September 9, 2019

Read the tips below to save money on your home energy bills.

General

• Use energy-saving office equipment
  ENERGY STAR-labeled office equipment is widely available. It can provide dramatic energy savings – as much as 75%  for some products. Overall, ENERGY STAR-labeled office products use about half the electricity of standard equipment. Find ENERGY STAR products and standards*.
• Unplug equipment when not in use
  Many appliances continue to draw a small amount of power when they are switched off. These “vampire loads” occur in most household equipment,  such as DVD players, TVs, stereos, computers and kitchen appliances.
• Use rechargeable batteries for products like cordless phones and digital cameras.
  Studies have shown they are more cost effective than disposable batteries. Unplug battery chargers when the batteries are fully charged or the chargers are not in use.

Computers

• Turn off the monitor if you aren’t going to use your PC for more than 20 minutes.
• Turn off both the computer and monitor if you’re not going to use your PC for more than two  hours.
  • The less time a PC is on, the longer it will last.
  • PCs also produce heat, so turning them off reduces building cooling loads.
• Make sure your monitors, printers and other accessories are on a power strip/surge protector. When this equipment is not in use for extended periods, turn off the switch on the power strip to prevent them from drawing electricity  even when shut off.
• ENERGY STAR-labeled computers use 30%-65% less energy than computers without this designation, depending on usage.
• Consider buying a laptop for your next computer upgrade; laptops use much less energy than desktop computers.

Sleep Mode and Power Management Features

Many of today’s computers  come with a sleep mode or power management feature. ENERGY STAR® estimates that using these features will save you up to $30 each year on your electricity bills.

• Computers
  Make sure you have the power-down feature set up on your PC through your operating system software. Power management features usually are not enabled when a computer is purchased. Here’s how to activate the power management features on your computer*.
• Monitors
  Make sure you also have the power management features enabled on your monitor  so it will automatically go into sleep mode after a period of inactivity. You can save even more by manually turning off your monitor when you’re not using it.
• Screen savers
  Screen savers are not energy savers. Using a screen saver may in fact use more energy than not using one, and the power-down feature may not work if you have a screen saver activated. In fact, modern LCD color monitors do not need screen savers at all.

Source: Energy Saver

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