Check it out and then check out your power use

Last week the The Seattle Public Library began checking out  “Kill-A-Watt” home energy monitors to Library patrons. Thanks to a partnership with Seattle City Light, you can borrow the device like any other library item. Take it home, plug it into an electrical outlet and find out how much it costs to run your toys. The monitor measures the power consumption of appliances, computers, televisions and those ubiquitous pesky chargers for everything under the sun. The results are appalling, fascinating and potentially habit changing.

The “Kill-A-Watt”  monitors are packaged in a standard CD case with an instruction sheet and will share the shelves with the books on energy conservation. The call number is 333.7916. So while you may have to wait for your Kill-A-Watt experience, you can shop the shelves for advice on what to do when you discover your appliances are eating your paycheck.