Fun with a Kill-a-Watt
We finally got that Kill-A-Watt we’ve been thinking about, and we spent a good part of last weekend running around the house measuring the energy use of every single piece of electronic equipment we own. It was surprisingly fun. It was also a lot of numbers. (See below.) But we could draw a few conclusions from all of them:
- The desktop computer is a huge energy hog, even when turned off. It’s also 10 years old and mostly used to store all our music and photos. So we’re planning on getting rid of it this year and replacing it with a network-attached storage device.
- The cell phones and DS use almost no energy, even when charging, so it doesn’t seem worth getting the power strip I was thinking of.
- We should always turn the Wii off on the console itself, rather than putting it into standby with the Wiimotes.
- Our old CRT TV uses much less energy than a comparable LCD TV. We’re going to hold off on replacing it for as long as possible.
- The heat dry setting on the dishwasher really does use a lot of energy. We’re definitely going to continue leaving it off.
- Mom was right—don’t hold the refrigerator door open. It uses a ridiculous amount of energy.
.
Energy Use of Household Electronics (in watts)
- Mac laptop – 13″ Powerbook G4
- sleeping: 2
- off (plugged in): 1-2
- in use (not charging): 16-32
- in use (and charging): 49
- charging (while off): 32
- PC laptop – Dell Latitude D630
- sleeping: <1
- off (plugged in): <1
- in use (not charging): 22-37
- in use (and charging): 44
- charging (while off): 61
- Desktop computer – custom built PC
- off (plugged in): 6
- in use: 110-121
- Desktop monitor – MagInnovision 46
- off (plugged in): 2
- on: 18
- Printer – Canon IP4000
- off (plugged in): <1
- on: <1
- printing: 11
- Computer speakers – Creative Labs SBS250
- off (plugged in): <1
- on: 1
- playing: 1
- iPod speaker – JBL Onstage
- off (plugged in): 2
- idle: 5
- charging: 5
- on: 8-17 (depending on volume)
- Cell phone – Motofone F3
- idle: <1
- charging: <1
- fully charged: <1
- Cell phone – Motorola Razr V3
- idle: <1
- charging: 1
- fully charged: <1
- Nintendo DS Lite
- idle: <1
- charging: 3
- fully charged: <1
- Playstation 2
- off (plugged in): 2
- on: 27
- Nintendo Wii
- off (plugged in) – red light: 1
- idle – yellow light: 11
- on – green light: 21
- Apple Airport Extreme: 4
- Tivo – Series 3: 37
- Cable modem – Scientific Atlanta DPC2100: 4
- TV – Sony Trinitron 32″ CRT
- off (plugged in): <1
- on: 53-102 (depending on screen brightness)
- Toothbrush charger – Oral B
- idle: <1
- charging: <1
- Coffeemaker – Black & Decker Home Café GT300
- off (plugged in): 1
- on: up to 1252
- Toaster – Proctor Silex 22205
- off (plugged in): <1
- on: 832
- Electric teakettle – Presto 0270302: 686
- Refrigerator – General Electric Hotpoint HTS18GBSARWW
- idle: <1
- light bulb: 39
- compressor on: 157
- Bedside clock/light – BioBrite 88631
- clock: 2
- light: 9-53
- Washing machine – LG WM0642HW
- off (plugged in): 3
- on: 7-439
- Dryer – LG DLG60452W
- off (plugged in): <1
- light bulb: 16
- on: 242
- Dishwasher – Frigidaire FDB641RJS0
- off (plugged in): <1
- on: 22
- heating water: 927
- heat dry: 1154
- Roomba 560
- idle (plugged in): 1
- charging: 29
- fully charged: 5
- Paper shredder – Novitech PS026/B2
- off (plugged in): <1
- on: <1
- shredding: 63
Posted: January 11th, 2010 under Electronics, Energy Use.
