Kill Watt Articles

If you search in Google the phrase ‘savings calculator', the search engine will come back with over one million results. There are hundreds of savings calculators to choose from on the internet. But how do you make the best choice of which is the right one for you, your family, and your personal finance situation? There are several factors that you should consider when choosing a savings calculator to input your data into so you receive the best advice for your individual circumstances.

The Devil Is In The Details With A Savings Calculator

A savings calculator must have as many details as possible for you to input about your financial life, number of years to be saved, monthly deposits, and projected interest rate earned. Would you want to trust a calculator that says you can accumulate $3 million by retirement if it only asked you two simple questions? You will be much happier with the results and feel more confident about where you stand with your savings if the savings calculator is very detailed in how it examines your financial life and the inputs you make into it.

Savings Calculators Must Take Into Account Inflation And Other Assumptions

The best savings calculator will take into account your savings balance, amount deposited per period, the intervals between your deposits, your annual rate of return, the rate of inflation, and a host of other important factors when it returns critical information to you. You should look for a savings calculator that is designed to help you determine how much you will have available to spend each month in savings and even provide you with options to make up for any shortfalls that it identifies. You might want to consider a savings calculator that takes into account the modern ways of savings with income from multiple savings even in retirement such as continued part time work, small business income, real estate rental income, annuity payments, pensions, and other income sources. There are so many variables to a modern savings plan that is not taken into account by many online savings calculators that are based on the traditional mindset of saving a lump sum or monthly amounts.

Savings Calculators Are Online As Good As The Information You Put In

Have you ever heard the term ‘garbage in, garbage out'? It applies to most things in life but especially financial planning. Your results of your plan are only as good as the assumptions that you put into the calculators. Do you think that you will work part time in retirement and continue to set money aside in savings accounts? Do you think that you will withdraw 4% of your savings or more in retirement? Make sure that you include these assumptions in your calculations. But, if you want an accurate assessment of where you stand financially or where you need to go to accomplish your financial goals, you will need to make sure that your data is inputted into these calculators as accurately as possible. Your results from the savings calculators are only as good as the information you put in them.

There are savings calculators on the internet that provide a variety of information to the user. It is critical that you find the right calculator for the information you are looking for. Are you trying to find out what percentage of your nest egg to withdraw each month from your savings? Or, are you looking for an answer as to how big your savings account needs to be in order to live comfortably? It is easy to find a savings calculator that can show you how to grow your savings with an online savings account, reach your savings goal with a Money Market account, or see how you can grow your nest egg. But, remember, you will find a more detailed answer to your savings questions if you can find a more detailed savings calculator. Many calculators online barely scratch the surface of analysis. Many are still stuck to the traditional savings models of our parents' generation that may not be as all inclusive as possible. Diverse and in-depth a savings calculator will result in better estimation of your wealth in the future and better answers to your savings questions.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/personal-finance-articles/what-to-look-for-when-choosing-the-best-savings-calculator-4029718.html

Hank Coleman is the founder of several financial blogs, focusing on topics such as how to find investing opportunities and using a savings calculator to reach your retirement goals. He is an entrepreneur and professional in the government sector. Hank holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, a Master's in Finance, and is currently studying for his Certified Financial Planning (CFP) credentials. Always looking for a trusted financial institution for advice and tips he tends to look up information at http://www.discoverbank.com more often than not.

There is a growing shift of focus towards energy efficiency going on in a global scale but more so in several states including Texas. Now that people have the power to choosetheir energy options, more and more people are more conscious about their use and consumption of Texas electricity and are seriously considering changing their appliances to more energy-efficient models.

A report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, if every home in the United States changed every major appliance in their homes to more energy-efficient models, the country could reduce the number of required power plants by 25. This would have a significant impact in helping preserve the environment by reducing the occurrence of air pollution, acid rain, smog and global warming.

But for the ordinary Texas consumer, the use of energy-efficient appliances not only will be good for the environment but it would work wonders on your electricity bills too! And to top it all, you can even qualify for an energy tax credit by buying energy-efficient appliances. The following is a brief overview of major energy-efficient appliances that you should have right in your own homes.

Energy Efficient Appliances You Should Have in Your Homes

Before buying any energy-efficient appliance, you must first understand that these models come with higher initial price tags. It may seem not economical during this initial setting but once you factor in the secondary price tag, which is basically to cost of running these units and the amount of Texas electricity they will consume over time, you will then realize tremendous benefits from their use.

* Energy Efficient Refrigerators

Refrigerators are probably the single most energy-consuming appliance in a typical home. This is one appliance that is really worth investing in. The design of your energy-efficient refrigerators will define its electricity consumption. Models with no freezers but with side-by-side doors consume the most electricity while single-door units with a freezer at the top or at the bottom will consume 15 percent less energy. Make sure that you choose units that are Energy Star compliant.

* Energy Efficient Dishwashers

Dishwashers are not constantly running and will give you a better opportunity to plan how you use them for even more power savings. Even if you have energy-efficient dishwashers, they would consume a considerable amount of Texas electricity if these are used constantly so it would be best to schedule your washing chores during off-peak hours. Some Texas electric companies in some areas will charge less for energy consumed during off peak times – giving you more savings.

* Energy Efficient Washing Machines

When choosing washing machines, it would be best to choose front-loading machines over top-loading machines. They may have a higher initial price but front-loading machines are more energy efficient and consume less water and electricity. It would also be best to pair your washing machine with an energy-efficient dryer.

