I think everyone at Burton would agree that a major benefit of working in the world of energy is having the knowledge and ability to reduce our personal energy related expenses. Each of us likes to do our part when it comes to reducing our energy consumption… and our energy spend. At our most recent blog meeting someone had the idea for us to start a ‘Quick Tips’ blog series that would share all of the (not-so-secret) energy saving secrets we all deploy at our own homes. Some of these tips will be obvious, some not so obvious, but if you start implementing all of the ideas we give you in your own home you should start saving serious $$$ in no time!

Our first Quick Tip on how to save energy is…

Drum roll please.

Unplug your chargers and don’t charge things overnight! If a charger is plugged into a wall, it’s using energy whether it’s charging something or not. So unplug them when you aren’t using them! This can be a pain, but there are ways to make it easier. For example, set up a charging station where you can house all of your chargers to be plugged into the same surge protector. When you aren’t charging a device, just flick the on/off switch on the surge protector. Voila! 

Fun fact: when a charger is actually charging a device it is using about twice the energy that it would be if nothing was plugged into it. What does this mean for you? Only charge things when they are actually in need of power and don’t plug them in overnight. If you’re like me, you always plug things in when you go to bed… I wake up fully charged and I want my devices to be fully charged when I wake up, too! Solution: buy a timed electrical outlet. You can find one for less than $15 bucks online or at any home improvement store. You can time the outlet to charge your device for a specific amount of time, and then it shuts off. Minimal power wasted.

Summary of the tip:

Only plug a device in until it is fully fueled, release it from the charger, and then unplug the charger from the outlet!

Energy saved is money saved!