a bright idea...

I just read today about a cool new gadget: the Kill-A-Watt EZ Electricity Usage Monitor.

Basically, you plug this thing into an outlet and then plug in your appliance (TV, radio, microwave, fridge, etc.) into the device.

Then, this device gets to work. It calculates a bunch of stuff my dad would probably care about- amps, volts, kilowatt hours, and a few other things that I've never even heard of. The only thing that I care about is the feature that shows you the cost per day, week, month, and year. It's amazing! (or it sounds amazing... I haven't actually tried this yet). You can read more information and a full review of this product (by someone that has actually used the thing) at The Gadgeteer .

Now, for the bright idea...

vs.

What I thought was really cool was that this guy actually took the time to test this device on a floor lamp using standard light bulbs and then duplicated the test using compact flourescent bulbs so he could compare the difference between the two. Wanna know the difference? It costs $164.83 more to use standard light bulbs than compact flourescent! $205 per year for standard bulbs and $40.17 for compact flourescents. And that's not including the cost of replacing the standard bulbs that usually burn out a couple of times a year. $164.83! Wow! It just goes to show you what a difference one small change can make!