monitoring energy usage in home

[rocksteady]

My mother has recently given me the task of reducing her electricity bill (which is abnormally high, I think she may be getting screwed somehow) Basically I'm looking for some resources to start combating this problem, articles, guides whatever. I have heard of some kits/gauges you can use to monitor your usage to find out where the "leaks" are, and I am interested in those.

any help would be great!

[Ace1337]

energy saving bulbs like this one

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btw, I turn off the monitor of my PC whenever I'm not arround, I don't leave it to play the screensaver

[The Rose]

Be diligent to turn off everything that is not being used, including computers, as Ace has said, and video game systems!
Don't run the washer, dryer or dishwasher half-empty.
Make sure they are properly filled - not over-full either.
You can use 60 or 75 watt bulbs instead of 100s.
Or the fluorescent kind that Ace pictured.

Does your Mom have an electric water heater?
I used to have one that ran constantly.
The temperature settings probably needed to be checked, but because I was young,
I just turned off the water heater until 15 minutes before I needed it.
I cut my electric bill almost in half.

The price of electricity has recently gone up.

What does your mom think is the cause?
Have you just moved recently?

[szaxazs]

Be diligent to turn off everything that is not being used
Some devices consume enormous amounts of electricity even when they are stand-by. A common TFT screen on stand-by consumes like 1 Watt, or two. Operating goes to 25 or more. Other devices such as my old video player consume nearly the same watts , no matter if they operate or not.
So watch out what devices are connected and track which you don't use.

[The Rose]

Some devices consume enormous amounts of electricity even when they are stand-by. A common TFT screen on stand-by consumes like 1 Watt, or two. Operating goes to 25 or more. Other devices such as my old video player consume nearly the same watts , no matter if they operate or not.
So watch out what devices are connected and track which you don't use.Yes. I am quite suspicious of "stand-by" electricity usage.

[Vortex]

An electronic device in standby should not have any system components powered on except for the circuit connecting the powerbutton to the units transformer, and this will consume a trivial amount of energy. Indeed, the vast majority of electronics out there have their "off" functionality as their standby. Computers are a good example of this - even shut down, they will be drawing an extremely small amount of energy to power the CMOS battery and enable you to turn it on with the front power button.

[szaxazs]

I agree, most modern electronic devices do have trivial power consumption when on stand-by. There are however some appliances and especially older ones that even on stand-by consume average amounts of energy.

Well, rocksteady, the best thing you could probably do is to write down how many watts every single appliance 'consumes' (if you dont know this) and see yourself where are those high bills coming from.

[The Rose]

I agree, most modern electronic devices do have trivial power consumption when on stand-by. There are however some appliances and especially older ones that even on stand-by consume average amounts of energy.

Well, rocksteady, the best thing you could probably do is to write down how many watts every single appliance 'consumes' (if you dont know this) and see yourself where are those high bills coming from.How would a person find out that information?

[Vortex]

The PSU should list input line tolerances and internal wattage usage and voltage. Alternatively, google their tech specs from their product serial numbers.

Edit: Mind, that those PSU numbers will be peak draw, and will very likley be used anywhere near that number. I have a 400W psu in my computer, and even with all the hardware I have in it it pulls somewhere around ~250W or so average.

[Ijz]

I would start by buying such a device

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You can buy them anywhere and some cheap ones come for less than 20 bucks.

I had the same problem at home and was consuming more than twice the amount of power as my neighbor was. In my case I found out that my stereo-subwoofer was always on and consumed 12 Watts. Also my 32" LCD TV consumed 120 watts when viewing regular TV but more than 160 :huh: watts when viewing the output of my HTPC. Also my regular PC was consuming way too much power (almost 200 watts). So nowadays I turn of these devices as much as possible. Also to my surprise, my fridge dídn't consume much power at all as it's a relative new energy friendly model.

[szaxazs]

How would a person find out that information?

Just look in the device for a stick or something. In others (mainly plastic for instance) the specifications might as well as be engraved somewhere.

In any occasion the specs will be somewhere. The producer is obliged to write them somewhere in the device, it's like foods, the companies are obliged to write the ingredients.

Then take a notebook and start writing down:rolleyes: