[zarf]

One of those hidden secrets of saving money. By shutting off the TV via a power strip it's astonishing how much money you can save over a years time on energy costs.

If you can manage it, leaving the water heater on for just 3 hours a day supplies hot water for a day and a half (for a small family but NOT during winter!). Doing these 2 things ha saved me almost $400 a year.

[BurbankKarl]

how much is the TV tax now? $25 recycling tax on every TV in CA? Why be surprised they will charge more? The power strip idea is a good one.

[Willie Green]

Doing these 2 things ha saved me almost $400 a year.

Just imagine how much more you can save by disconnecting the doorbell and making visitors use the knocker instead!

[SedVictaCatoni]

I've just discovered how much power I saved by switching to compact fluorescents instead of incandescents. Unfortunately, to a lot of people around here, anything which smacks of conservation is TEH LIBARAL PLOT'S TO DESTROY AMERICA.

[steve86]

If you can manage it, leaving the water heater on for just 3 hours a day supplies hot water for a day and a half

I can't quite imagine that since I can run a 50 gal tank out on my own (in the shower), but you must be frugal.

We actually went a step further and put in on-demand water heaters - one for the whole house and one supplementary for a shower -- no need to heat a tank at all. There is no tank.

[Calvin Locke]

Each GFIC outlet draws ~2w/hr, just sitting there, active.

The clocks in the nuker, stove, etc., draw about 5 watts, each.

Wall-warts are notoriously inefficient. Without a load, they still consume 40-60% of the rated output wattage.

[beaver fever]

I had a discussion about conservation with a friend of mine who told me that he never shuts his computer down because it doesn't use much electricity. I asked him how he knew that because be both live in the same building and the electricity is included in the rent. He looked at me like I said something incredibly stupid.

I got my revenge when the fan on his machine failed suddenly after running 24/7 for three years. The fan failure cooked his motherboard taking the drive with it and cost him $600 to retrieve half of the files. He's a 3D artist and lost a ton of irreplaceable stuff. What goes around comes around. The moral of the story is that your expensive appliances will last long if you don't let them run while you're not using them. Would you run a bench grinder 24/7? Would you buy a bench grinder that did,t have an off button?

[Jaysun]

This is somewhat off of the subject, but since you guys are talking about thrift and conservation, may I suggest that you consider using a straight razor? They still make some fine ones and they aren't that expensive. I've been using one for several years now and it's nice to not have to shell out $10 to buy "Mach 3" razor replacements.

I also save bits and pieces of money on other little things and the total savings amounts to about $80 per month. I've been socking away that $80 every month for 2 years and plan to continue for at least another 30. By then it'll be a handsome sum.

[R. Scott]

Doing these 2 things ha saved me almost $400 a year.

Being basically a poor boy, I started a conscious effort to save on my electric bill last year. Simple things – thermostat set at 65 in the winter, 85 in the summer, all electronics off when not in use, full laundry loads etc. – have dropped my bill (a small one bedroom total electric apartment) from an average of about $150 a month to less than $50 a month.

[dalereed]

When all the power is gone I will have made sure that I have used more than my share!

To hell with conservation as long as I pay the bill!