Do you leave your small appliances plugged in 24/7?

disneyjoe7

Talking about house fires from plug in stuff, I had once had a house fire which destroyed everything started by an electric blanket. I still don't allow them in my house today, 25 years later.

Kex

Our SoCal Edison electric bill has been about $75 this summer, with a/c set at 80 during the day and 78 in the evening (it mostly works about six to ten hours per day, depending if it's 80 something, 90 something or 100 and something outside). Our clothes dryer is gas heated. We do use energy saving lights where possible, and we do turn off unused lights almost always.

All laptop chargers are always plugged in, but phone chargers are usually unplugged when not charging. Otherwise we have toothbrush chargers, toaster oven, main oven controls and clock, espresso machine, microwave, two televisions, two receivers, DVD players and satellite receiver, subwoofer always plugged in and on standby (where applicable). Laptop draw is only 45w when on (we have four), but they are put into standby when not being actively used.

I know there is a risk of damage to all instant on devices from surges, but it just seems impossible to unplug all of this stuff several times a day. We do unplug receivers and TVs etc. when we leave for more than a day or so.

Mike Kozak

I told my electric company I do not need them anymore!!!! I use candles to light the townhome and a small fire built in the middle of the living room.!!! Spend a .25 will ya?!?!?!

Fireman32

I leave the coffee maker and my toaster plugged in all the time. My george forman grill and other stuff is in the cabinet untill i use it.

WilliamM2

nadams wrote: »

R-50?! To do R-50 in my attic would likely fill it to the peak of the roof! What's the depth on that insulation. I just finished putting r-13 batts in my attic, where there was none. Now I'm worried I won't see any benefit

20 inches of blown in insulation, it will settle to about 16 inches, and they claim R-3.2 per inch. I added an addition, and had to insulate that anyways, the original structure only had 5 inches, so I had them do the whole house/garage. The material is dirt cheap, the difference between R-30 and R-50 was about $100. I also put in proper rafter/peak venting, and sealed all electrical boxes etc. with foam spray. There is one drawback, I never want to go up in the attic again now, hopefully I will never need to.

nadams

With only a 1000 sq ft home, I use my attic for storage space quite a bit, so that wouldn't work for me . At least I got something up there before I put the floor down.

WilliamM2

nadams wrote: »

With only a 1000 sq ft home, I use my attic for storage space quite a bit, so that wouldn't work for me . At least I got something up there before I put the floor down.

We only have a 4/12 roof pitch. Too cramped for storage, I think it's only about 5 feet tall in the center. We use the basement for storage.

Serendipity

WilliamM2 wrote: »

how much do you really think you are saving by unplugging your subwoofer? Maybe 25 cents?

Let me repeat - my subwoofer was getting hot with no signal fed to it. Not all subs (for example, SVS's) do this though. So it really depends on the amp used - if it's not getting hot I wouldn't worry about unplugging it much.

I also had my HTPC running idle (with the Windows XP screen saver on 24/7) but my projector was off so I forgot about it. According to my APC's load meter, that was 9% of 1500W or 135 watts. Turning off the PC and unplugging the sub made a HUGE difference on the electric bill.

mmadden28

I think its all about common sense and what is the most convenient. I started unplugging some appliances when my KitchenAid coffee maker was recalled-something about a fire hazard when left plugged in. They didn't have any replacements in the same color so we just plugged it in when we needed it. We do that for all the seldom used small appliances.
We leave the toaster oven plugged in as a matter of convenience.
Refrigerators, Dishwashers, etc are not small appliances.

The costs savings comes from the huge use of wall warts and such. They have transformers in them, and as most of you know are always on, even if the DC side of the circuit is not. I unplug the seldom used ones but leave other in for convenience.
My cell charger gets unplugged(or the strip gets turned off) when its not charging my cell.
Anything that has a clock in it and no battery backup, stays plugged in.
The cordless phone and the answering machine-stay plugged in.
The DVR-stays plugged in (and that's actually on all the time)
My Kuerig coffee maker stays plugged in. And it comes on automatically in the morning to heat my coffee, whether I actually have any or not (and I think that draws like 1500 watts when heating). Of course its auto off as well.
Its a small small price to pay for convenience.

