 

[VAN]

I unplug my toaster after use - not to save energy, but from a safety standpoint. Don't know if there's any validity to it, but that's what I do.

I have our stereo (which we only use on holidays) unplugged, but am not going to unplug the TV's, DVD players, etc as we use them daily and they have clocks on them that I don't want to reset.

If you really want to know the answer as to what will save $$, get one of those things that measures energy use ... you plug it in the wall and then plug your appliance in ... it will show how much energy it uses. We got some for work for about $25 ... comes up with some interesting info!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Like Van said I too unplug my toaster for safety.

Now is a good time to make sure your dryer vent is clean. The lint build up in it will cause your dryer to work harder to dry clothes. Also it is a cause for a dryer fire.

Now that the weather is getting warmer I turn the temp down on the hot water tank.

Also change the furnance filter. I dirty filter will cause the furnace to work harder.

 

[pampam]

Will you save? yes

Will it be enough for you to notice...not so sure, but the combination of doing everything should. We keep a lot of things unplugged at my house as well.

I don't do it as it's not feasible for us, but my uncle also flips the breaker on his hot water heater over night...again, I can't do this as I shower first thing in the morning....Just an extra tip if you haven't thought of it.

You might want to try the breaker on the hot water tank. Several years ago, our power was off for 4 days. We had a houseful of people staying with us, because we had a wood stove so we had heat and cooking. All the bedrooms were full and people were sleeping on the floor as well. During all this time, we had hot water from our tank. We were not showering, but we were constantly doing dishes and washing ourselves, yet the water stayed warm. One of the ladies was completely bed ridden (they brought her by ambulance. She was 100 years old) and it took a lot of hot water to keep her clean. Only on the last day, did I have to stop cooling down the water with cold water. I was impressed that the tank kept the water warm, so I'm thinking if you turn your tank off at night, you would still have hot water in the morning for your showers.

 

[lizabu]

I heard that whatever it is it will use as much power plugged in and not being used as plugged in and used. When you think of all the devices, computers, tvs, toasters and coffee makers it can really add up. I saw some people on TV and they said you should plug it all into power bars. When you turn off the TV ect you want to switch off the power bar so the vcr, tv etc won't continue sucking power.

 

[chris31997]

If you are worried about remembering to turn on your breaker for your hot water heater, you put it on a timer. FiL did that and it worked great for them. Ours is on that is works good also.

Turn your a/c up to 77 or 80 if tolerable and turn on ceiling fans.

Turn off all lights during the day