Kill A Watt Monitors Available Now

Kill A Watt electricity usage monitors are now available for checkout at the Troy Public Library. These handy devices allow you to evaluate the efficiency of your electrical appliances. Simply plug one into an outlet and your appliance into the Kill A Watt monitor. A full instruction sheet comes with each kit.

The Kill A Watt monitors may be checked out for three weeks. They are not renewable, but you may place a hold on them. Search Kill A Watt (remember to include the spaces) in the Library Catalog to see if any are currently available, or to place a hold if all are checked out.

To check out a Kill A Watt, ask at the Circulation Desk. Find out just how efficient your appliances really are!

Microsoft Hohm: Saving Energy and Money

Microsoft has unveiled a new website that tries to help people save energy and money. The website, Microsoft Hohm, is still in beta, but it already offers great tips for conserving energy and saving cash.

The site provides tips such as how to set up your thermostat, how to seal your home with weather-stripping, and how to replace the filter in your furnace.

From the Microsoft Hohm blog:

"Microsoft Hohm is a free online beta application that helps you save energy and money. With Microsoft Hohm you can better understand your home energy usage, get recommendations to conserve energy and start saving. As with any recommendation engine, Hohm will provide increasingly more accurate and relevant suggestions for energy conservation as its users contribute home energy input and feedback. One of the objectives during our beta period is to refine our tool and further increase the value our product can offer to you."

You can sign up or read more at Microsoft Hohm.

Leaving Computers On = $2.8 Billion a Year

Do you leave your computer on all the time? According to the PC Energy Report US 2009, we waste an estimated $2.8 billion a year by leaving our computers idling overnight. Shutting down your computer at night will not only save you money, it will help save the environment. If all the world’s 1 billion PC’s were powered down for just one night, it would save enough energy to light up New York City’s Empire State Building – inside and out – for more than 30 years.

Keep in mind that regular restarts will keep your computer running optimally.