|
By Andrew Eisner |
|
| Don’t miss a single article from Retrevo. Subscribe to our RSS Feed.
|
 |
|
| 1. Measure Your Energy Use |
 |
Use a watt meter like P3 International’s Kill A Watt to identify what devices in your home are using the most power. Note how much any device uses when it's supposedly turned off to identify sources of heavy standby power users. |
|
|
| 2. Trade in Your Old TV |
   |
| Trade in older power hungry devices for newer more energy efficient ones. For example, CRT TVs use more power than an equivalent sized flat panel TV. You can use the DTV transition as an excuse to move up to a digital TV. Some of the newest TVs like the LG 42LGX feature a built-in light meter to measure ambient room light and adjust the TV's brightness accordingly. Sony’s BRAVIA KDL-40WE5W LCD TV not only measures ambient light but senses the presence of people and turns the TV off when no one is watching. |
|
|
| 3. Use the Low Power Mode on Your TV |
 |
| Make sure your new flat panel TV is not in “demo,” or “retail” mode that turns the brightness up. Many TVs have a “home” mode that uses less power. |
|
|
| 4. Buy a New "Greener," LCD TV |
  |
|
Older Plasma TVs may use less power than older LCD TVs when displaying dark scenes but that has changed. New equivalent sized LCD TVs with CCFL backlights now use less power. The newest LCD TVs with LED backlights TVs like the Samsung LNT4081F LCD TV or the top-of-the-line Sony Bravia XBR KDL-55XBR8 55-Inch Triluminos (RGB) LED LCD HDTV use even less power. |
|
|
| 5. Repair Before Replacing |
| Service companies like RapidRepair can replace the battery or repair your iPod, iPhone, or Zune for a lot less money that it would cost to replace the device. Sites like Inside My Laptop can help you repair your laptop yourself. |
|
|
|
| 6. Sell Your Used Gadgets |
   |
Don’t throw your old gadgets away. You can recycle them, donate them, or sell them. Of course there is always ebay and craigslist but you might want to check out gazelle.com. They tell you how much they will pay for your gadget and provide you with a pre-paid shipping container. |
|
|
| 7. Reduce Phantom Power with a Power Strip |
| Power modules, bricks, wall warts, or whatever you want to call them, are notorious users of power even when the device they power is not attached. If your charger is warm to the touch when no device is attached chances are it's using power unnecessarily. The cheapest solution is to use a power strip with an on/off switch. There are also smarter devices that can help eliminate these phantom power users. |
 |
|
|
| 8. Use a Smart Power Strip |
 |
The Smart Strip offers surge protection, noise filtering and a built-in microprocessor that turns off peripheral devices like speakers and printer when the main device like a computer is turned off. |
|
|
| 9. Mute or Turn Off Your TV |
| Muting your TV when not watching it is the next best thing to turning it off. If you’re not sure how to mute your TV you can find the manual for most popular TVs here. |
 |
|
|
| 10. Eliminate Standby Power |
  |
Many older products like old CRTs with instant on and old laser printers that keep the fuser warm are notorious for using a lot of power in standby mode. The cheapest way to eliminate standby power is to turn the device completely off or use a power strip to cutoff power to the device. Belkin and Bye Bye Standby offer power strips tha turn off power to anything connected to its remote controlled outlets |
|
|
| 11. Look for "Green" Ratings |
| Refer to Energy Star and EPEAT ratings for energy saving and "greener" products. The Energy Star 3 rating was recently released and defines some aggressive power saving specs. The GreenTV certification from the LCD TV Association also requires products to conform to an aggressive set of "green" rules. |
   |
|
|
| 12. Recycle Gadgets and Gear |
|
|
Before you toss that broken MP3 player or old monitor in the garbage, look for a local recycling facility. Mother Earth will thank you. Sites like MyGreenElectrinics.com , EIAE.org , and Earth911.com can help you find a recycling facility in your area. |
|
|
|
|
| 14. Save Trees, Use the Internet |
   |
Next time you buy software, download it. At tax time, why not file your taxes electronically? Paying
bills online can save trees and save you money.
