Cost of plugged in items?

[zenmama]

We'll be working on reducing our electrical bill even further in 2008. I was reading this past weekend that certain appliances continue to sap energy when they are plugged in but not in use. i.e. cell phone recharger uses up to 40%!! I had no clue....
Anyone have info on this? What do you guys "unplug" consistently?? I could see the TV as being a real hassle to continually plug and unplug, so I'm not sure that we could maintain that.

[Mom23boys]

I unplug the cell phone chargers, the laptop charger when the battery is fully charged, the microwave and kitchen appliance.

[peanut]

zenmama: check the Utilities forum at the top of this board. Someone posted earlier this fall about this. Lots of good information on what does and doesn't take energy.

Basically anything with a digital clock will take energy if left plugged in. With 2 digital clocks in my kitchen (stove and microwave), I choose to unplug the microwave until needed. It's very simple to reset the clock on that.

I put all TV equipment and computer equipment on power bars and turn them off every night before bed. No need for them sucking energy while we sleep!

We've put a studio in the basement this year. Meaning I spend most of my day downstairs now. To cut the cost of running it, we put in CFLs and I try to limit the number of lights on at a time. Plus all my sewing equipment is on a power bar that is turned off when I'm not using it.

With all these changes, our net increase in our electric bill has been $8/mth. That's not bad, considering I am burning at least 3 lights in the basement all day now. As compared to none before the studio went in.

Jean

[zenmama]

zenmama: check the Utilities forum at the top of this board. Someone posted earlier this fall about this. Lots of good information on what does and doesn't take energy. Jean

Thanks Jean, I'm headed over there pronto!!

[LexTysMommy]

Personally I unplug my microwave, night lights, cell phone charger once charged, i have the computer and tv on power strips and turn them off at night.

The only things plugged in during day are my phone, computer, tv, and appliances when I use them. I dont even have a clock in my room anymore. No need so I unplugged it and it just sits there.

[geckoace]

anything with a transformer (that black box) uses electricity when its plugged in

we keep our computers and chargers on a power strip that we can turn off (im not always the best at this) i do leave my microwave plugged in cause it would be a huge hassle to plug and unplug it and it is the only correct clock in the whole house, i also leave my vcr plugged in cause it takes so long to get going once the power has been off i think id throw it out the window LOL my tv has a power saver mode so i let it go

[thrifty gal]

Wow! I didn't realize all of this. I got my electric bill in today, and it was a whopping $280!!!!! So, I will definitely by unplugging things around here!!