Kill a Watt, Save Some Dough

As the mercury rises, so do many energy bills. A program launched this month by the Howard County Library System seeks to help minimize waste in both spending and energy.

Dubbed the “Kill A Watt” project, county library cardholders can borrow energy-monitoring devices for appliances that indicate how much energy and money each appliance uses.

There is already a waiting list of 30 people.

“This device could alter your energy use habits and help you find opportunities to save money easily and conveniently,” said Howard County Executive Ken Ulman in a press release.

Joshua Feldmark, director of the county’s Office of Environmental Sustainability, said OES came up with the idea and pitched it to the local Sierra Club, which eventually bought the 12 devices at $25 apiece. Users simply plug appliances into the device to discover how much money was spent in the time the appliance was used.

Feldmark says the device is easy to use, and doesn’t take long for residents to find the “vampire loads” sapping energy in their home.

“It varies, but most folks could spend a couple days using the device and find out all the information they need,” Feldmark said.

Feldmark said dryers and refrigerators are notorious energy “vampires” but air conditioning units and systems also become expensive during the summer months.

According to the Live Green Howard website, many devices still use energy even when not in use, like cell phone chargers, televisions, gaming consoles and printers. Once these devices are located within a home, they can be plugged into “split” power strips, where unnecessary devices can be completely disconnected from an outlet with the switch of a button.

The county also encourages families in the market for a new refrigerator to visit the refrigerator energy calculator.