| Lights are obvious money wasters. Other household appliances when idle are less so. Quiescent currents in small items like microwave clocks, computers in power saver mode, phones etc. are miniscule (probably milliamps for some, microamps for others) when compared to the real power eaters in the home. One extra load in an electric cloths dryer will probably eat up any savings realized from shutting off your computer.
My computer in sleep mode uses around 8 watts. That figures out to be 66 cents per month (using the OP rate). Microwaves and VCR/DVD players typically use less than 5 watts, that's about 40 cents per month. In contrast an electric clothes dryer costs more than $8 monthly, the fridge around $25 and the water heater a whopping $38. A single 100 watt bulb left on for the entire month would cost $8.
I'm not sure about GFI waste. This is the first time I've heard of that. I would guess that waste would have to be less than the 5 mil trip level. |