Saving Energy and Cash

Tools

By Jared Bray

Story Published: Mar 15, 2010 at 9:32 PM MST

Story Updated: Mar 26, 2010 at 3:30 PM MST

BILLINGS – TVs, coffeemakers and cell phones all eat up electricity, even when they're not being used.

"Most people think if it's turned off its not drawing power, but in many cases, some of those plugged in items are still drawing power," said Debbie Singer, NorthWestern Energy spokesperson.

To find out how much energy appliances use and how much money can be saved by unplugging them, consumers can turn to the Kill A Watt – a device that evaluates idle appliances.

At the KULR-8 break room, we found that by unplugging the microwave and TV when they were not being used, we could save about $8 a year. Doing the same thing to a cell phone would save $1.22 a year and unplugging a Nintendo Wii would help lower the utility bill by $1.38 yearly.

It's not a huge chunk of change, but for penny pinchers, it might be worth it. Plus, the savings could be greater for larger appliances.

"Sometimes there are appliances like that, that do draw a fair amount that people forget about," said Singer. "Like that extra refrigerator out in the garage that maybe once in a while has a pack of beer in it. If you really don't need that out there, unplug it."

Singer says there are other ways to use electricity more efficiently. NorthWestern Energy's website has an appliance calculator, which shows how much can be saved by limiting the amount of time appliances are used.

"If you use the Calc-U-Pal, you'll better understand your appliance usage."

And maybe even save a buck or two.

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