[Christina]

Something I see quite often as a “tip” for saving money is unplugging literally every electronic in the house, lamps, etc. Folks, you do not need to do this.

Lamps, toasters, etc are not drawing any electricity just by being plugged in. There is zero amperage draw until it’s turned on. A coffee maker or Blu-ray player for example, that displays a clock, will draw a minute amount of power to run the clock. Pennies over the course of a month. Unplugging all those things that draw such little power won’t save more than a buck or two on your bill.

The savings is seen in the large appliance use and your HVAC. Not much folks can do about the fridge except keep it full, but hand washing dishes, line drying clothes, using less hot water, adjusting temps on HVAC (the #1 reason the bill goes up) etc are some things to do to not use those large appliances that draw so many amps. Swap your lightbulbs to LED too, really low amperage draw compared to bulbs of yesteryear (though I miss the lighting of the old incandescent bulbs.)

Also, just a small safety tip because I see this a lot as well: stay away from the strip plugs. Fire hazards, big time.

[Carolyn]

And change those filters on your ac. Dirty filters make it work harder. I change mine once a month.

[Marjorie]

When you have a number of small appliances plugged in, they add up! Particularly during peak times.

It’s convenient to keep everything plugged in, but my utility bills showed a significantly lower total when they were not. It may not make a big difference to your budget, but it sure did to mine ($40 lower!)!

[Kristin]

I disagree to a point. Yeah, the unfancy $19 coffee pot isn’t drawing much, if anything, when it’s plugged in, but the behavior modification that stemmed from unplugging things brought my usage from 1150kwh a month down to a hair over 250.

The bill went from $124 to $59.

In the cold months.

It didn’t have a darn thing to do with that $19 Walmart special, but don’t discount one or two small acts having a huge ripple effect.

[Jamie]

I agree, I tried it and even turned most items off when we were gone for 5 days and nothing really changed. I am able to see my usage by day and by hour and there was no big change.

So, I just leave everything as is and go my merry way. I have learned to turn the thermostat way up in the summer months and use black out curtains, along with foam boards on my windows.

I use LED lights and it makes some difference. So AMEN to what you said.

[Shelly]

I unplug everything I can lighting hit our house and fry everything that was plug in, we fix the lighting problem but still have PTSD over the lighting and replaced everything one thing at a time not fun.

[Jamie]

True. We got a meter from our library and tested a bunch of stuff. Turns out our bedroom fans use most of the electricity we pay for. We were paying roughly $100/month to run our fans and our bill was $175/month. Ow we have smart plugs and turn them off when we aren’t in the bedroom or don’t need them. It has saved us so much money!

[Toni]

Those are fire hazards? I had no idea. Why? Also, just to point out, I don’t unplug most of those items to help with our electric bill, I unplug them because they can be a fire hazard too. The most extreme example………good friends of ours told their son to leave his rechargeable battery plugged in and then plugged into his little car. It started a fire and half their house burned down. My sister’s neighbor left her hair dryer plugged in and it started a small fire in their bathroom. Although I don’t think it was the hair dryr, I think it was the plug because it was all black around it. Anyways, good info. TY

[Tami]

Mostly agree. I don’t waste my precious time running around the house every day unplugging & replugging my small lights & appliances to save $50 per year.

[Author]

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