Let's strike back: Cut down electricity use

Let's strike back: Cut down electricity use

Zatni Arbi, Columnist, Jakarta, zatni@cbn.net.id

So the government has done it again. They approved increases in
telephone rates, electricity rates and fuel prices, all at the
same time. In a recent TV interview, Coordinating Minister for
People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla gave an example of what consumers
could do to reduce the impact of the increases, which was to use
the telephone less. Well, that is easier said than done, of
course. Taking one's time when talking on the phone is a habit,
and we all know that bad habits are not easily broken.

However, there are a couple of things that we can do to
somewhat slow down the growth in our monthly electricity bills.
But perhaps we first need to understand what makes our monthly
bill so high.

* Avoid transformers

I brought a few devices back with me when I returned from the
U.S. many years ago. Among them was a BBE sound expander, which I
love very much. It really helps turn my cheap stereo amplifier
into a reasonably good audio system. However, it requires 110 V
instead of 220 V because it was made for the North American
market.

I also bought a couple of other electronic appliances from
Radio Shack, one of my favorite stores. I now use an intercom and
a cordless headphone set. Granted, they also require 110 V. So, I
ended up having two step-down transformers.

Rule Number One: If you have devices like these, get rid of
them and buy ones at a local market. The transformers suck up
electricity even when the BBE or the intercoms are not being
used. Do you want proof? Just touch any of the transformers. It
is hot, is it not? If it is hot, where does the energy come from?

Like the transformers, AC adapters are also popularly called
power vampires. They consume electricity even when there is
nothing at the end of the power cord. If you forget to unplug the
AC adapter on your powered down notebook computer, it will still
speed up your electricity meter. It consumes power, although
perhaps not as much as it would when the notebook is turned on.

The same is true with chargers for cellular phones, PDAs,
cordless phones, dial-up modems, shavers, digital cameras, MP3
players, Discman, Walkman, flashlights with rechargeable
batteries and so many other gadgets that have become
indispensable in our lives. The more of a gadget freak you are,
the more chargers and AC adapters you are likely to have.

What can we do to make sure that all these chargers do not
consume electricity when not needed? Certainly it would be too
cumbersome to unplug the charger each time we are through
recharging our cell phone's battery, for example. One solution is
to use a power strip with an on/off switch. Some power strips
even have a separate switch for each of the outlets.

Plug all the chargers and AC adapters that you have into this
power strip, and when they are not in use simply press the
switch.

* Power on standby

In the past 10 years or so, more and more electronic
appliances, especially those that can be operated with remote
controls, are left on all the time. These include TV sets, stereo
amplifiers, DVD players, even computer monitors. Many of them
have buttons that completely power down their systems, but we
usually leave these buttons in the standby position.

Couch potatoes love the remote control, but then the equipment
still use a small amount of electricity when we think they do
not, and watt by watt all the equipment in your home can easily
accumulate to drive up your monthly electricity bill. Try not to
get too spoiled, and shut down devices completely if you are not
using them. If they do not have such a button, buy a power strip.

Like TV sets, computer monitors are now designed to have
instant-on capability. Press a button and in a few seconds the
monitor will get warmed up enough to let you start working right
away. If you are not a hyper-busy person, you do not need
instant-on.

So, again, turn off the monitor completely. Newer LCD monitors
like the NEC V1550 that I reviewed and the Eizo L685 that I
bought recently have a button at the back that completely shuts
down the monitor. When they are in "Sleep" mode, they still
consume a tiny amount of electricity. Our goal is to reduce as
much as possible the amount of electricity used by these vampire
appliances.

Printers and scanners can also be vampire peripherals. Many of
them, including my rather old HP LaserJet 6L and HP ScanJet
4100C, do not come with a power button. They will turn on by
themselves the moment they sense that the host computer is
sending them some signal. In the meantime, when idle, they also
draw a small amount of electricity and drain the rupiah right out
of our pockets without us even realizing it. Again, the quick
answer is a power strip with an on/off switch.

Estimates on how much electricity is wasted per household vary
by quite a bit. However, in the U.S. it is estimated that 4
percent to 5 percent of a household's monthly electricity bill is
wasted. The Oct. 17 issue of Cornell Chronicle says the worldwide
figure is 7 percent, with Australia 13 percent and Japan 12
percent on average. If you are a real gadget freak, the vampires
may account for up to 25 percent of your monthly electricity
bill.

There are a couple of things that we cannot avoid,
unfortunately. For example, a cable modem has to be left on all
the time, and so does the router that connects all the PCs at
home. And PCs may last longer if they are left running instead of
being powered up and down frequently. A UPS is also a must if you
depend heavily on your computer data, and needless to say the UPS
also consumes a lot of power.

Still, there are other things you can tell the other members
of your family to do to avoid incurring unnecessary electricity
costs. For example, tell them not to open the refrigerator unless
they really need to. And, if they do open the door, quickly grab
what they need and close the door immediately. Of course,
reducing the frequency of your visits to the fridge not only
helps reduce your electricity bill, but it may also help reduce
your weight.