Ever wonder how much electricity different devices in your home are using?

Now you can find out. A simple gizmo called the Kill A Watt will tell you.
 

You can buy one for about $25. Also, Arlington County Libraries have started an innovative program. You can borrow one, just like a book. You just check it out with your library card.

It's easy to use. You just plug in a device and press the red button. It will calculate how many kilowatts it uses. You can multiply the result by what you pay for electricity. If your utilities are included in your rent, a rough average is about 7 cents per kilowatt-hour for this part of the country.

A couple of surprises I found out. A laptop uses a fraction of what a desktop computer and monitor use. Also, a dehumidifier uses a ton of electricity. As you'd expect, regular light bulbs use a lot more juice than fluorescents.

This would be a great device for a church or community group to get, and lend out to members.

There are likely to be surprise in most people's homes. For instance, people that have a lot of remote control devices find that they use about 4 watts when they are in the standby mode. Ten of these can use as much as a refrigerator, one of the big energy users in a home. Some people plug these remote controlled devices into a power strip. They can flip the switch on the power strip to turn it on, then still control their stereo or whatever.

This is well worth the 25 dollar investment.