Palm | Kelapa Sawit

I just read an article on the Captain Current vs. Phantom Energy website created by the students in the Capstone Project at Portland State University. “Oh, the Lovely Savings I Make” recounts the use of a product called The Kill-A-Watt EZ. The most shocking revelation in this article is the difference in electrical usage between florescent and regular light bulbs!

I challenge you to do some of your own investigative work. A good way to start is to look around your house and take an inventory of all of your electronic devices from light bulbs to phone chargers. Then once you have a good list going, get one of these monitoring devices and hook them up to see how much electricity you are actually using. If you choose to take this challenge report back in the comments section, so we can get an idea of the energy consumption from others around the world. Your own investigation may even spark your own personal change.

Posted by Catherine Martell-Straight

Hello my name is Kendra Collins and I am a student at PSU and this term our group is focusing on “phantom energy” meaning how much energy are we wasting on things when we don’t even know it. For example, how much electricity does your cell phone charger, coffee maker, laptop charger, ect use? I found an extremely helpful site for the visual person like myself. I wanted a way to measure every particular device so I could figure out exactly what each item is costing me, and if I add up all of these devices how much could I be saving in electrical energy use. Since I have heard that a lamp can still use some electricity even when off. I am debating whether to invest in this device, called the Kill-A-Watt EZ. After all, with current economic times wouldn’t it be helpful to know where you could be saving some money. As we have all been told pennies a day really do add up. Just like small amounts of electricity usage add up as well, not to mention being more green. Julie the author of the web site that analyzes the Kill-A-Watt EZ., takes you step by step through the ways in which the Kill A Watt works and how you can put it to use in your home. Go to the hyperlink above to learn more about this particular device and how to use it.

Since these Winter months seem to be the highest energy bills for most families aren’t you curious how you can take control of your electricity usage? My sister-in-law recently called me frantic because her electric bill was over $400 dollars last month. She was extremely dismayed when she found my bill was much lower considering the fact that my house is larger. I told her I used energy efficient light bulbs in every fixture in my home. I figure they are well worth the expense. I still have a couple energy efficient bulbs from when my husband and I were first married over 8 years ago. An extremely good investment, when I figure I am also saving over $100 per month on my electricity bill in the Winter months. I do think I will invest in the Kill-A-Watt EZ, and I will get back to you all with the results. Perhaps, I will let a few of my family members borrow it as well, so they can determine where their electricity and extra dollars are going.

Bye for now,
Kendra

I recently had a conversation with my husband, Dennis, when he arrived home after work. He works swing shift so he gets home at about 12:30am after myself and our son, Jacob, are already in bed and asleep. This particular evening he woke me up and asked me why the DVD player was still spinning and if thought Jacob might still be awake as his television was still on. Mind you this is not a new topic of discussion for us, so it must have really irked him this time in order for him to wake me up. I know these comments are also going to spur some discussion around falling asleep with the television on and my parenting style, but this blog is really about energy use, specifically "phantom energy."

It wasn’t a huge deal in my mind, this energy consumption, until doing some research on it. According to www.mygreenelectronics.org leaving my DVD player on 24 hours a day costs me approximately $12.43 per year. Now, when my DVD player is plugged in, but turned off you would think that it would cost me nothing. This is not true, however. It still uses 2.9 watts even when turned off! That is $2.41 per year, which doesn't sound like much when thinking in individual terms. The U.S. population, however, is over 300 million people according to the CIA factbook estimated in 2008. Therefore, if just half of the US population unplugged their DVD players when not in use it would save an estimated 300 million dollars per year. 300 million dollars per year!

I’m not even going to touch on the television issue this time. The bottom-line is that this energy that is being zapped from our electronics even when they are turned off is called “phantom energy.” To stop this kind of unknowing waste of our resources we should all do our part and unplug anything that we can when we aren’t using it. Think of all we could save.

posted by Catherine Martell-Straight