[Deschodt]

Went thru this recently... A few things you can do or realize:

- A pool is *at least* $50 per month, same with a jacuzzi !
- A teenager is 10x worse than a pool ;-)
- Get a Killawatt device, they are cheap and informative... They go between an appliance and the power outlet, and measure actual drain on your wallet! In $, if you want ! A few surprises came out of this experiment for me... Forgive me, I forgot the exact numbers, but to give you an idea...

- The "phantom" drain from plugged in transformers for devices not powered on is not negligible ! It won't save you that much per month, but it was a surprise ! I now turn off the power strips !

- My UPS (one on TV, one on each computer, 3 total) are horribly power hungry ! who knew ? An electrician friend recommend I install GFI protected outlets everywhere, They are cheap but trip easily when the power spikes, and are better than a UPS if you don't care about losing power.

- My fridge is 10 year old, it sucks way more power than it should and it also was set too cold, check with one of those remote thermometers for fun!

- A/C is the numero uno drain in the house, and it's ON 360 days a year in Florida!!! Programmable thermostast help, insulation and venting too...

- Another big one is the water heaters, #2 behind the A/C for me... That's where teenagers would kill you ! Teenage girls even more ! Turning them down helped a fair bit, replacing them with smaller Rinnai tankless heaters would help even more AND give me more garage and closet space (got 2 of the big guys) !

- #3 drain on my list: electric dryer... Gas is much cheaper ! For me anyway...

- Reflective film on windows, if in a hot climate...

- One thing that made very little difference? the new fangled compact fluorescent bulbs... They are ****. They burn out 10x faster than regular lights despite warranty claims, I saved maybe $30 total per bill, yet they cost $300+ for the house, need to be replaced all the time and recycled, and I hate the slow "power up" cycle they have... Not ready for prime time, bring on LEDs !

That's what I remember... Have fun investigating !