Some savings aren’t worth it!

Reduce, reuse, recycle, but is it always worth it?

Speaking of “worth it,” I noticed the power strip in the breakroom kept being unplugged on Friday to save electricity over the weekend.

My Knoxville Utility Board (KUB) bill listed the July charge for electricity at $0.11549/kWh. If the electric kettle, the largest load, were to operate all weekend at the high end of its 1250-1500W range due to a fault, the total cost would be:

$0.11549/kWh * 1.5kW * 48h = $8.315

Heating a full pot of water for 2 minutes:

$0.11549/kWh * 1.5kW * 2min * (1h/60min) = $0.0057, half a cent.

If nothing is broken (i.e. needlessly running), all I’m running is a few tiny LEDs — like a clock, 2W, and another 1 Watt for the power strip LED. This is what you would be saving by unplugging the power strip over a two-day weekend:

$0.11549/kWh * 0.003kW * 48h = $0.017, two cents.

So, is the mindfulness spent on repeated unplugging worth it?

$20/hr is $0.00556/second. 30 seconds to walk over to the breakroom, unplug the power strip and walk back to my desk costs

$0.00556/sec * 30sec = $0.17

My Employer Paid Me $0.17 to Save $0.02

Quit taking stupid actions to save money, as it simply isn’t worth it.

Let’s say over your child’s life of 18 years; you’ve saved 10,000 hours of lights left on by yelling at your family. Congratulations, you have kept in your pocket a grand total of

4bulbs * 60W/bulb * (1kW/1000W) * $0.11549/kWh * 10,000h = $277.18.

and all you had to do was give up a pleasant and peaceful home environment and a positive relationship with your spouse and kids. Oh, did I mention that $50,000 bypass surgery after your heart attack due to a lifetime of anger?

Want to talk about how much money you save by enforcing a time limit for showers? Using fewer sheets of toilet paper per restroom break? How about making a decision about what gas station to use by looking to save 2 cents per gallon?

“For the love of money is a root of all evils, because of which some, aspiring after money, have been led away from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many pains.” – 1 Timothy 6:10

Photo source/credit: Natali Samorod from Pixabay.

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