I have heard of people unplugging everything when it is not in use in order to save on their bills. I know that even when a device is not in use it is still "ghosting" a small amount of electricity and this can add up on your bill. I understand that this will obviously save you some money on your bill, but is it really enough to go through the trouble of unplugging every single item when not in use? Or does anyone know the specific items that use the most electricity when they are not in use that you could benefit most from unplugging?
We have tried the unplugging items to help reduce bill, I think it did help but it is a big pain to walk into a dark room and have to look for the cord to plug into the wall so that you can see where you are going. I saw an article in a magazine that broke down the amount of energy saved and the dollar amount but I don't remember the name of the magazine.
Unplugging appliances saved me money I also read an article on that on the daily finance website at AOL if you want to read the articleLog In. In summary however the article says that by unplugging your electrical devices you can save from 5% to 10% of your total energy costs because appliances use energy even in standby mode. It also suggests that for larger appliances that you might have to move in order to unplug like washers and dryers you can use a power strip so that the power strip switch is in a more accessible area. You can also plug several devices into the strip to save time. Instead of unplugging and plugging several devices you can just flip the power strip switch on and off. I tried this myself and it saved me around 15% of my month bill but I suspect it is also because the kids are more aware about turning appliances off when they don't use it like the TV and computer. The article also names a dozen appliances that you need to unplug to save on energy. These are: •Desktop computers •Laptop computers •Televisions •DVD players and VCRs •Modems •Cable TV boxes •Cordless phones •Stereos and radios •Coffeemakers •Lamps •Toasters •iPods and electronic gadgets sapping energy from a plug-in transformer
I was just wondering this the other day. It seems as though it cuts the prices down but not by a lot. I don't know, I have so many electronics and such that if I did this, I'd spend an hour just unplugging and replugging things in every time. Instead I just make sure the lights are off if I'm not there, shut something down if I'm not using it, etc.
I think every little counts. I reckon you could save around 200 dollars per year by unplugging everything. You will make more savings if you are strict with lights etc. We waste so much electricity, it's not good for our bills and it's not good for the environment.
Yes, I believe that it does save money on electricity bills. We unplug things whenever we leave our house. We unplug everything from our toaster, our television, our radios, etc. We have found it to be extremely helpful in lowering our electricity bills. I was watching a program on television once. They said that you can save up to $3-6 a month by just unplugging your toaster. It is strange, because it doesn't seem like it takes that much electricity to "run" when it is off, but it sure does work!
I'm sure it does lower energy bills, but not sure if that would be substantial enough. I don't have very many appliances on standby.. or do I? but haven't really experimented by switching them all off and checking my bills. I have somewhere a meter I once purchased that tests the amount of energy being used up at any given time. It might be a good idea to use this meter and see how much energy these appliances use up in standby mode.
If you unplug something from the wall, the bill for that item stops growing immediately. Even if it's "ghosting," it isn't using your home electricity. We turn off the DVR at night by using a special remote that cuts the power to the TV cabinet and all the devices inside it.
I unplug anything that is not in use just to save some money; it doesn't matter if it isn't a lot. In the UK it has just been announced that energy prices are to rise again. Any money that can be saved makes a difference when we get the bill, even if its just a bit less. My Mum went to a talk a while ago with a group she belongs to and the speaker there advised people to make the effort to unplug anything from the mains to save energy and money. I never leave things on stand by as I have heard that doing that can add quite a bit to your electricity bill as well. I don't like the idea of leaving things plugged in or on stand by for safety reasons, which is another reason why I'll unplug everything.
Unplugging everything really helps conserve energy then the answer would be yes. However if you are asking if it would help you in your electric bill then I think I can;t say yes because the difference is not that noticeable really. I think you could save at most about $1-$3 when you unplug everything that are not in use.
I would love for somebody to keep a monthly tally of savings based upon doing this. That person will not be me, however, because I don't have the time to do this every day.
It really helps especially when you have huge amount of electricity bill and when you want to go green as in for the ecological benefits that it can effect. I believe removing the plug on Television Sets, Computers, Microwaves, and other electronic devices really works especially when you are not using them daily.
It really does sound like a huge pain going around and unplugging everything. Trishgl made a nice list of the appliances that will save you the most money by unplugging them, but most of those appliances are in use a lot here, so it would be a huge pain. My children like to use the TV and they are toddlers right now, so I don't want to teach them how to plug in the TV. Also, I use my computer a lot of school, so not much use in completely unplugging it when I go on it so much.
This is what we have learned from our father when we were young. Unplugging electric appliances really helps in saving electricity and lowering our monthly bills. My dad worked in an electric company so he knew what he was talking about. My mom also attested to the effectiveness of unplugging to save us electricity expenses. Now that I am a mother and wife myself I still practice this. I don't mind plugging, unplugging, re-plugging every now and then as long as it helps.
My dad also tell us that appliances still consume a little amount of electricity even if it is turned off and not being in use. So I just unplug the plug of our desktop computer after I've finished shutting down the pc. But for everything else, we simply turn them off, but we never unplug them, since our appliances aren't that many to begin with.
It saves money and energy, but really if you are living in a house that is mostly electric then really it doesn't matter. The money you save on gas goes to the electric bill and the money you might save unplugging things becomes a nonissue. I mean will you unplug the electric range and the refridgerator? Well they're your biggest things right there nevermind lights and things like the washer/dryer.
I doubt you actually have to unplug the devices from the wall sockets to save electricity. Simply turning off the main switch rather than allowing your devices and appliances to remain on standby would suffice. What most mean by saying the devices are "ghosting" electricity is that the devices actually consume electricity while put on standby. Just like your tellys, it needs electricity to light up that small little red LED in the corner while it is on standby too and this would show up in your bills! By turning off the wall switch, you effectively cut all electricity to the device hence fully turning them off and preventing the "ghosting" of electricity. I hope this helps!
To be honest, I think it's all just a myth. Sure, turning everything off properly (ie: not standby) will obviously save electricity, saving money, but unplugging it... nah. I don't see how something turned off but plugged in is different to turned off and unplugged.
Well everything adds up eventually. Besides, does it really take too much of your energy to stand up, walk over to the plug, and pull it out? Its free exercise and you get to save some pennies so I think that its a win-win situation.
There is truth to that. You have to understand that everything plugged in uses some power. Even if it's a tiny bit. For example, all of our everyday electronics that have "standby" modes are using the tiniest bits of power. Not much, but still some.
