power strip

Ever wonder how you can make significantly more money, with minimal effort? There is a great “Work from Home Opportunity” that can save you a lot of money, if you only choose to:

1. Do some pretty simple math (optional).
2. Flip some switches.
3. Unplug some appliances.

How do you get this free money? Very simple. It’s lying around in your home, in almost invisible locations. It takes almost no effort. It’s what people have been telling you for years, but you’ve not been listening.

It’s called conserving energy!

Wow. Now for the math part, to calculate how much you can save in electricity by taking some really simple steps.

Step 1: Realize There Are 8,760 hours in a Year.

That is a pretty big number. While most of us think of their being 24 hours in a day and 365 days in a year, we rarely multiply both numbers together. Yet, we should when talking about energy, because we use energy like electricity even when we sleep or at out of the house.

Step 2: Realize Electricity Is Sold in Very Small Bundles.

That is compared to typical household electrical consumption. Power companies bill you on kilowatt hours. So if you use on average 1,000 watts per hour, you use 8,760 kw/h of electricity per year.

The way electricity is priced is similiar to a grocery stores selling food “by the teaspoon”. Shelve prices at such a “by the teaspoon” grocery store might look cheap, but when you get to the register, you would be shelling out some real cash.

Step 3: Realize Electricity Only Looks Cheap.

Electricity where I live costs about 15 1/2 cents per kilowatt hour. Seems pretty cheap. You could use 9,600 watts for an hour, for the same price of a $1.50 bus pass. That’s more energy then your electric clothes drier would use in an hour.

The problem comes in that most people don’t use electricity for an hour. They use it for multiple hours, indeed throughout the year, all 8,760 hours of the year. While people turn appliances on and off, the reality is a lot of electricity is being used year round.

Step 4: Calculate Your Savings.

Once you realize how expensive energy is, the trick is to calculate your savings and figure out where you can spare a couple of watts here and there. Maybe unplugging the television when your not using it rather then putting it in sleep mode, could save you $5 or $10 a year, making sure the computer is turned off when your not using it, could be another free $50-$75 in cash that otherwise would have just gone to power company.

This table looks a that math, based on the typical 15.5¢ an Albany resident would typically pay for electricity. Evidentially, even that little amount adds up. Do you really need that extra alarm clock? Unplug it! That’s another free $8.15 per year in Albany. Replace that 100-watt incadescent bulb you use on average 6-hours per day with a 26 watt florescent equalivent bulb, and get a free $16.75 for each bulb you change per year.

Typical Monthly Energy Costs in Albany-area.

Can you turn some of the below appliances off? How often do they stay on, wasting energy? This is how much you’ll save in energy in Albany.

Typical Yearly Energy Costs in Albany-area.

Now if you think you can’t make some real savings in a month, consider the power consumption for these common items over a year.