Ten Ways for Teens to Help Cut Down Electric Usage

Teens have many types of electronics. From cell phones to computers. They often leave these items on all the time. Many of them don't need to be left on, and you can do your part in bringing down that electric bill. Here are some helpful tips.

We all have them, cell phones. Do you leave your charger plugged in all the time? I used to, then one day I realized that it was warm, even without my cell phone on it. It also has a little light showing that there is power to it. That little light draws energy all the time. If you have a charger and it is warm even though you are not charging something, then it is drawing electricity and should be unplugged when not in use.

Do you have a stereo? If you do and it has a light on it, that shows red or if it has lights on it for decoration that are on even when you are not using it, then you are waisting more electricity. You need to turn it completely off, and if you can not, unplug it or put it on a power strip so that you can flip the switch off.

Another big drawer of electricity is your computer. It is nice to be able to keep it on. Then all you have to do is sit down, and start with what ever you are doing. But leaving the CPU on at all times draws a lot of electricity. The tower is running at all times, from the little lights that are on, to the fan that runs when it needs to keep it cooled down. Not only is it drawing electricity, you are burning your CPU up by leaving it on all the time. I recently had a problem with my lap top. The fan broke a little fin off, then that caused another to break, and eventually, they were all gone, and this could have burned up the boards inside the lap top. You can have the same thing happening to your CPU. The fan running all the time also drags dust and dirt into your computer, causing it to get hot quicker, and the fan running more.

And along with your CPU, you have a monitor. Do you keep it turned on? Even in sleep mode, your monitor is drawing power. If the little light that shows that there is power to it is lit, even in sleep mode, you are drawing unnecessary electricity. Leaving your monitor on also shortens the life span of your monitor.

Another gadget that your computer has is its mouse. Does yours light up? Is it infrarred? This light is on all the time, unless you completely turn off your computer. Another good reason to shut it down. This also will cause the infrarred rays to burn out early.

Speakers that are hooked to your monitor also draw power if they are on. Have you ever walked by a speaker and heard static, even though there is nothing playing? It is a scary thought, but this too is a sign that you are burning electricity when you aren't using anything.

Do you use a lava lamp or one of those that show bolts of electricity from static when you touch it? This is another item that will draw extra electricity. These items are always having a flow of power to them. The electricity to heat the lava lamp and to build up the static electricity in the ball can be more than you are bargaining for. You can keep these off, and if you are planning on friends coming over, then plug them back in and give them a couple of hours or so to heat back up and to build up the static.

If you have all of this in your room, I am certain that you have a television with a VCR or DVD player or both. These also have little power buttons that show if they are working, and some show that they are off, but still getting power. Some have different color lights that indicate if they are on or just on standby. Check this out, if there is, put these on a power bar and turn it all off if you are not using them by flipping off the power bar.

Do you have video games that are always plugged in? These and many more items draw electricity constantly. By turning off these items, you can save even more electricity.

Do you have a light on in your room at all times? A night light or a LED light that is decorative? These draw electricity if left on. Turning these off when you are not in your room is a great way to help cut down on electric usage.

For the best way to save electricity, the only thing you have that should remain plugged in at all times is your alarm clock. Everything else is not necessary, and can be plugged into power bars. This way you can shut off the power bars and you will kill all the power that is being used by everything. For a rule of thumb look at it like this. If it has a light even when off or a fan, cut the power. I used to think my mom was nuts when she had fits about the electric bill. So when the meter was read on day, we started keeping everything off. We compared the bills the next time it was read. Believe it or not, we had saved over $30 by just turning off all the electrical items that were drawing power all the time.

So the next time you want something and they say they can not afford it, start shutting things off and tell them what you are doing, and wait to see what the next bill is. You too will be surprised!