Saving Electricity

Yesterday at Goodwill I picked up one of those old 80’s power switch box thingies for $6.00. They’re the kind that people used to have sitting under their monitors to switch various computer components on and off. Back in the days when you didn’t have to “power down” your computer – you just switched it off while all your stuff was still on the screen. Here’s where I put it:

I had to take the thing apart to drill holes in the top so I could mount it to the bottom of the desk. And while it was apart I scrubbed the 20 years of dust off of it. I bought a few extension cords too and I’m plugging in everything that runs on an AC/DC transformer. That way I can switch off those energy-sucking adapters instead of leaving them running 24/7.

I’m not sure if it’ll make much noticeable difference in my power bill or not. My electric bill usually only runs $30 or so. So it might. Probably take me a few years to make back the $6.00 I spent on this power swich box. But at the very least, it’ll sure make my room a lot less brighter at night. Damn LEDs…

Before I moved to Oregon, I had this crazy plan to put some kind of centralized DC power supply in my house and then run 12 volt hookups to every room. THEN I was going to start ripping the transformers out of all my household appliances and convert them to 12 volt power. Too bad I never got around to that before I moved.