My house: Unplugged

[PrincessPerky]

This month in an effort to offset the costs of Christmas lights I am unplugging the rest of my house. Not entirely, lets not get too crazy here - I need my Internet! But there are lots of electric luxuries that I could easily do without. Or at the very least reduce my use of.

The first step I took a few months ago, I put all my major entertainment equipment on outlet strips and turn them completely off in-between use. Many people differ on just how much electricity is saved by unplugging major equipment, I will leave the kilowatt debate for others and simply say I have cut my electric bill in half, because if the computer is not plugged in I often find something else to do, same with the TV or stereo. So regardless of the ‘keep warm’ energy saved, I am saving on not using the equipment., or at least not using it as much.

Now to use them even less....

Games, I love games and I love teaching my kids how to play. I have to keep it simple for now, but I am looking forward to the Christmas tradition of candy canes on free parking in monopoly. Board games, card games, charades, you name it, practically any game is good in my book.

Art, I am not an artist, but I enjoy spending time with the kids, and I am often amazed at how well their things turn out. A special bonus they often double as gifts.

Singing, I have a terrible voice, but my kids don’t mind and I love Christmas carols. I just need to find a website with all the words!

I am sure there is more. I might go all archaic some year and totally ban the modern tech for a month just to see what my kids come up with. But only if I can sneak the net myself!

[gakline]

I know it's Scroogish, but I don't put up Christmas lights outside. I think they're a waste or energy and time. That should cut my bill down. If I did put them up, I'd probably forget to turn them off at night, so wasting more energy.

[DivaJen]

Originally Posted by gakline

I know it's Scroogish, but I don't put up Christmas lights outside. I think they're a waste or energy and time. That should cut my bill down. If I did put them up, I'd probably forget to turn them off at night, so wasting more energy.

We use a timer on ours, so that they don't run for hours on end. We invested in the LED lights this year, so we'll see how the electric bill looks.

After discussions in this forum, I've been more aware of leaving things plugged in unnecessarily. I used to leave the hair dryer plugged in 24/7, even though it wasn't being used daily. Now it's unplugged except for when it's being used. Not a huge savings, but a savings nonetheless, and safer, too.

PP - your plans for December sound wonderful.

[PRICEPLUS]

Christmas lights are a luxury I indulge. They make me happy.

[miclason]

We have a rule: The tree and outside lights are only lit if we are downstairs....AND, if the tree and lights are on, all other lights are off! - better for our economy and it makes it easier to appreciate the lights...

[Fern]

I have electric lights in my windows which automatically go off during daylight, on at night. During the darkest month of the year, I enjoy them.

[FrugalTexan75]

This year is the first year I have put up Christmas lights outside - and perhaps some inside, though haven't fully decided on that yet. I mostly find that I forget to even turn them ON - but I have no trouble remembering to turn them off, because every night before I go to bed I do a quick 30 second check around my "huge" duplex.

I was wondering about putting a TV on one of those surge protector things where you can turn it off when not in use. Do you have to reset the clock on the tv everytime you turn it back on? For example, if I have my tv programed to record certain programs at certain times of the day/night - will turning my tv off via the power surge thing reset everything (clock and channel #s)??

If not, then I'm all for doing anything to save a few cents on my electric bill!

Thanks, Laura

[gakline]

Originally Posted by FrugalTexan75

I was wondering about putting a TV on one of those surge protector things where you can turn it off when not in use. Do you have to reset the clock on the tv everytime you turn it back on? For example, if I have my tv programed to record certain programs at certain times of the day/night - will turning my tv off via the power surge thing reset everything (clock and channel #s)??

Yes it will reset the clock. Think of a power outage. Also if you have it set to record, your tv can't plug itself back in either.

Here's a wacko holiday house. THe music is set to TransSiberian Orchestra:

http://www.snopes.com/photos/arts/xmaslights.asp

[flash]

Originally Posted by PrincessPerky

This month in an effort to offset the costs of Christmas lights I am unplugging the rest of my house. Not entirely, lets not get too crazy here - I need my Internet! But there are lots of electric luxuries that I could easily do without. Or at the very least reduce my use of.

The first step I took a few months ago, I put all my major entertainment equipment on outlet strips and turn them completely off in-between use. Many people differ on just how much electricity is saved by unplugging major equipment, I will leave the kilowatt debate for others and simply say I have cut my electric bill in half, because if the computer is not plugged in I often find something else to do, same with the TV or stereo. So regardless of the ‘keep warm’ energy saved, I am saving on not using the equipment., or at least not using it as much.

