There's an easy way to save money on your electricity bills that doesn't require any new appliances, smart technology or other expensive upgrades. This revolutionary idea is beautiful in its simplicity: Just unplug your devices when you aren't using them. It turns out that “always on” or standby technology is filling up the electricity meters and draining the pocketbooks of consumers across the nation. Read on to find out more and inspire yourself to pull the plug.

A Shocking Waste of Energy

Ready for a shocker? Idle devices are costing Americans a cumulative $19 billion per year, or $165 per household, according to a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council. The paper, titled “Home Idle Load: Devices Wasting Huge Amounts of Electricity When Not in Active Use,” translates the numbers into something compelling: Each household wastes enough electricity to brew 234 cups of coffee per day. That's a lot of caffeine!

To be more explicit, the excess electricity use is equivalent to the output of 50 large power plants. In addition to spending money unnecessarily, we're creating an enormous amount of pollution just to power electronics that aren't in use. These bits of electricity are called energy vampires or phantom loads, notorious for their scary effect on your wallet and the environment alike.

Devices Gone Digital

Most devices drain small amounts of electricity no matter what, and the proliferation of standby technology that makes it easy to turn things on quickly or via remote control amplifies the waste considerably.

“One reason for such high idle energy levels is that many previously purely mechanical devices have gone digital,” Pierre Delforge, the report’s author and NRDC’s director of high-tech sector energy efficiency, told EnergyEfficientMarkets.com. “Appliances like washers, dryers, and fridges now have displays, electronic controls, and increasingly even Internet connectivity, for example.”

Obviously, you can't unplug your refrigerator or freezer, and some equipment like electric stoves and central air units might be inconvenient or impossible to disconnect on a regular basis. But there's still plenty of savings to be found in your televisions, computers, game consoles, phone chargers and other electronic devices found in the modern household.

What Can I Do?

It’s not realistic to expect every homeowner in America to go around plugging in and unplugging dozens of devices every day. But there are some tips that can help you out:

With just a little bit of extra diligence, you can do your part to reduce our energy consumption in the United States, and save money while you're at it.

Handing over the responsibility of planning the layout of your home to the builder can be a huge relief. However, by doing so, you are leaving the builder with a hazy idea about your requirements. And this matters a lot especially in the case of electrical and lighting layouts.

The electrical and lighting plans of your home are as important as all the other plans. So before commencing the construction, consider adding these 6 essential points in the layout.

Follow this simple rule for every room and space in and around your house. Start with the functionality of that room or space. Next decide on the configuration of furniture in that area. And then, draft the lighting and electrical layout accordingly. In this way, you will not over-light or under-light any portion of your home.

Also, you can either consult an expert or do an in-depth research about the current lighting trends in the market. No matter how much you love a certain lighting trend, if it’s outdated, there’s a good chance that it won’t complement the current design elements of your house.

Security, lighting, cooling, heating – there are multiple control panels which you may find essential for your home. So decide on the specific types and number of these panels early. Doing so will help you mark their exact and convenient locations, in the layout itself, and save you a lot of hassles later.

These are the kind of electrical elements which most of the people would want to keep out of their sight. But, that might not be a practical thing to do in some of the cases. For your bathrooms, you might want to hide the power points inside the cabinets. However, when you need to use your hair dryer, you will have to keep the door of the cabinet open. And if it is a face cabinet, you won’t be able to use the mirror. Small things like this make a huge difference to your routine activities. For art aficionados, imagine the dismay of seeing a power point right next to their prized possession of a famous work of art. Hence, it would be wise to decide and ink in the places for power points in the electrical layout itself.

Imagine opening your garage door and fumbling your way to the switch board to turn on the lights. And, the irritation your guests might face while trying to figure out the correct switch required. Exactly the reason, why you should think of automated lighting. And as for the switches, you can replace them with customized images of pantry, garage, laundry etc. This kind of detailing goes a long way in making your life more convenient and your home more comfortable for your family and guests.

Outdoor spaces of homes have today become an intrinsic part of their inhabitant’s social lives. If this holds true for you as well, you should definitely factor in illumination of areas such as decks, patios, pools etc., in the electrical and lighting layout. An ideal choice would be weather proof electrical outlets. Whether you want to accent foliage, light a pathway, overhead lighting and ground-level outlets for the swimming pool, it is essential that you chalk in all of your needs in the electrical and lighting plans.

Documenting the placements of electrical and lighting elements is a must. Be it written plans and drawings, or photographs. These records will save you a lot of trouble in future, when you need to do any type of renovation or even repairs.

All the above mentioned aspects will help you plan every small and big electrical and lighting aspect of your home effectively. So save yourself a lot of trouble and unnecessary expenses which might arise in future, if you don’t plan the electrical and lighting aspects of your home at the design stage itself.

Underwater lighting gives your pool a charming, romantic look at night. It also makes swimming after dark more enjoyable. Such lighting can be a big help when you’re trying to test your pool water after dark. However, changing these underwater bulbs when they burn out isn’t quite as simple as changing a household light bulb.

When you go to replace a pool light bulb, keep in mind that working with water and electricity requires special attention to safety. Be sure to switch off the electricity to the pool area, either at the breaker box or the main shut-off switch. You will need your new bulb, a lens gasket that fits your pool light fixture, both a Phillips-head and a regular screw driver, a couple of towels, and a circuit tester.

The type of bulb you need is generally written on the edge of the fixture. If this information is worn, you can measure the diameter of the existing bulb and compare that number to common replacement bulbs. It’s important that the replacement bulb be the right size to prevent water from entering the bulb fixture and shorting out the bulb.

After you have the right equipment assembled and the electricity off, it’s time to switch out the bulbs. Start by removing the bulb from its casing. Most light fixtures have a screw at the top that holds the unit together. Next, pull the bulb assembly from its casing. There should be a long enough cord so that you can set the whole thing on the deck outside of the pool while you work.

Now that you have the light out of the pool, gently remove the face ring, gasket and lens so that you can get at the bulb. Once that is done, the next part of your pool light repair is to carefully unscrew the bulb and wipe off any moisture. Clean the entire assembly gently to remove any corrosion, but don’t scrape it or the unit may not seal properly when it’s put back together.

Finally, insert the new bulb, install the new lens gasket and put everything back together. Return the light fixture to its casing and replace the set screw. Turn the electricity back on and make sure that the light is working properly.

At Kolb Electric, we want you and your family to enjoy your swimming pool—at night as well as in the daytime. If you don’t feel comfortable replacing the pool lights yourself, we’re here to help. In fact, our licensed electricians are experienced in all aspects of pool light replacement, so we can help you with any service you require. To schedule an appointment for your Maryland, Northern Virginia, or DC-area home, call us at 877 287-1179.