Correction appended
Students can measure how much energy an appliance consumers by renting out “Kill-a-Watt” energy meters from the Bender Library Technology Services wdesk.
The library and the Office of Sustainability introduced meters as part of Energy Saving Month.
Students plug the meter into different appliances to measure how much energy in watts the appliance uses. The devices are available for checkout at any time for the rest of the academic year.
The library has had the 12 devices since the beginning of the semester, according to Sustainability Coordinator Emily Curley.
Curley said the idea of loaning the meters came after the Office of Sustainability staff noticed leftover meters from the Green Eagles’ project. They used the devices to measure the energy efficiency in each of the residence halls last November and to audit the energy students spend on appliances.
“We were trying to brainstorm a way to allow more people to access the meters,” Curley said.
She said she was surprised to find that some appliances used more energy than she thought.
“For example, my hair dryer consumed 1,500 watts, while the cable box for the TV consumed about 40 watts,” Curley said.
Not many other students have used these devices, according to University Library Monitor Specialist Lindsey Christensen.
“It’s been mostly Green Eagle students who have been using them,” she said.
Many students said they had not heard of the Kill-a-Watt meters but expressed interest in using them.
“I don’t see why I wouldn’t use it; it seems pretty cool,” said School of International Service sophomore Andrew Chong.
Bender Library and the Office of Sustainability hope to make students aware of which devices use the most power and to encourage students to turn those devices off when not in use to save energy.
A previous version of this article stated that a hair dryer consumed 150 watts, but it actually consumed 1,500 watts
