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Know the cost of running your appliances: The cost of running an appliance can be calculated using the following formula:
Cost = (watts/1000) x hours x cost per kilowatt-hour.
The cost per kilowatt-hour can usually be found on your electricity bill. There are several different ways to find out how many watts your appliance uses:
  1. Look at the box: a 100 watt bulb uses 100 watts. Or,
  2. You can use a mains power meter to measure how much each appliance uses. Or,
  3. You can calculate how many watts an appliance uses: Amps x voltage = watts (In North America the voltage is 120; elsewhere it is probably 220 to 240 volts)
   thesource (378)

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Computer power savings:

Typical power usages are:

Active: 130 - 300 watts
Idling: 90 - 180 watts
Sleep mode (S1): 60-100 watts
Sleep mode (S3): 10 watts
Hibernate: 9 watts
Off: 9 watts
Unplugged: 0 watts

You may need to go to your BIOS settings on startup and set the Suspend type to S3 (Many systems use S1 by default)

An 80+ rated power supply (better than 80% efficiency) will save power.   thesource (378)

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LCD Monitors: use about 1/3 the power of CRT monitors (or TVs). LCD monitors also use about 30% less power than plasma screens.   [guest]

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CRT monitors and televisions use less power if you turn down the brightness.   thesource (378)

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In hot climates, use ceiling fans instead of an air conditioner. Or if you have to use air conditioning, have it in just in the room where you spend most of your time, instead of a central air conditioner which cools the entire building.   thesource (378)

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Split System Airconditioners with Inverters: Although an installed pair of these units will set you back quite a deal of money, they have many advantages. Used with roof insulation, you can run them on the most economical setting and still have effective cooling and heating (otherwise you pay a lot more on your quarterly electricity bill). Also, for summer, you save on cold water (when you buy spring water), ceiling fan power usage, greater fridge usage, more lukewarm showers to cool down and more washing machine usage due to sweaty clothes. Also you don't have to get out of the house (i.e. drive and spend money outside the house) so much because its cooler inside than out. In winter you eat less and have less hot showers because the heating prevents your core temperature from dropping.

The benefit of inverters is that they are quiet enough to have in units without disturbing neighbouring tennants, and their power usage is far less than standard spilt systems.

Look on eBay for licenced split system installers and you can save huge amounts on installation.   thesource (378)

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Washing machines: The major cost with washing machines is the cost of heating the water. If your clothes are not very dirty then try using a warm or even a cold water wash and rinse, instead of using hot water. Front-loading washing machines tend to use less water and therefore cost less to run.   thesource (378)

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