Count Every Kilowatt Day

Today is Count Every Kilowatt Day - an important part of Energy Conservation Week. The ECW website has lots of helpful tips for reducing electricity usage. The Ontario Power Authority will be monitoring usage looking for significant drops in usage today.

I won't reprint the entire list but here's a very important one you can do year round.

Ghost bust those phantom loads
Sometimes referred to as standby power, phantom load is electricity consumed by electronic devices even when turned off, such as a TVs, phone chargers, DVDs, VCRs, even coffeemakers with clocks and timers. Use a power bar with an integrated timer to shut off all your devices at the end of the day, or unplug your electronics when you're away from home for an extended period of time.

Apparently phantom loads in Ontario use more electricity each year than all refrigeration usage combined.