|
|
|
| 15. Turn Off Your Computer When Not Using It |
| The old myth that leaving a computer on is better for it than turning it on and off doesn't stand anymore. Yes, booting up Windows machines can be tedious but you can contemplate the environment while waiting. |
|
|
|
| 16. Use Computer Power Management |
|
|
Go to the control panel on your laptop or desktop, click on the power management button and set the options for maximum power saving. |
|
|
| 17. Disconnect External Drives |
| Many external hard drives get their power from the USB connection. If you use the hard drive for backup or use it infrequently you may want to disconnect the USB cable or turn it off to save. |
|
|
|
| 18. Save More Trees Read E-Books |
  |
They’re not cheap to buy and the books cost a lot of money too but book lovers rave about them. The new Kindle from amazon can download a book on 60 seconds. The Sony reader, unlike the Kindle requires a computer connection but gets good reviews for style. |
|
|
| 19. Recycle CDs and DVDs |
| Optical discs don’t do well in landfills. They aren’t very biodegradable. If you’re not going to make coasters or a sculpture out of them, consider recycling them. Special recycling centers like the CD Recycling Center can handle your old CDs. For more information on recycling CDs and DVDs check out this article on Greenlivingtips.com. |
|
|
|
| 20. Avoid Overnight Shipping |
 |
When it absolutely positively doesn’t have to be there tomorrow consider having your brand new gadget shipped via ground. In general, ground shipping can be six times more energy efficient than air shipment. |
|
|
| 21. Use a Programmable Thermostat |
| There are lots of programmable thermostats for central heating and air conditioning like Consumer Report’s Best Buy LUX TX15000. You can also get a thermostat for room heaters like the WIN 100 which gets 5 stars on amazon.con and sells for around $35. |
|
|
|
| 22. Buy Greener Brands |
 |
Greenpeace has an ongoing assessment of how green electronics manufactures are. You can see the latest green meter on their site. |
|
|
| If you have a green gadget tip we’d love to hear about it. Leave a comment below or send it in to editor@retrevo.com |
|
|
| Retrevo for Buying Green and Saving Green |
| Don’t forget to use Retrevo for all you gadget needs. Retrevo has reviews and manuals for all popular gadgets and gear like Digital Cameras, Camcorders, HDTV, Cellphones, and more. |
|
| Don’t miss a single article from Retrevo. Subscribe to our RSS Feed. |
|
| Also Check Out |
|
|
Quick Picks
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
Comments
This list is a little misleading
Be energy efficiant by buying a new TV? Think about the amount of energy requireed to make a new TV, If your current set isnt causing any problems, then keep it. Old CRTs like 90's 58cm are using about 60w running and 7 in standby. new tvs use a lot! because they are sooo much bigger? look at the label on the back and check.
Muting saves 5 watts max and wasnt measurable on any of the 3 TV's I tested unless the volume is up the whole way.
Best way's;
Measure the power of each device.
Short showers with less Hot water, Best saving!
Turn off devices that arent used often. ie dishwasher, dryer, washing machine, ect. each of these devices uses around 7- 13 watts standby. I only use them once per week anyway, and the dryer hardly ever. Thats 32 watts that would normally be allways on.
Buy an ebook reader? Cost of resources to make is high. Buy your books in paper, unless all your books are available in ebook format. Plastic uses lots of energy to make and oil. paper often comes from renewable forrests.
Look at your electricity metre each day and work out the total Khw used each day. plot it on a graph and use it as a reference. You will then know energy using habbits and can track.
When you see the cost on a daily scale then its easy to turn devices off. "Oh look shorter showers is saving me $2 per day". $2 x 90 day quater is $180. See easy to save.
Anyway by doing these things I halved my bill from $300 quater to $150 for 3 consecutive quaters. So i was on track to save $600 per year.