How To Trim Your Utility Bills Without Inconveniencing Yourself

The average family spends $2,200 per year in electric bills and the average home is responsible for twice the amount of greenhouse gases than the average automobile.

Whether you want to save money or save the environment, this 5-minute piece from the NBC

Today Show is for you. In it, you'll learn that just by being aware of your energy consumption, you can reduce it by up to 15 percent.

The piece centers on a device called a Power Monitor which retails from $30 to $100, depending on the model. It measures the actual cost of using an appliance, or using a light, or charging a laptop, or any other household energy use.

Among the cost findings:

• A plugged-in phone charger no phone attached costs $0.10 per hour
  
  
• Cooking with a microwave costs $0.88 per hour
  
  
• Big screen TVs cost $0.06 per hour to operate

Obviously, turning off lights when rooms aren't in use saves money, too.

By making small changes -- most of which aren't inconvenient -- the average family can drop its energy bill by hundreds of dollars each year.