How do you PERSONALLY reduce your output?

I'm curious to see exactly what people do.

Here's an example of one thing I do. Instead of staying on the computer ALL day on Mondays, I go outside for about 8 hours. All of which I spend doing normal things, this reduces the amount of electricity I use by a ton.

Fresh Air and Sunlight are overrated.

I unplug my game consoles when they're not in use, as they require electricity even when off. How do you think they know when to turn on when you press the power button.

I don't drive and don't plan on driving for the foreseeable future. I just take the bus or get a ride from someone else (carpooling ftw!)

I have a power switch that controls all power in the room with the TV, the game systems, and the computer. When I'm not there, I just flick the switch and it cuts power to the whole room. Saves a lot from the plugs that constantly drain power regardless of whether they're in use.

I live in Brussels and during last year there was a refund of 50% for installing photovoltaïc cells on the roof so we installed some. Whenever the sun shines we do the things that require a lot of energy like doing laundry and such things and at night we try to limit our energy consumption by taking out plugs and so forth...

Kisses,
Kitty

I agree with the unplugging anything you don't use, having something off but plugged in still uses voltage even when not in use. It's basic electrical theory, there is always voltage pressure up to the point where there is an open in the circuit. So unplug your electrical appliances when not in use (especially game consoles).

xcallmekittyx : I like the solar panel idea, which most people never consider. If you use solar energy, you have a potentially limitless source of energy. Take it a step further and get some sort of capacitor to hold energy collected so you can use stored solar energy at night too.

BNuge : Are you using a surge protector, or a circuit breaker? Even a plugged in surge protector uses some electricity when shut off, anything plugged in does. The best way to control all the power to one room or group of outlets is by using the circuit breakers themselves. That guarentees no electricity can flow to the outlets, but by what you said it seems like you're using a breaker, which is good.

maceikobrandon : I don't think it counts as a surge protector. We wired a regular light switch into the power main power for one of the larger sets of plugs in the wall. That particular set has surge protectors plugged into it. So we're actually cutting the power source out of the plugs that the surge protector uses.

I think the easiest thing to do is to monitor things you don't think about closer. For example turning a light off if you aren't in the room. Don't leave the TV on in the background if you are on your computer and not paying attention to it anyways.

oh yeah, that works. I know what you mean...using a light switch to control the room circuit. Actually a really good idea. I'd say it would be useful if most houses were wired that way.

Yeah, making sure you shut off lights, radios, tvs, cable boxes, and all that can make a big difference. I know too many people who turn off their tvs but never turn off the cable box, or when they are done playing ps3 they just turn it off using the button in the front, and never actually switch the consol off. I mean come on...if you see the little red light on your ps3 lit up, that means it's still using electricity to keep that light lit. Seriously, unplug your appliances...it will save you money and help the environment at the same time.

As most people have mentioned, turn off the power to things when you arnt using them.
This includes things like the lights, gaming devices, TV, radio, whatever.
As I mentioned in another thread though, my computer has components that actually use less power then older PCs do, so even if I'm on the PC 24/7 I'm still using less power the a household that doesnt have a more power friendly system.
More and more devices are being created that use less power but do the same things, so look into them

I shut down my computer when I leave the house, not just log out

i recharge my phone all the way up and then use it for a week its amazing how long it can last even when its use for MP3,videos and more so i recharge every week every little counts

U know how cow farts r polluting the environment with methane gas. Well I'm helping to eat the cows. And yea I know I'm stealing that from Ron White but its thats funny right thar I don't care who u r.

Unplug things that are not in use, is what I do. Try to use less resource maybe. Even taking shorter showers would help, but then again some people can't take shorter showers.

fully insulated walls,all tvs etc are lcd, and turn everything in the room off when im done with it.

Make a light bulb at home