You are absolutely right about turning OFF off the equipment like the tv. Quite a few of the cable boxes and universal remotes now leave the tv on while you turn off the cable, so the tv jumps on to the last station with no warm up time. My husband INSISTS we turn off the tv and the cable separately, and they are all on strips. We save not only on electricity, but the wear on the tv. Our last big screen had a "life prediction" of 5 years, ours lasted 17. And we use it as much as everyone else.

Computer goes OFF, and it's also on a power saver. I hate the time it takes to restart it, but again, not just the electricity saved but not burning out the computer or overheating the electronics.

I'll admit, hubbie drives me CRAZY turning things off, but we have seen the savings.

[etswife2005]

I have been trying to get our electric bill down and with a few changes have managed to see a decent difference. I really want to get the bill lower so I am going to try Unplugging as mentioned on this thread. I will do it before turning in tonight as we just got a bill so we are early in the next billing cycle meaning I will see the difference on my next bill...

[PrincessPerky]

I discovered two little things,

One I have two clocks plugged in my room, we only use one, so why have two?

The other, 'closet drying' (I don't have permission for a line nor willingness to give up a room for a line indoors, so I use empty closet space) anyway doing that raisies the humidity of the house, which makes it 'feel' warmer .

[mjrube94]

Try this link for Christmas Carol lyrics...it's pretty extensive

[CJsoccerchic]

I have really saved a lot of money unplugging all the amenities in the kitchen. Between having an electric everything tomake life in the kitchen easier, I have noticed that my power bill is going down! So the unplugging works!!!

[CJsoccerchic]

OH -- another thing is... and depending on where this is located in your home. But if you turn off and on the switch to your hot water heater, you will see a HUGE difference on your bill... anywhere from $40 - $100 dpeending on how many people live in your home and how well you remember to turn off and on and how water heater. I turn my hot water heater on 15 minutes before I take a shower, then I have my shower and turn off the heater when done. I finally trained my DH to do this too and we have seen a big difference in our bill.

[flash]

The hot water heater is a good one! We put extra insulation on ours when we moved it, and that should help maintain the temp quite awhile after it's turned off!

Clocks are another great point. When I was working 20 hour days, I had them in every room and two in the bedroom. Crazy since I was never home to see them, but when I WAS home, I had to crunch the time. Now that I set my own schedule, I don't really need those clocks. Besides, the ovens and microwaves and tv and cable all have clocks. Hmmm, you all have given me some new ideas.!

[cicy33]

We used to put up lights outside but the dog ate them. Soooo, no point to those anymore. I can't turn off my water heater it is gas. It is hard enough to light the da*! thing as it is when it does goes out. We do turn off lights if we aren't in the room. Fortunately our house is kinda built in the living area in an open floor plan so some lights work for both rooms. I am really bad about turning off the computer. I do unplug the heating iron and hair dryer but not because I am saving (didn't know it did that) but because the bathroom is small and it is less messy.

[khorovetsyelena]

I never put lights outside, because I am not standing outside and looking at them whole evening, then why waste energy. Once I put it inside, but thats it. I was either forgetting to turn them on in the evening or forgetting to turn them off at night.
Lots of people say that unplugging things save them money. But how much will I actually save if I unplug 2 tv's, stereo and dvd player. I use them every day anyways. Does anybody know if it will save me at least $1 a months?

[Ima saver]

I am curious about the same thing. How can unplugging the hair dryer save on electricity?? I don't unplug my tv's either because they are built in and hard to unplug.

[cicy33]

Apparently they still use electricity even plugged in though I am not aware of where it says that. I am only repeating what I have seen here. I personally don't unplug anything in my house and our light bill is not too bad. I don't think unplugging the tvs or the vcr or dvd player is going to save more than maybe a dollar or two a month and it is not worth the hassle of reprogramming every time it is turned back on.

[abowers]

Our electricity bill is only about $30/month.

Our computer is always on.
The fridge (duh) is always plugged in, all the other kitchen appliances, tv/vcr/dvd, stereo, are always plugged in. We get nice sunlight during the day so usually don't need a light during the day, and only use 1 or 2 lights when it's dark. For all of December and half of January we had Christmas lights in the window, turned on only at night - but basically every night, and our electricity bill was unaffected.