How much energy do your appliances use?

There will be an energy conservation program hosted by Winter Park on Thursday, March 29. The event will offer two sessions: one for commercial customers from 9 to 11:30 a.m., and one for residential customers from 5:30 to 8 p.m. The event is free to Winter Park utility customers, but attendees must register by Friday, March 23. To register call 407-599-3285, or visit usgbc-fgc.org/WinterParkBiz (commercial customers) or usgbc-fgc.org/WinterParkHomes (residential customers).

Joann Tyson plugs her washing machine into a small monitor plugged into the outlet of her Winter Park home, and casually counts the kilowatts as they accumulate slowly to $14 a year.

“I think its fun to use, and I think it would be a really good tool to use with children, to show them how much electricity costs,” Tyson said. “I also think it would be very good to use if you were thinking of changing out an appliance.”

Tyson is referring to a small electric usage monitor, donated by the city of Winter Park to the Winter Park Public Library for residents to check out and monitor the usage of their own appliances.

The city donated 10 electric usage monitors, called Kill-a-watt, to the library in February 2011, each costing $39. Just like a book or a DVD, patrons are able to check out the device for two-week periods to monitor their own home appliances to find out how much they are costing them.

The device plugs into the wall, then the appliance plugs into the meter, some electricity price information is entered, and a reading is given for the cost of each appliance to use for the week, month or year on its LCD monitor.

Tyson learned her cell phone costs her $1.33 a year, and her laptop costs $21 a year. She agrees with city and library staff that the device is yet another great tool the library can offer Winter Park residents.

“It’s yet another way for us to partner with the city, and provide important services to the community,” Winter Park Public Library communications relation coordinator Mary Gail Coffee said. “We’re really all about providing people with the information they need to empower them to make better or different decisions for themselves.”

The city is providing these monitors to help show its utilities customers the areas where they can become more energy efficient and reduce energy costs. This is part of the city’s overall effort to encourage energy conservation among its residents.

The Kill-a-watt monitors are available for checkout for a two-week period at the Winter Park Public Library located at 460 E. New England Ave. For more information on electric usage monitors, call 407-623-3300.

Winter Park’s director of electric utilities, Jerry Warren, said it puts the customers in a position to use appliances more sensibly.

“Our take is that Electric Utility has a responsibility to its customers to help them use our product more wisely, so that was the incentive to do this,” Warren said. “The sole purpose is to help our customers understand the cost of various devices they use.”