@SubSeven hahah - yeah some people go to extremes.. While sure devices can be vampires and suck a little juice while "off" its normally like 1 w or sub 1 watt even. The convenience of having it on instant or close to instant when you want to use it is well worth such cost to me.
TV for example go into sort of standby mode when you turn them off.. but when you want it back on it only takes a few seconds.. But if for example you remove power completely, like power outage or pull the plug, etc - it can take quite a bit longer to boot up.
Same with computer.. I leave mine on, the monitors go into standby, but pc I just am such a random user - I might be on it at any time of the day, 2am if I wake up for some reason, etc.. And just too many issues of coming out of standby for me.. Might work 9 out of 10 times, but that 10th time can be so frustrating.. I will pay the few bucks a year for convenience. The monitors are really what are the juice suckers when the pc is just idle, etc.
Porchlight - I replaced mine with a LED light - same sort of brightness but way less power use. I only turn mine on when people are going to come over or something, or someone is at the door. And if I forget its on, timer that turns it off at midnight anyway. Pretty much every light in my house is LED now..
Yeah the kill-a-watt meters are great!!
But yeah look on your bill to see what your actual cost per kwh works out too, including delivery, etc.. Just for example see how many kwh you used, then divide that by the bill amount.. Then do some math at how much such devices cost you over a year.
You will prob be surprised..
