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Loading ...Gadgets that Save Money!
Posted:Abigail Andrews – Tuesday, June 26th, 2007
Save loads of money by buying gadgets that can pay for themselves (and even see a bit of return) over the long term. This usually means they are efficient in some sort of way thus you can be kind to the environments at the same time! These gadgets will also make great gift ideas too.
Battery Chargers Save Money
Price: Depends on how many are changed at once and what type of batteries are charged.
Link: Good deals at www.amazon.co.uk
Tip: Get good quality batteries and buy online as they are much cheaper
Look around your house and you will have loads of items that eat batteries. I have cameras, games, even the solar lights in the garden take batteries! It costs a fortune keeping up to them. You will have to fork out for the charger in the first place and the rechargeable batteries, but they will save you in the long term. Perfect for parents that have children with lots of battery-powered toys.
Electricity Usage Monitor
Price: £70 (approx)
Link: Electrisave at www.amazon.co.uk
This gadget allows you to see exactly what power your "on-standby" devices are actually using. This will help you decide which devices it is simply worth turning off rather than leaving on standby and thus save money. It's a very useful device to see in real terms how much things are actually costing you to run. You could cut your bills by up to 25%!
Save Money with an Internet Phone
Price: From as little as £20 to as much as £100+
Link: Tesco Internet Phone
PC to PC Phone Calls
Price: Free with PC to PC calls, cheaper than normal providers for PC to Phone calls.
You can call anywhere in the world completely for free and save money! The only requirement is that both you and the person you're calling have computers with internet access. A microphone and headset/speakers are needed, though it's possible to buy phone handsets for computers. The quality isn't fantastic but its perfectly adequate.
Internet Telephony Specialist Skype is becoming the Microsoft of internet telephony. Visit the site for more details.
PC to Phone Calls
Pretty much the same as above, you've a headset or phone plugged into your computer, you then go to a dial pad on the computer screen and dial the number you're calling which can be any 'normal' phone line and not a PC phone. Many providers also allocate you a number on which to receive calls, some even provide an adapter which bypasses the computer altogether and plugs into your regular phone handset.
You could start with these web phone providers to find out more information VoipStunt and VoipCheap.
Electricity Saving Plugs
Price: SavePlug £20 (approx) and IntelliPlug £15 (approx)
Link: SavePlug and intelliplug
By simply replacing your fridge's plug with the SavaPlug you can reduce its electricity requirements by 20%...that's approx £12 per year!!.
The IntelliPlug works by shutting down your computer's peripheral devices (e.g. printer, monitor, scanner, amplifier etc) once you've turned your PC off. Once everything is turned off it only runs on 0.4 Watt (that's virtually nothing).
Energy Saving Lightbulbs Save Money
Price: Varies on type of bulb but approx £6 for 2
Link: Good Deals on Amazon
Saving energy is good for the environment as well as your bank balance and, with modern lighting technology, is as easy as plugging in a new light bulb! Energy saver bulbs typically use around 80% less electricity than normal incandescent bulbs. So when your next bulb fails and you start to run out of ordinary spare bulbs, then think about paying slightly more for the energy saving bulbs which will actually save you money in the long term!
Programmable Thermostat to Save Money
Price: Around £50
Link: Programmable Room Thermostat at Amazon
Saving: approx £75 a year, therefore the return on your investment is usually within 1 year.
Its surprising how many people actually have a thermostat and either don't use it or it does not work. Programmable thermostats automatically adjust your home's temperature settings, allowing you to save energy while you're away or sleeping. You can again save energy and save money on utility bills when used properly, about £75 a year.
Weather Strip your Doors and Windows
Price: £5 for 5 meters (approx)
Link: Find weather strip on ebay or check out sites like www.evengreener.com
Saving: Can reduce heating bills by up to 10% immediateley.
Ok it's not strictly a gadget but its, well, an item that will save you money. Just think, a 1/4 inch gap along the bottom of a 3 foot wide door is 9 square inches of open space. If you had a 3 inch x 3 inch hole in one of your exterior walls you'd fix it, wouldn't you?
Eco Kettle
Price: approx £30
Link: Get an Eco Kettle here
Your electric kettle gobbles energy, eating as much power as dozens of light bulbs. And since you probably boil more water than you need, you waste the extra hot water and the energy used to boil it every time you make a cuppa. The Eco Kettle helps by letting you decide exactly how much water you boil each time. Independent consumer trials showed it uses on average 30% less energy on than standard kettles.
LCD Monitor to Save Money
Price: approx £100 and falling all the time
Link: Great TFT deals here
What's in front of your eyes? Does your computer have a huge, old-fashioned CRT monitor rather than one of the latest slimline LCD units? If so, it's time to swap, since new LCD monitors can cut electricity use by up to 66% compared to those last century CRT monsters.
Efficient Shower Head Saves Money
Price: approx £7
Link: Search shower heads here
Saving: Save water for the environment while also saving costs of electricity to heat the water.
High efficiency shower head's save money by reducing the amount of water that needs to flow through your hot water heater reducing your energy cost of heating water and water consumption by a whopping 50 percent.
Motion Detector Outdoor Light
Price: All depends on what you want, but from as little as £30
Link: Search outdoor lights
Rather than flooding your front yard with lights after dusk, invest in a motion sensor light, your walkway will light up — but only when someone's headed toward your doorstep. Make sure you set the light up so it is not constantly going off due to the wind blowing a tree in its path for example. Also don't buy a spot light as these use a lot of electricity, a simple standard light will do.
Smart Power Strips
Price: Approx £25
Link:
Intellipanel
If you use a desktop computer at home, it won't take long until this device is a money saver for you. Simply plug in your main unit into the control outlet and all of your other peripherals (monitor, printer, speakers, etc.) into the other outlets. Whenever you power on your computer, the other devices power on; whenever you power off your computer, the others power off. Even better, it actually functions as a switch, so when your main unit powers off, there is no phantom standby electricity being drawn to the other peripherals. Not only will you save money on the powered-down peripherals, but you'll save money from the lack of phantom charge. Furthermore This device should pay for itself in less than 2 months.
Solar Christmas Lights
Price: Approx From as little as £15
Link: Solar Festival String Lights
These should pay for themselves within 2-3 christmas's. Instead of buying strands of electric lights for outdoor Christmas decoration, get a set of solar LED Christmas lights. They charge up during the day, come on automatically in the evening, and stay on most of the night. You can just set them up and let them be with no maintenance cost or effort at all. The start-up cost is a bit high, but the cool factor of LED solar Christmas lights, plus the energy savings, quickly makes up for it.
Laptops Save Money
Price: Approx £400 depends what spec you want
Link: Cheap Dell Laptops
Now that laptops have reached a usability and reliability standard that approximates desktops, it becomes a serious choice whether or not to replace a desktop with a laptop. If you make the leap, you'll find that the energy savings are tremendous. It won't take long for this savings to make up for the differences in cost, plus you'll have all of the laptop portability advantages.
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Thank you. Really educational article.
January 14th, 2010 at 8:13 pm