Even though I have been out of the house longer than I had been since last year, I've notice that my family's utility bill has been increasing. I can't be the culprit as I always unplug after use. On closer inspection, it's hard not to see why:
- LCD TV and the audio system is in standby overnight instead of being unplugged. The TV is apparently turned on only in evenings too.
- The power "bricks" of already-removed appliances at hard-to-reach-places are still plugged in even though the other end has already been removed for some months now
- The router has never been switched off since it was installed almost a year ago. Wonder how much power it consumes over the older one?
- Parents always switch on the air conditioner at night during summer, before they go to sleep (A major source?) and wearing jackets.
- Sometimes, I find that the fan or radio in the kitchen are left running when the place is obviously not in use
- Desktop PC in the living room is left idle, not doing anything except displaying a completed flash-based game that mom was playing for many hours! (Screen is turned off though, but that and the printer is plugged into the same extension as the PC itself!)
- Some people in my family sleep with the room light turned on overnight!
- Since the main fridge broke down, my parents have bought an another smaller refrigerator. The main fridge has been fixed now, but that small fridge is still running!
- Since it was bought more than 10 years ago, the microwave oven in the kitchen has been plugged in the whole time. The only time that it's unplugged is when the whole family goes for a holiday trip of a few days
- and that hot water dispenser thing that I usually use for instant cup noodles? That has been left plugged in 24/7 too.
There's probably more sources of the wastage of electricity around the house, but the above listed are probably the most glaringly obvious that are running from the socket that I have never started. What's even stranger is that nobody complained about it.
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