The Small Winter Mistake That Secretly Raises Your Energy Bill
I think we all dread opening the electric bill in the middle of winter. The heating is running constantly and the lights are on longer because the sun goes down so early. We tend to blame the furnace or the drafty windows for the high cost. But there is actually a silent drain on your wallet happening right under your nose. It comes from the devices we leave plugged in twenty four hours a day even when we are not using them. Here are the worst ones.
The Microwave Clock
Walk into your kitchen at night and look at the glowing green numbers on your microwave. That digital clock is using electricity every single second of the year. It seems like a tiny amount but when you add up every appliance with a clock it becomes pretty expensive. Unless you actually use your microwave to tell the time, it is worth unplugging it when you are not cooking. It takes two seconds to plug it back in when you need to heat up lunch.
Computers That Just Sleep
I used to leave my desktop computer in sleep mode because I hated waiting for it to boot up in the morning. It felt like a harmless shortcut. However, keeping a computer and monitor on standby uses much more energy than shutting them down. Even a laptop that is plugged in and fully charged will continue to draw power from the outlet. Shutting your computer down completely at the end of the day is a simple habit that saves money and helps the machine.
Game Consoles
If you have a gamer in the house, you probably have a console sitting under the TV. Most modern gaming systems are designed to never truly turn off. They sit in a standby mode so they can download updates or start up instantly when you grab the controller. This convenience comes at a real price because the machine is essentially running a low level computer all day and night. It uses a pretty big amount of electricity just waiting for you to play.
Your Television
We press the power button on the remote and the screen goes black so we assume the TV is off. But smart TVs are actually energy vampires that pull power constantly. They have to stay active to receive the signal from your remote or to keep their connection to your wifi network. If you have a large modern screen, that standby power adds up over the course of a month. Unplugging it at the wall is the only way to stop it from completely drawing power.
Phone Chargers Left In The Wall
We are all guilty of leaving our phone chargers plugged into the outlet by the bed or the couch. It is just easier than finding them every time we need a charge. But those little bricks are actually transformers that draw a small amount of current even when no phone is attached. You can sometimes feel them get warm which is proof that energy is being wasted as heat. Pulling them out of the wall when your phone is full stops you from wasting energy and money.
Printers Waiting For A Job
Printers are one of the worst offenders for standby power consumption. Most of us only print something once in a blue moon, but we leave the machine on and ready to go forever. Especially with wireless printers, the device has to keep its radio active to listen for print jobs from your network. That means it is effectively working twenty four hours a day for no reason. Turn it on only when you actually need a hard copy of something.
Soundbars And Smart Speakers
If you have a sound system hooked up to your TV, it likely has the same issue as the television itself. Subwoofers and soundbars often have lights that stay on and amplifiers that stay warm in standby mode. They are ready to blast sound the moment you want them to, but that readiness costs money. Putting your entire entertainment center on a smart power strip lets you cut power to all of these energy vampires with a single switch.
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It feels a little overwhelming to think about unplugging everything in your house. But you do not have to be perfect to see a difference. Just picking the biggest energy hogs, like the game console or the spare computer, can lower your bill. It is about being mindful of where your power is going. A few small changes to your routine can keep that money in your pocket instead of sending it to the electric company.
Bliss Donahue-Power
