I recently read that you can save more money by making every-day payments in cash rather than credit. This way, you can physically see your money leaving your pocket rather than paying with “imaginary” dollars on a card.

We have trouble understanding what isn’t measured out in front of us. This is equally true in regards to energy usage. Homeowners may want to be energy efficient, but can’t generally gauge their habits until they receive their bills. Even then, it is difficult to tell which specific habits caused what price increase. For instance, was the astronomical AC bill a result of keeping the temperature low during the day or that one weekend when Grover the Great Dane pushed the back window open without anyone noticing until Monday?

But, I am conserving energy

One way to gain a clearer measurement is through digital tools. According to The New York Times, a year-long government study was conducted in the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, where 112 houses were supplied with digital thermostats and computer controllers connected to water heaters and clothes dryers.  Through this technology, homeowners could set goals regarding energy usage and costs, and watch up-to-the-minute results on how their consumption matched these goals.

On average, the households saved 10% on their monthly bills. If these were placed in households across the nation, NYT claims, “Over a 20-year period, this could save $70 billion on spending for power plants and infrastructure, and avoid the need to build the equivalent of 30 large coal-fired plants.” (Read full story here)

Once you understand how your habits are effecting your energy consumption and by how much, you can make better decisions about what to do differently. One cost effective tool to help you do so is a kilowatt meter at about $25, which tells you how much energy your devices are using when.  You can check out this money-saver blog for a list of user results.