Basic Ways to Conserve Energy in Your Home

In a situation where cutting bills is of the utmost importance, finding simple ways to conserve energy is a great way to start saving some money. Here are a few tips that will help accomplish this goal.

Turn Off Your TV--Not Just Your Cable Box
When it's time to turn off the living room television to go to bed, some people may be making a mistake that is potentially costing them on their energy bills. Some television remotes only turn off the cable box--not the actual television. So while the screen is showing as black, the television is still technically on and using energy.

So if your remote is not set up to shut off both the television and the cable box at the same time, you may have to make that last trip to the television screen to press the off button manually. Now you can sleep easy knowing that you are not going to be paying more than what's necessary for your energy bill.

Turn On a Clock Radio Instead to Entertain Pets
Some pet owners like to leave a television on in their homes so that their pets won't be in utter silence all day while they are at work. While this may or may not make a difference to cats and dogs, you can turn on a clock radio instead of the television and turn it up. The clock radio uses an average of 4 watts of energy as opposed to up to 90 watts for a television.

Except in very rare cases, cats don't watch the screen, they only listen to the sounds. So you will still be allowing them to hear voices and music while saving a significant amount of cash on your monthly electric bill.

Shut Off Your Computer--Don't Just Switch Off the Monitor
Too many people believe that turning off the computer monitor is the same as turning off the computer--not so. The CPU is still working, processing, and using up energy when you leave it switched on 24 hours a day. The computer can do all kinds of things while turned on, such as virus scans and other system checks that are draining energy unnecessarily.

So when you finish using the computer, shut it down properly. The monitor only uses about 40 watts, whereas you will be saving anywhere between 100-300 watts of energy that the CPU is costing you when it's turned on.