* Energy Efficient Water Heaters

Water heaters account for at least 20 percent of energy costs in a typical American home. Using energy-efficient water heaters could give you lots of savings. These units are designed with better heat traps and advanced insulation, as most of the energy consumption is brought about by compensating for heat losses that occur in the water tanks.

* Energy Efficient HVAC Systems

Heating and cooling your home will require a significant amount of Texas electricity if you are not using energy-efficient HVAC units. Choose HVAC systems that are Energy Star certified which will assure you of at least 10 percent reduction in energy consumption than standard HVAC units.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/environment-articles/getting-the-most-benefits-from-your-energy-efficient-appliances-3779716.html

About Shop Texas Electricity- Shop Texas Electricity helps consumers and businesses compare and shop for their electricity plans in Texas. Learn more about Shop Texas Electricity by visiting us at Texas Electric & Business Electricity

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The Kill A Watt P3 series is the "standard" home kilowatt hour meter. Just plug it into the wall, plug an appliance or lamp into it, then leave it alone for a few days. It will automatically total up the watt-hours used and the hours it's been plugged in. It provides important information that helps you lower electricity bills in the most cost-effective way.

Measuring Loads

You'll normally want to let Kill A Watt and the load run for a few days so that you get average readings. You should write down the readings at about the same time as you plugged everything in so that you're capturing full daily usage patterns.

So after a couple of days press the KWH/Hour button and write down the total kilowatt hours consumed. Press the KWH/Hour button again and note the hours of the "recording." Dividing kWh by Hours gives you the average kilowatt hour draw, per hour. Multiply by 24 hours and you have exactly the total kilowatt hour load per day. Multiply this by your utility's rate per kWh and you have the daily energy cost for that load. From there it's easy to get monthly and yearly costs.

Small Loads

Some appliances, such as digital clocks, draw only a few watts. Due to the display resolution you'll need to accumulate data for a couple of hundred hours to get an accurate read out. This kind of accuracy isn't too important for a home energy budget, but it can be important if you're planning for a solar-powered remote cabin. The Kill A Watt P3 has sufficient accuracy and resolution to measure these small loads.

Phantom Loads

Many appliances are energy vampires. They draw standby loads even when they're turned off. It's easy to find an energy vampire – the killawatt will show a wattage (and volt-amp and amp) draw even when the appliance is turned "off." You can take the wattage display and multiply by 24 hours to see how many watt hours are used each day. It's not uncommon for a single phantom load to be ½ kilowatt hour per day. That's only about 5 cents a day but over a year that adds up to $18. Entertainment centers and personal computers are notorious vampires. It's not at all uncommon for all phantom loads and always-on items like cordless phones to use over $100 worth of electricity per year and represent as much as 20% of your total electricity use. You can slay most vampires by simply unplugging them or putting them on a timer. And each incandescent bulb your replace with a CFL will save $5-$10 per year. So you see how it can be relatively easy to cut your bills by 10% without replacing any major appliances.

Home Energy Assessment

A kilowatt hour meter like the Kill A Watt P3 should be a part of any home energy audit. Looking up typical appliance wattage from a table and estimating usage hours can lead to missing both big savings opportunities and small easy-to-fix losses. It's important to know what your old appliance is using when considering replacing it. And standby phantom power can vary tremendously between different brands and even different models. Here's a priority list of electric loads to check out.

Refrigerators – usually the largest electricity user after central air conditioning. Although it's name-plate power rating may not seem that much worse than new energy-efficient units, less insulation and age-related problems can cause it to run many more hours.

Window air conditioners – Like refrigerators, inefficiencies may show up in the hours it needs to run and actual (versus name-plate and typical) watts used.

Lamps – Lighting is another big energy user. You may be surprised how long, or how little, a particular light is used. Or just how many watts a particular lamp uses.

Personal computers and peripherals – There's a lot of variation between regular load and especially standby load for different brands and models.

Fans and portable heaters.

Stereos – some models with remote controls have surprisingly high standby loads.

Video games – there are huge differences in both standby power and turned-on power between the leading consoles.

Washing machines and dryers – even gas-fired dryers can be a significant electricity draw.

Microwaves and toaster ovens – Another appliance with lots of variations between manufacturers and models. For an infrequently used appliance, standby power may be greater than the power of actual use!

The Bottom Line

With a list of all your electricity users, it's easy to find the biggest loads. You can focus on those and decide where you'd benefit from an appliance replacement. In other cases a simple timer or motion-sensor may be a quick and easy path to save on electricity bills. Sometimes lower electric bills are as simple as turning off the lights and TV when you leave the room. Knowing exactly how much it's costing you can be a great motivator. Knowing your electricity users, you can easily save 5%, 10%, sometimes even 30% off your electricity bill. That can be hundreds of dollars each year. Not bad for a $25 Kill A Watt P3 kilowatt hour meter.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/diy-articles/put-a-kill-a-watt-p3-to-work-for-you-how-to-use-a-kill-a-watt-p4400-power-usage-monitor-3574215.html

You can find out about the various Kill A Watt models, and purchase them here.

JD Roberts has over 10 years experience as an energy professional.  His projects have ranged from his own home to managing the auditing of millions of square feet of commercial buildings.  He has also been involved in the design of energy-efficient homes and commercial solar energy systems.