The secret thing costing you hundreds on your electric bill - WXII12 Winston-Salem

The secret thing costing you hundreds on your electric bill

Rossen Reports: The secret thing costing you hundreds on your electric bill

Updated: 11:33 AM EDT Sep 19, 2023

Did. You know you're spending money right now, even on your electronics that are off or in sleep mode. In fact, we spent $19 billion on them every year. So, how much do you spend? It's easy to find out. You can buy one of these electricity usage monitors on Amazon. They cost about 30 bucks and they are really cool. You can plug whatever you want into it, your coffee maker, your air fryer, whatever you want. And it'll tell you how much wattage it's using. Some versions of this will even tell you how much money it's costing you over time. I've actually plugged one of these in over here. This is my son Blake's computer 66 65 64. This is nuts. Yep. It's costing me on my monthly bill too. But get this. If you don't want to buy *** monitor, there are other ways to figure out which devices are costing you. Most newer electronics suck. What's called Phantom Power. Basically, even when they're off, they're still using power. Why? Because we love convenience, right? We want to be able to on *** TV, remote, for example, just hit on and the TV. Come right on. That means the TV is sort of sitting in that, in between and taking *** little bit of power appliances. Right. Anything with *** clock on it like this, all I have to do is do this and it's waiting for me to tell it, you know, 3 50 start, right. Anything that's just waiting is taking power away and costing money. I mean, look around your microwave, your TV, your child's gaming console, your printer. The list goes on now that, you know, how do you fix it? Experts say what you should really be doing to save the most money is unplug everything when you go on vacation, unplug it. When you aren't using that. Come on, we're not running around our house, unplugging everything all the time. So here's the next best thing and it's pretty cool. It's called *** smart plug. It connects to wifi. You can buy *** four pack of it. So four of these for just 25 bucks. Not bad. You plug this into the wall, then you plug your TV, your coffee maker, whatever you want into this. And this is going to take less power from the wall and give less power to your electronics when you're not using them. Now, this does use *** little power but it's so insignificant. It's the best way to go and you can save up to $200 *** year. Yeah. Doing all those things from unplugging to getting those smart plugs really can save you big. Another way to save if you have to go shopping for *** new major appliance, make sure they have this energy star sticker on it. That will tell you the appliance is energy efficient. That will also save you money on your electric bill too. That's all for today. Back to you.

Rossen Reports: The secret thing costing you hundreds on your electric bill

Updated: 11:33 AM EDT Sep 19, 2023

Look around the room — you’re wasting money right now. It’s called “phantom energy,” and it can cost you big on your electric bill. Every device and appliance costs you money, even if it’s turned off. The National Resource Defense Council says we spend $19 a bill on appliances and electronics that have phantom energy, every year. How can you fight it? Energy usage monitors help read what kind of energy that device is putting out, some even tell you how much it’s costing you. Here are a few of our favorites:KETOTEK Watt Meter Power for $17Kill A Watt EZ Electricity Usage Monitor for $31Poniie Plug-in Kilowatt Electricity Usage Monitor for $28Don’t want to buy something? Here are some tips to find the appliances sucking energy from your bill:Appliances and devices with remote controls. Those things are always on standby, wasting energyDevices with large brick chargers (like laptops) that remain warm to the touch, even when the device is turned offAppliances that have to retain their settings without batteries between usesAnything with a timer function (like lamps and the coffee maker)Devices with display lights and clocks that are on, even when the whole device is offHere are some common ones:Gaming consolesPrintersTelevisionsComputersRefrigeratorsThermostatsKitchen appliancesWindow air conditionersHow can you stop phantom energy?Unplug appliances and devices: Things like gaming consoles can be unplugged in between uses. When you’re leaving for a long weekend or vacation, make sure to unplug the bigger things like printers and computersIf you can’t unplug something, get a smart plug. That helps cut down the energy passing through. Here are a couple we found:Amazon Smart PlugKasa Smart PlugBuy appliances that have the “Energy Star” sticker on them. This will tell you it’s energy efficient and will help you save moneyDoing all of those things can save you $100 to $200 on your energy bill every year.

Look around the room — you’re wasting money right now. It’s called “phantom energy,” and it can cost you big on your electric bill.

Every device and appliance costs you money, even if it’s turned off. The National Resource Defense Council says we spend $19 a bill on appliances and electronics that have phantom energy, every year.

How can you fight it?

Energy usage monitors help read what kind of energy that device is putting out, some even tell you how much it’s costing you. Here are a few of our favorites:

Don’t want to buy something?

Here are some tips to find the appliances sucking energy from your bill:

- Appliances and devices with remote controls. Those things are always on standby, wasting energy
- Devices with large brick chargers (like laptops) that remain warm to the touch, even when the device is turned off
- Appliances that have to retain their settings without batteries between uses
- Anything with a timer function (like lamps and the coffee maker)
- Devices with display lights and clocks that are on, even when the whole device is off

Here are some common ones:

- Gaming consoles
- Printers
- Televisions
- Computers
- Refrigerators
- Thermostats
- Kitchen appliances
- Window air conditioners

How can you stop phantom energy?

- Unplug appliances and devices: Things like gaming consoles can be unplugged in between uses. When you’re leaving for a long weekend or vacation, make sure to unplug the bigger things like printers and computers
- If you can’t unplug something, get a smart plug. That helps cut down the energy passing through. Here are a couple we found:
- Buy appliances that have the “Energy Star” sticker on them. This will tell you it’s energy efficient and will help you save money

Doing all of those things can save you $100 to $200 on your energy bill every year.