Replacing all sorts of old appliances helps in this category... My wife finally twisted my arm into replacing her old washing machine and dryer as her Christmas present, and of course -- the first thing I'm down there doing is measuring their electrical load properties (just used a Kill-A-Watt... yeah, they're not 100% accurate, but for comparison purposes, it's fine).
The difference between the old ones and the new was impressive. What made me go measure it was the Energy Star label that said the washer would only take an average of $13/year to operate, not including energy to heat the water, of course. Now we'll see if they last as long as the old ones... (probably not... sigh... but we'll see.) Oh, the clothes are cleaner too. A lot cleaner. She was right, like she usually is. :-) Nate WY0X -----Original Message----- From: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com [mailto:repeater-buil...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Eric Lemmon Sent: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 8:53 PM To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com Subject: RE: [Repeater-Builder] OT Power Factor I will now reveal to the Repeater-Builder list members the sure-fire way to reduce electric bills: Get rid of that clunker refrigerator or freezer in the garage! Case in point: A co-worker remarked that his electric bill was about $120 per month, while mine was about $55. When I learned that he had an old (1955 vintage) Norge freezer in his garage, I lent him a portable kWh meter for a couple of weeks, to measure that freezer's power consumption. It turned out that the one Norge freezer was responsible for just over 1/3 of his power bill! On my urging, he turned it in to PG&E for a rebate and bought a new "Energy Star" freezer. In less than four months, he saved enough on his electric bill to pay for the appliance. A word to the wise... 73, Eric Lemmon WB6FLY
