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Going Green Made Easy - Green Tips Roundup

First Posted: March 25, 2008

By Andrew Lau

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At RedFlagDeals.com, we're concerned with more than just saving money. For many of us, part of being an informed and smart shopper includes paying attention to how our consumerism impacts the environment. The RedFlagDeals.com Green/Eco Friendly Section exists for this very reason. A regular feature there is Green Tip Tuesdays, where we try and present weekly tips that that are not only beneficial to the wallet, but advantageous for the environment as well. In this article, we'll be looking back some of the best Green Tip Tuesday tips (and adding some updates as well).

1) Energy Vampirism - Phantom Energy Loads and Saving Electricity

It is estimated that anywhere from 5% to 25% of home electricity is consumed by appliances and electronics when they aren't even in use. This, according to the U.S Department of Energy, is because many appliances continue to draw power even when they are "off". Appliances such as VCRs, televisions, stereos, printers, computers and kitchen electronics (ie. appliances that display the time, have timers or have "instant on" capability) can draw enough power while you aren't actively using them to make a noticeable footprint on your electricity bill.

The simplest answer is to unplug these appliances when they aren't in use. Obviously, this can be inconvenient when plugs and outlets are in hard to reach places, and who wants to have to reach around and behind furniture every time they lave a room?

A potential solution is to have relevant appliances on power strips/bars or surge protectors. Turning off the power bar or similar device will cut the power and prevent the energy "vampirism" of these appliances. Some drawbacks may well pop up, such as certain televisions needing to rescan channels when you restore the power or not having an electronic clock everywhere you turn, but it's up to you, and perhaps those you reside with to determine where the lines of convenience and necessity are drawn.

Wikipedia notes that methods for finding phantom loads include turning off all lights at night and looking for any LEDs or other glows in the house, as well as identifying any device that requires resetting after a blackout or power surge. If you wish to track every last kilowatt in use and what you could end up saving, a device such Kill-a-Watt power usage meter will be a good starting place.

Here are a few other insights on saving electricity:

Screen savers aren't shown to reduce energy use by monitors. Automatic switching to sleep mode or manually turning monitors off is always the better energy-saving strategy. Besides, everyone has seen those psychedelic screen savers by now!

The belief that electronics or lights last longer when not switched on and off repeatedly is antiquated and no longer applicable to the vast majority of modern electricity drawing appliances and fixtures.

Thaw or partially thaw frozen foods in the refrigerator in advance instead of having to defrost with the microwave at the time of cooking.

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