In , Jim Redelfs said:
In , wrote:
A household's idling load from low power constant loads
can somewhat easily be 30 watts or more.
At .10/kWh, that amounts to ~$26.30/year.
And if I can reduce that by 60-75% or so with 2-3 power strips?
I can EASILY live with that. If that figure were to triple, I might
CONSIDER eliminating "idling load". (Nice term, BTW)
I would more likely follow my own advice and hang out to dry a few loads
of laundry that would otherwise be dried in the electric clothes dryer.
Many apartment buildings forbid outdoor clothes drying. If I was
very severely frugal in such places, I would use indoor clotheslines when
temperature and humidity are favorable for such.
Thankfully I have yet to experience having any of my clothes dried in an
electric clothes dryer at age well into the 40's. My experience is that
clothes driers got their heat from natural gas - although in one apartment
building I lived in, with electric stoves as opposed to gas ones, the
driers had a "fuel oil" odor.
Also consider that in the metro areas of NYC, Philadelphia and Chicago,
most residential electricity costs more like 14 cents per KWH. And in the
portion of the Philly area served by what was formerly PECO, during a
defined summer period monthly consumption past 500 or 600 or whatever KWH
gets billed at more like 18 cents per KWH.
(From memory - I did not actually drag into my view my electric bill
for last August. I will do so if my figures from my memory are disputed.)
Getting aggressive against "idling load" can somewhat easily reduce
power consumption by close to 10 KWH per month, plus another 2, maybe even
3 KWH per month during air conditioning season. At 18 cents or even if it
is 16 cents per KWH in most of the Philly area for electricity consumption
past 500-600 KWH per month during air conditioning season, I see a couple
bucks per month in savings. At other times of the year, I see $1.25-$1.50
per month in savings from being aggressive against "phantom load" in/near
Philly, NYC and Chicago.
- Don Klipstein )