Day 5 of green watching. It ain’t easy. Thank God, for the startling noise of the fan yesterday. That, I did notice.
Through this green watching exercise, I am realizing the difficulty of noticing even when one consumes energy. Again, this is a problem I had encountered during Daily Footprint Project. The car, the dryer, these are obvious ones that cannot not be noticed. But how about the silent fridge, the TV, the computer, the electric toothbrush, the microwave, the dishwasher? All the appliances that tend to be turned on 24/7?
And even if I did notice, I’m not about to keep on running the house to plug and unplug those energy suckers. There’s got to be a way to have them turned off when not in use – with the exception of the fridge, of course! . . . After all, standby power, otherwise called vampire power, or phantom load, represents between 5 and 10% of home electricity use, and 1% of world co2 emissions.
La Marguerite 
Get a little energy meter – we measured our load at about 11-13% of household use a few years ago. Everything, including the cable modem, went on power strips and is turned OFF with no connection to the wall. When we had cable TV, the STB was about 45 watts! The neighbor kid’s Xbox is nearly 200 watts and stays high if you pause a game
http://tingilinde.typepad.com/starstuff/2006/12/doing_something.html
Put power strip on everything (mainly computers and tv) and choose energy efficient appliances.
This is not much, but it is always one more step toward a more sustainable lifestyle. And YES, we consume a lot of energy in our daily lives, it is high time for all of us to decrease this…
Steve’s advice is great, an individual energy meter might enable you to know how much each and any appliance consume.
Another thing that might interest you is smart meter…
http://www.elrst.com/2008/07/21/smart-meters-lead-to-smart-behaviors/
Keep it up !
I really like Smart Strip power strips. I wrote about them last year:
http://www.fakeplasticfish.com/2007/10/smart-strips-are-really-smart.html
Beth
Thanks all the great tips. The smart strips seem especially user friendly. Still, I want more. I am dreaming of a whole house system, where appliances get turned off automatically when I am not using them, complete also with smart display board with smileys, and changing color signals and noises that alert me when I am going overboard. And no KWH, please! Instead, $, norms I can relate to . . . You get the picture!
For the appliances that are turned off when you leave your place, you should have a look at home automation (domotique en français ^^)
I think my friend Qat is working on that for his future house. i will have to ask him…
And for your wish of a small display board and stuff, it already exists. smart meters can also warn you when you consume too much…
there are ways Marguerite, and I a sure you will find and use them. My best wishes for a great weekend upon you three ! 😉