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Kay Rhoney submitted her story after borrowing a Kill A Watt monitor from CEC. If you would like to try out a Kill A Watt in your own home, contact CEC at sfeldman@cecmail.org.

"I have lived in my home for over 15 years. I had two refrigerators and one stand up type freezer.  Our main refrigerator is only two years old and an energy efficient new type, which I noticed reduced my electric bill when we first started using it.

Lately our electrical bill has been gradually increasing with a substantial hike in the last year, (and more hikes expected from the electrical company?), so I decided to take advantage of CEC's offer to borrow a Kill A Watt monitor and looked at what I used and really needed. I figured out that my older 'extra' refrigerator in the basement, though empty and pretty much forgotten about, was costing me $200 a year! I turned off (and disconnected) the downstairs refrigerator holding soft drinks, and then got inspired to unplug my huge freezer in the garage. (I threw away about 90% of the stuff in it -- what a wake up call!) I got everything I really needed into the main refrigerator/freezer in the kitchen. 

My electrical bill did go down noticeably with just those changes. YEA! Now I continue to work on turning off the lights etc. while hoping I can soon buy a new, energy efficient washer/dryer.  It has made a difference to me and my bill, but I also hope it makes a positive difference with my carbon footprint for our world."