Saving Electricity: How to Save Electricity
This was the very first site on the Internet about saving electricity, launching in 1999. I was telling you about LED lights, front-loading washers, and heat pump heating years before they started to become mainstream. I don't have time to update the site much these days, but most of the old info is still true today. In fact, the site is better than most articles about saving electricity in the popular press, which don't include useful numbers or which get their facts completely wrong.
Start with learning exactly what a kilowatt hour is and how much you pay for one. You can then see how to calculate exactly how much electricity your household appliances use, so you know which items are guzzling the most juice (and which ones are the best targets for savings). You'll also learn exactly how to read your electric meter, if you like. (Find that on any other website.) Finally, I've answered countless questions from readers about saving electricity. If you have a question, it's probably answered here already.
Saving electricity doesn't just save money, it also saves energy, which means less pollution. This might be surprising, because you don't see or smell any pollution when you turn on the lights, unlike when you fire up your car. But the pollution is thereit just happens at the power plant instead of on-site. Most electricity is generated by burning coal and other fossil fuels. Every time you turn on the lights, you create a little pollution. (See the sidebar.) In fact, the average home pollutes more than the average car! (See my Carbon Footprint Calculator for the numbers.) So saving electricity doesn't just put money in your pocket, it helps keep the air and water clean, too.