Bottom line, is that it does not have to be an all or nothing thing here. Just think wisely. There is always a happy medium. Just like the lights in your house. You don't leave them on all the time, you turn off the ones you don't need and on the ones you do. Its senseless to leave them on all the time, but light switches or motion sensors make it convenient. If you had to go to the circuit panel to turn you lights off and on that would be a different story. If you make it more convenient to turn off (completely) the unused wall warts and appliances, it won't be such a big deal.

nadams

WilliamM2 wrote: »

We only have a 4/12 roof pitch. Too cramped for storage, I think it's only about 5 feet tall in the center. We use the basement for storage.

I'd love to use my basement more. Unfortunately, it's partial dirt, so it gets musty. I don't have much height in my attic, but I can still get boxes up there and be able to retrieve them.

BTW folks... modern cell chargers (the slim ones that only take up their own outlet) are switching power supplies, so they won't draw if nothings plugged in. Not that I worry about it... I charge mine through a USB port on my PC.

heiney9

Anything with a wall wart I completely unplug when its not in use or charging. This includes computer speakers, cell phone, electric shaver, rechargeable power tools, etc.

I tend to unplug appliances like the espresso machine, coffee grinder, coffee maker, toaster, etc when not in use. Most of the small appliances don't sit out they are stored away when not in use.

I unplug my rig if not in use simply because of storms. Computer and monitor pretty much stays on 24/7 unless I'm gone for more than a day as do all the other parts of the computer system; modem, wireless router, etc.

Both TV's and cable boxes are plugged in 24/7.

H9

Systems

Just for experimental sake for one month I unplugged everything when it wasn't in use....

I think I saved around 20 bucks......

You just can't efficiently do this because your always using some sort of electronic hardware all the time......At least I am.....

mmadden28

If you really want to figure it out, get the Kill-A-Watt EZ ($35 with free shipping)with the cost forcasting, and plug it in to each device for a day or week and records the values. It will take into account your duty cycle. If its usually on all the time, you can get an estimate for how much it will cost in just a few minutes if that.

So if you did this on a TV and the TV is only on for a couple hours a day, it will reconize the pattern and forcast based on the pattern. So you can get a pretty close estimate of exactly how much weach appliacne is costing each day, week, month, and year.

You can do the same for a lamp. Measure it, record, replce the bulb, measure again and check out the cost savings based on you're own habits (not the marketing reserach thats printed on the box.)

Joe08867

Toaster, Waffle Iron, Clothes Iron, Blender are all unplugged everything else is plugged in all the time. Computer is either in sleep or hibernate mode, amps in standby.

With the shut it all off mentality it would take me 10-15 minutes a night to start everything back up again. Got better things to do with my time.

Hey I have CFL's in almost all my light fixtures. Doesn't that count??

Fires suck, I have not experienced it personally but being a former volunteer fireman I can tell you the damage is scary. And the speed at which it happens is even scarier.

Kex

nadams wrote: »

I'd love to use my basement more. Unfortunately, it's partial dirt, so it gets musty. ...

It might make an excellent cellar if you like good wine ... dirt floors are great in a cellar (sometimes with gravel on top)!

dracoskeeper

Being a retired firefighter and electrician I hope every appliance is plugged into a tested GFIC outlet and the newer wiring (#12 in kitchens and bath w/clear coating).All of my stereos are hooked thru Panamax conditioners which are great and allow you to see real time current usage. I have dimmers on pretty much every light because most of the time you only need 25-50% of the rated bulbs anyway. I can't see unplugging anything I use everyday with the exception of anything that specifically makes heat and could be knocked over or fall and turn on. I will never use an electric blanket just because I've seen to many fatal fires with them. I will say one thing about Adcom amps they are bulletproof but man do they make heat. I have a 5503 and a 5800(for sale) and they are located on a shelving unit in the same foyer where my thermostat is and I have to turn them off or else my heat doesn't turn on at night. Another thing to look into is LED bulbs while costly they last forever and hardly get hot, I've put them in all night lights and 2 years later none have burned out. I will admit to being a hypocrite because anyone who owns SDA-SRS towers knows extreme excess.