Whether you want to save the environment, or you just want to save money on your electrical bill, you probably turn off certain appliances and electrical products before you leave for work or go to bed. But you might not actually be saving as much as you think. 

In fact, 10% of residential electricity in the US is used by various products that have been turned off, according to the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL). Their study showed that certain electronics like your TV, microwave, and air conditioner don’t actually stop using energy when you turn them off. Instead, many products and appliances go into what is known as “standby mode,” which means they cannot be completely switched off unless they are unplugged. 

Here are the biggest “energy vampires” in your home, and how much energy they use when they are turned off, according to the LBNL’s research. 

Television

One reason your TV is always using a small amount of energy is to be able to receive a signal from a remote control. When a television with rear projection is turned on it uses around 186 Watts, but when it is off it uses an average of 7W to as much as 49W. 

That means a person who leaves their TV off (but plugged in) for 1 year, uses as much as 425kWh, which would have the same greenhouse gas emissions as driving a car for 735 miles, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Cable Box

If you’ve ever turned off your cable box before a long trip to save power, you might have been wasting your energy. The average set-top cable box uses around 18W when it’s off, while a cable box with DVR uses an average of 44W when it’s turned off. 

If you have more than one TV that uses DVR, you can save energy by requesting a multi-room box that allows you to use the same DVR throughout the house. 

Computer

Turning a computer off saves a lot of energy. When they are on, the average desktop computer consumes 74W, while turning it off only uses 3W. But if you don’t like to shut your computer down too often, putting it in sleep only uses 21W. 

Computer monitors can also use a lot of energy when they are on (65W for CRT, 28W for LCD), but their consumption also goes way down they are in sleep mode (12W for CRT, 1W LCD) and it’s near-zero when they are off. That means you can save a lot simply by setting your computer to go to sleep after being inactive for a certain length of time. 

Note: Sleep mode is not the same as a screensaver, which does not save any more energy than having the computer on. 

Game Consoles

The average game console uses 27W when someone is playing a game, and 23W when it’s off but ready. That might be why a Carnegie Mellon University study found that approximately 1 % of US residential electricity consumption comes from game consoles. 

According to the study, the most energy-efficient game system at the time was the Nintendo Wii, but the reason for that was because: “they are used one-third as much as the other consoles and have very low power consumption in active mode.”

Find Your Biggest Energy Hogs

There are many other devices, appliances, and products that the average person has plugged in and forgot about. You can find out which devices are energy hogs when they’re turned off with an electricity usage monitor. All you have to do is plug the monitor into the wall and then plug your device into the monitor. It will tell you how much power is being used by the device when it’s on or off, and some of them even tell you how much it costs to keep the device plugged in. 

Solutions

One way you can make things easier is by plugging several energy vampires into a power strip, which will allow you to turn several products off at once. However, you have to remember to turn the power strip off every time. Plus, when you turn this power strip on, all the devices will enter standby mode. To make things as easy as possible, you can get a smart power strip that will cut the power to an outlet when the device goes into standby mode. 

The moment you buy your first home, it’s only a matter of time until something breaks and you have to fix it. Chances are, you used to call your landlord anytime something broke in the past, or maybe you have a handyman in the family that would help you.

But now you are on your own, and any repairs that need to be made suddenly need to be made by you. So, you’re going to want to head down to the local hardware store and pick up a few items to make sure you are always prepared. 

Here’s a quick list of 8 tools that you might not have had in your apartment but should definitely have when you move into your first home. 

A Toolbox

First thing’s first: you need a place to put all the tools you are about to buy. Sure, you can keep everything in some bag, but you’ll eventually lose so many tools, that buying a toolbox will be cheaper. 

Plus, many toolboxes make it easier to organize your stuff, which will cut down on the time you spend doing repairs. Some toolbox sets come with many of the items on this list already inside. However, you might not want to get one of these because it might have tools that you don’t use or there might not be room for other tools you use all the time. 

Screwdrivers

You’ll be screwed if you don’t have at least 2 kinds of screwdriver: a Phillips head and a slot head. Nearly every kind of screw will work with these two screwdrivers. 

While you might have had one of these before, you should get a set that has several different kinds of tips. If you get one that’s magnetic, it will also help you fish screws out of tight spaces. 

A Power Drill

Every screw needs a hole, and that’s where drills come in handy. Plus, even if you have a screwdriver, it is pretty tough to get screws into your studs without a power drill. 

When buying a cordless power drill, make sure to get one that has a universal battery type. This way you can use the same battery for other power tools you end up buying in the future.

An Adjustable Wrench

You’d be nuts not to get an adjustable wrench for your new house! Without one of these, there’s no way you could undo any nuts or bolts. 

You might also have to get more than one wrench or even a socket wrench set, depending on your needs. They are often necessary to work on different pipes around the house. 

A Tape Measure

Once you have a tape measure, you’ll be surprised by how many things you want to measure. Having one will make it easy to find out how big the couch is before you decide to move it into the other room, or how tall your window is before you buy new curtains. 

Putty Knives

You probably didn’t need to have a putty knife in your apartment because you weren’t supposed to damage the drywall. Now that you have your own place, you want to make sure to plug up any unsightly holes that you are allowed to cause now. 

Putty knives can also be used to scrape dry glue or paint from surfaces like glass and ceramic. It is also best to buy two of them so you can use one to scrape any junk off the other. 

A Stud Finder

Now that you can make holes in your walls, you’re going to want to put them in the right place. You might not know this, but you can’t just nail a picture anywhere, especially if a heavy one. You’ll end up creating a big hole in your drywall and the picture will fall down. 

Your studs are there to support the stuff you want to hang on the wall, make sure you know where they are. Pro tip: studs are usually spaced 16 inches apart in most homes.

A Snake

You don’t want to have to call a plumber every time a drain gets clogged. You can easily unclog your tub, toilet, and sink with this simple tool. There are many kinds of drain snakes that you can buy, but most of them will pay for themselves after a single-use.