Probably everybody in the world but me already knows this thing about televisions.
The "sucking power whether you have them turned on so you can watch Supernatural or whether they are just attracting dust like the black hole they resemble" thing that is.
However, until I read it in a Kim Komando update I was trying to puzzle out, why, when we bought the girls their own televisions when they came of age, the power bill suddenly skyrocketed, even though they are rarely home and don't really watch much. Kim had the answer one day though. Modern TVs are always "on" so they can recognize the remote control. Of course it didn't take me long to begin a semi-scientific experiment. I told the young ladies who reside with us to unplug the darned things whenever they were not actually watching. The boss volunteered to do the same with his.
In less than one month our budget plan with National Grid dropped over thirty dollars. I expect with a full month of this practice it will offer an even larger savings. I am dancing little jigs and grinning ear to ear. Thanks Kim! So if you have a television and can stand to reprogram the time thingie all the while, unpug, unplug, and be paid in serious savings for your trouble.
***disclaimer...I am NOT a TV watcher and when the kids were little we didn't even have one. They read, were read to, or joined us at everything we did, from business trips to turning going after the cows into a nature walk. We were much more likely to take them down to Schoharie to collect brachiopods than to watch Disney with them. I despise most of what is offered on the very well named idiot box. However, when the girls hit the age of officially grown up we figured they were old enough to choose. Besides I was sick of the fights over the remote when the boss wanted to watch football.
About Me
- threecollie
- Embracing agricultural diversity, one species at a time. All rights reserved
Great tip! Thanks! Isn't it ironic-- they blast the most horrid trash through those idiot boxes and then charge us arms and legs to watch it all...
ReplyDelete:) I am pleased to say that my four kids have never seen a television show in their lives (although they do watch video documentaries and DVDs of the old Roy Rogers shows). The world would be, like, SUCH a, like, better place if, like, we all dumped our TV sets. Whatever.
Good for you mrs. m. Your kids will be the winners, as you clearly already know. You might as well feed them crack as raise them up on television. We did the same thing as you did, allowing videos but no regular programing. As they got older they were exposed to more since the boss likes to watch the darned thing. Still even now, with the youngest 16, there are things that are not viewed in my living room....period.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course, you can see where I spend all my extra time....at the other little screen. lol
Well, I'm feeling really stupid! I have a television (with cable!), but I only turn it on a few times a year -- occasionally to watch weather or a news report of something special, and once in a while to watch an old movie on TCM. I can't bear to watch movies on the other channels because of the ads. I keep the TV and pay for the cable because I rent to roommates and providing cable is part of the deal. I, too, read the Kim Komando tip, but it never occurred to me that I could unplug my TV! I did think about all those other things that are "always on" - I have tons of little green and red lights that glow in the dark.
ReplyDeleteHi numberwise....I think we may have talked about this thing when you came to do the bookwork. I was simply astonished by the savings....and delighted as well.
ReplyDeleteGreat tip to pass along.
ReplyDeleteHey I thought I was the only one who collected brachiopods.
Back when the kids were younger we used to take them down to MIddleburgh and collect fossils in the Schoharied Creek. It was wonderful fun! The past few years it has rained so much that the water has been too high for our fun. Maybe next summer.
ReplyDeleteI think stereos, microwaves, computers, and some other appliances have this same energy drag. I plug all of those things into a power cord with an on/off switch and turn it off when I go to bed or leave the house.
ReplyDeleteHello lene, Thank you for that! I will try it at least with the microwave and kitchen stuff. Before we lived up here at the farm our power bill was very manageable. Now it is terrible, and I have been struggling to find ways to get it under control.
ReplyDelete