For about a month now we've been unplugging our major tech appliances every night. We won't know what the impact will be for another month or so but I suspect we are going to be pleased with the results.
Not only for the financial savings but knowing that we are not burning through a coal plant every time we go to sleep.
A terrific resource for measuring 'Stand By' power can be found at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory website where they summarize the amount of standby power consumed by our appliances when they are in the 'OFF' mode. I came across this website after reading this article in the New York Times.
It only takes a moment to unplug and we literally feel like we are making a real difference.
