Okay, these nifty little meters aren’t available in the Twin Cities yet, but how neato are these kilowatt meters that can gauge how much your appliances use?  They are available at some libraries around the state and can be checked out for a week with a library card.

I had been thinking about writing about vampire appliances when I came upon the Kill-A-Watt poster at my Duluth library. These are the everyday things we have plugged in that pull electricty even when they’re not on.

Apparently coffee makers are a big vampire pulling on average 20 watts per hour just sitting there! If you’re interested in finding out more about this, you can read the Star Tribune blog about building a green house from the ground up.

Of course it is a good idea to unplug items anyway as small appliances are a chief cause of house fires.

Tags: kill-a-watt

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