SAVING POWER
SAVES YOU MONEY
Many of us don’t think about saving power - until the electric bill comes in the mail. Maybe we remember to turn off that light, or shut down that computer, or turn of that printer for a day or two, but then we’re back to our old habits. American businesses aren’t much better. Many of them do have corporate policies about turning off lights and computer monitors, but at the end of the day many employees just leave their offices without a second thought for the electricity they are wasting. Does this make us bad people, or just indicate that our minds are usually on something else other than saving power? Fortunately, technology comes to our rescue. Automatic power control devices can painlessly take care of what we often forget.
So what? Why do I care if something is left turned on for awhile when its not being used? Every 120 watts of electricity that is left on all of the time costs the user $90 per year (at 8.5 cents / kWh). A typical task light uses 60-75 watts ($45 - $55 / year), a 14 inch computer monitor uses about 80 watts ($60 / year), and dot matrix printer, laser printer, or copy machine uses from 80 to 240 watts ($60 - $180 / year). If these were needlessly left on for 18 hours per day, just these three small devices would waste over $200 per year in energy cost (nearly 2500 KWh).
By using different types of automatic controllers, these devices can be turned off when they are not needed, and easily restarted when they are. Controllers are also available for overhead lighting, HVAC, and hot water heaters. Compact Fluorescent Lamps used instead of normal incandescent will also add to the savings. One must think of saving electricity like putting money into a savings account. The bank pays you maybe 5% on that account, or 5 cents / dollar / year. If you look at it as 5 cents, its not significant, but over time the interests actually amounts up to something significant.
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