Your electric bill is one of your ever-present expenses, coming back pay period after pay period to take more of your money. But you don't have to give them as much as you have been. There are many ways to reduce your electric usage, even if only by a little bit. And if you do, Al Gore will shed one less tear. Here are some pointers.
A huge chunk of your power is spent on heating and cooling things. Your refrigerator is the appliance with the single largest electric usage. Read what we wrote about getting the most out of it here. Also a massive drain on power is heating and cooling your home and your water, which we covered here. Aren't we so thoughtful?
Next we come to appliances. Logically, things use energy when they are on. Thus, remember to turn things off when you are not using them. Get into the habit of turning off the lights when you leave the room, turning off the music when you're out of earshot, and turning off your space heater when you're not home. Similarly, try to make the most of what you're already using. Wash only full loads of laundry and maybe even hang-dry some things. Run your dishwasher when it's at capacity and turn off the heat dry setting. It may take longer but where do you have to go? Also, electricity is cheaper at night, so wait until dark to wash your clothes and dishes.
Most appliances still draw power even not in use or when turned off. This is called energy leakage. Anything that has a clock or little LED light is obviously drawing power, and might be even if there is not external indication. Items certified with an Energy Star use less power when turned off, so if you're in the market for new goodies, be on the lookout.
Chances are you're too broke to replace your CRT TV with LCD, and if that's the case, plug your TV — and DVD player, sound system, game console, and other similar things — into a power strip. That way you can flip the whole thing off when you're out for the day and it's not in use. Some devices, like my stereo, will lose my settings if it's un-powered for too long, so I have to make the choice if I'd rather keep my settings or incrementally lower my power usage. I found that I didn't have to make as big a choice because my stereo has a low-power "Eco" mode. Check your instruction manual; yours might too.
Last we come to power converters. Many devices require slightly different voltage than what comes out of the wall, so the plug will feature a small, usually black box that will convert the electricity into something the device can use. Think of your cell phone, laptop, iPods, electric razor, and anything else that is charging a battery. What you may not know is that those converters are converting that electricity even when they are not connected to the device. In fact, when you leave your converters plugged into the wall, the can be functioning up to 95% of their full usage. Note to self: unplug those when not in use.
If you're curious about your own energy usage, we found this nifty calculator. Here's to you, Al.