Know Your Watts
Turn off the lights!
Don't leave the TV on!
Turn the furnace down!
These are some of the key things taught to kids, and relayed to parents, about how to save energy (and money). My question, as a rather left-brained guy, has always been, "How do I know how much it really helps?" Watching your utility bill from one month to the next, with so many variables, really isn't too informative about your habits. One weekend with relatives over can throw the comparison out the window.
There are answers! One can purchase a Kill-A-Watt, into which you plug your items and watch how much energy they're using, and what it's costing you. Or, go home-wide by getting a PowerCost Monitor or a Cent-a-Meter. They have a sensor that attaches to your electrical meter or directly to wires in your panel, respectively. Wireless screens can then be placed anywhere in the house, which tell you the instantaneous usage as well and projected usage over time. You can set them (at least the PowerCost Monitor) up like a trip odometer so it will keep track of total cost since you last reset it.
My latest questions relate to the use of a ceiling fan or furnace fan and how it affects how often the furnace needs to kick on. If I put down the $150 for the PowerCost Monitor, I could find out.
Don't leave the TV on!
Turn the furnace down!
These are some of the key things taught to kids, and relayed to parents, about how to save energy (and money). My question, as a rather left-brained guy, has always been, "How do I know how much it really helps?" Watching your utility bill from one month to the next, with so many variables, really isn't too informative about your habits. One weekend with relatives over can throw the comparison out the window.
There are answers! One can purchase a Kill-A-Watt, into which you plug your items and watch how much energy they're using, and what it's costing you. Or, go home-wide by getting a PowerCost Monitor or a Cent-a-Meter. They have a sensor that attaches to your electrical meter or directly to wires in your panel, respectively. Wireless screens can then be placed anywhere in the house, which tell you the instantaneous usage as well and projected usage over time. You can set them (at least the PowerCost Monitor) up like a trip odometer so it will keep track of total cost since you last reset it.
My latest questions relate to the use of a ceiling fan or furnace fan and how it affects how often the furnace needs to kick on. If I put down the $150 for the PowerCost Monitor, I could find out.
1 comment:
I would love it if the kill-a-watt (which I use and love) would plug into things other than outlets to see the power usage: ei: ceiling fans and light fixtures etc. Someday but until then I still dig.
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