Saturday, January 31, 2009

My House Unplugged


I've been wanting to try this experiment out for some time now, but the cost of our last utilities bill is what finally drove me to do something. I can't even type out what the numbers are for our last bill because I might just throw up right here on my computer screen. We need to do something to bring the cost down, and going around shutting lights off obviously isn't enough. I am trying an experiment that I've heard several people have tried recently and had great success. Every electrical outlet in our home has now been unplugged and will only get plugged in when we need to use that particular appliance. Every lamp, TV, and appliance is now cut off from their power source. I did leave some clocks plugged in and the lamp by our bed because the outlet is behind the bed, but I even unplugged our washer and dryer and coffee maker. From what I've been told the results of doing this are dramatic so I want to give it a try for the month of February. I'll let you know what the cost difference is from the month of January to the month of February and you can decide if this is something you'd like to try in your home. If you've already tried this I'd like to hear how it affected your family and if it made a difference. Here's to life unplugged!

5 comments:

Carrie said...

I look forward to hearing your update. I have continual struggles w/ my husband over this issue -- i want him to turn off the power strip his entire computer workstation off when not in use, but he says he can't because he needs to keep his backup power source always charged. i can't IMAGINE how much that costs us and i don't think it's necessary at all. he's such a geek.

amber said...

can't wait to hear the results...i've been wondering if it really makes a difference...guess we'll see!

ConKitto said...

I'm interested in seeing how much of a difference it will make.

Sarah Eliza @ devastateboredom said...

Oooh I'll be so interested to hear the results... I've been thinking about this kind of wasted power a lot lately too, and trying to be better about unplugging things...

The Brutsman Family said...

We tried this experiment several months ago and our normally $75-80 a month electric bill was less than $35!