Tags: but I love my Tivo..., Electronics, Energy Use, kill-a-watt, measure energy, vampire energy
Comments
Pingback from Energy 2.0 » Blog Archive » Fun with a Kill-A-Watt
Time January 12, 2010 at 9:56 am
[…] at pragmaticenvironmentalism.com GD Star Ratingloading… Save & […]
Comment from Joe
Time January 16, 2010 at 4:38 pm
I got one of these about a year ago, but didn’t measure as many things as you did. From now on, I’m gonna turn off my Wii completely instead of just putting it on standby! Thanks.
Comment from Brenda Pike
Time January 19, 2010 at 9:31 pm
I actually don’t find it that inconvenient to turn off the air dry option. I have to handle each dish individually in order to put them back in the cupboard anyway…
Comment from Brenda Pike
Time January 19, 2010 at 9:35 pm
Who would have thought that it made such a difference? I guess the Wii doesn’t automatically go into sleep mode because it wants to be constantly connected to the internet.
By the way, nice blog!
Pingback from Friday Green Links – 1/22/09 « Pragmatic Environmentalism
Time January 22, 2010 at 8:10 pm
[…] other news, my Fun With a Kill-a-Watt post was featured in this week’s Carnival of the Green over at Eco Joe’s and last […]
Comment from Brian Novotny
Time March 3, 2010 at 12:55 am
There are many things that just use too much energy. It is estimated that 40% of our energy use is waste and there are some good home energy monitor products available to help reduce that watse.
Pingback from Replacing Our Desktop Computer with a NAS « Pragmatic Environmentalism
Time June 7, 2010 at 9:46 pm
[…] we tested all our electronics with the Kill-a-Watt, we found out that the ten-year-old desktop was using a lot of energy, even when it wasn’t […]
Pingback from Energy 2.0 » Blog Archive » Replacing our Desktop Computer with a NAS
Time June 8, 2010 at 12:13 pm
[…] we tested all our electronics with the Kill-a-Watt, we found out that the ten-year-old desktop was using a lot of energy, even when it wasn’t […]
Comment from Seane
Time October 21, 2010 at 4:12 am
Great article! If it was not so serious it could be funny. I had a vision of households running around with their own personal electricity measure. Yet, that is what we should be doing, at least periodically as the cost of running our households is on the increase and it will not reduce.
Comment from Lpg Gas Supplier
Time October 29, 2010 at 4:03 am
Hmm interesting! I am a supporter of every household completing an annual audit on the performance of their home energy use. You appear to be doing very well.
Comment from Steve Voros
Time November 24, 2010 at 10:00 pm
This is a fantastic alternative to bringing in a specialist to audit your equipment efficiency. Oh what fun you could have as a family!
Comment from christmas lights
Time December 1, 2010 at 9:17 pm
Fantastic. This is the approach that we all should adopt. What fun can be had for the whole family. I also would check with your local by laws, as you may fine there are rebates for taking your own energy audit.
Pingback from Pragmatic Environmentalism
Time January 18, 2011 at 2:33 pm
[…] One year ago: Fun with a Kill-a-Watt […]
Pingback from Pragmatic Environmentalism
Time April 27, 2011 at 9:29 pm
[…] Minuteman Library Network now has Kill-A-Watts available for check out. If you live in the Boston area, just request one to be delivered to your […]
Comment from Brenda Pike
Time August 20, 2011 at 12:30 pm
They are now: http://www.reuk.co.uk/Kill-a-Watt.htm
Pingback from Festival of Frugality #212: New Beginnings Edition | Yes, I Am Cheap
Time February 5, 2012 at 8:49 pm
[…] For Your First Half or Full Marathon posted at Money Help For Christians. Brenda Pike presents Fun with a Kill-a-Watt posted at Pragmatic […]
Comment from Sharon
Time January 12, 2010 at 9:14 am
Turn off Wii at the base. Gotcha! I should look at our dishwasher, too–if there’s a way to make it that much more energy efficient, and given the fact that I never unload it for hours anyway, it seems like I should do it.