05/02/11 11:41am

Article By: MAPAWATT

The following post was written by fellow blogger and Mapawatt fan Eric Sandeen and can be seen on his blog here titled, “Where are the Hyper-Watters?”

————

A while ago – maybe around when the Prius first appeared? – there was a lot of talk about the hypermilers.  You know, the folks who would coast down the hill to their garage and draft 6″ off 18-wheelers in an effort to eke out the very best possible mpg in their car?  I know it is a cultural phenomenon, because it has a Wikipedia entry!  There are also YouTube videos, Wired articles, and Instructables.  Clearly, this has caught people’s fancy – probably because paying for gas sucks, especially now.  Saving energy and money – in your car – has become just a little bit cool.

So where are the hyperwatters, the folks who eke every bit of utility out of every watt-hour?  Where are the forums, the Wired articles, the … words of the year for the electrical efficiency freaks?

Even if the word isn’t in our language yet, I’m pretty sure you may be a hyperwatter if you:

• Read your electric bill each month – and look forward to it!
• Know how much energy your doorbell uses
• Replaced your electric coffee grinder with a hand grinder
• Replaced your CFLs (which were in every socket) with LEDs
• Own a Kill-A-Watt (Mapawatt Note: Or any of these home energy monitors)
• Know that turning your gigabit ethernet card in your computer down to 100 megabits can save up to 2 watts, or up to 20kWh/year
• Delay laundry until the sun is shining
• ???

So – are you out there?  Are you with me?  Have you gone to any extremes to shave that last kWh off your bill?  Will it take electricity at $1/kWh for “hyperwatter” to become the 2014 word of the year?

This is a cross-post from MAPAWATT.com.

Mapawatt Blog helps homeowners conserve energy and water, learn about clean energy technologies, and live more sustainably.

Original Post: http://blog.mapawatt.com/2011/05/01/what-is-a-hyper-watter/