We are all a little guilty of being ‘energy vampires’ here and there – sucking electricity as much as we can without even knowing we’re doing it. Little do we realise it, these bad habits stack up to a costly expense, bringing “bill shock” to our mailbox when we finally get the dollar amount for it. But perhaps there’s an easy way to solve these unnecessary costs, all coming down to switching up a few less-than-ideal habits in our homes. And it all starts with unplugging those appliances that aren’t in use (you know the ones we’re talking about).
It all adds up
Connected appliances are responsible for hefty costs on our electricity bills, even when they really shouldn’t. Unplugging these gadgets when not in use can actually save you anywhere from $100 to $200 a year, depending on your own consumption. In addition, unplugging your appliances means you’re saving yourself the risk of a power surge – something that can harm you, your property and connected devices.
So why does this happen?
When we leave our gadgets plugged into an electrical outlet, we consume small amounts of energy on a constant basis. Eventually, this leads to an entire house of devices all powered up 24/7, adding plenty of unnecessary costs to your bill.
While it’s not easy to measure your consumption for each device individually, you can use an electricity monitor – of which you can buy handheld versions of. All you need to do is plug one of these into an outlet and to each appliance individually, with them turned off as you go. Your display will reflect how many watts you’re using, leaving you the ability to tally up a total of electricity you save when they’re not wired up.
Creating better habits
If we’ve managed to convince you to leave your appliances unplugged, here are a few ways you can get started in creating more positive energy habits:
- Start with your phone charger. It’s likely you leave this plugged in a lot, even when your phone isn’t connected.
- Look around your kitchen and see what else you can disconnect.
- Then, examine your loungeroom space and see what else can follow suit.
- Invest in more modern powerboards, which allow you to use built-in timers to cut power based on a specific schedule.
Remember that, besides these financial benefits, opting to disconnect your electronics from n outlet when not in use also means you’re stopping the potential of a power surge from cropping up. These instances can damage any appliances that are connected during a surge but can also lead to transformer explosions and other potentially harmful events.
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