By Christina Hahs

The West Seattle Tool Library is here to help you save cash. Not only do we have over a thousand tools available to borrow, but we also have tools dedicated to helping reduce your utility bills. The Tool Library currently has three electric usage meters called Kill-A-Watts.

The Kill-A-Watt measures the electric usage of an appliance. It can calculate not only the kilowatts used by the appliance, but also how much that appliance costs to run.

In December, the Tool Library did a demonstration at the West Seattle Farmers Market, comparing incandescent holiday lights to LED holiday lights using our Kill-A-Watts. After 4 hours of usage, the incandescent holiday lights had used fifteen times the power of the LED lights.

Another benefit of a Kill-A-Watt device is the ability to find phantom usage. Many appliances still use power, even when not directly being used. For example, most chargers still suck power even when not directly charging a device. Leaving a cell phone charger plugged into the wall means you are constantly using and paying for power that never gets used. It may not seem like much, only a few cents a day. Multiplied that by several chargers over the course of a year, though, and you are looking at spending a good handful of bucks on absolutely nothing! Kill A Watts can help you identify these phantom power users.

You simply plug the Kill-A-Watt into an electrical outlet, plug an appliance into the Kill-A-Watt, program in the cost of electricity, and watch the power usage add up on the screen. Some appliances use little phantom power and the cost of leaving them plugged in is negligible. Other appliances, like an always-on computer, will use enough power to be a significant drain on your bank account. Once you know which appliances have significant phantom usage, you can set up a plan to turn off energy hogs when not in use, saving you cash. In addition, reducing your power consumption also lowers your carbon footprint, making you greener than ever before!

Kill-A-Watts make up just a few of over 1,000 tools currently available at the West Seattle Tool Library, which is free to use and run primarily on user donations.

If you or someone you know you would like to be involved in The Tool Library, feel free to drop in during The Library's standard hours on Saturdays from 9am-2pm or Sundays from 1-5pm to explore the Library, meet our community of DIYers, and sign up for a membership. All it takes is two forms of ID, a voluntary donation, and a signed waiver. The Tool Library is located at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 4408 Delridge Way SW, in West Seattle.

This weekend, April 16-17th, The Tool Library will be a featured Sustainability Stop on the 2011 Green Home Tour. To accommodate the tour, The Tool Library will be open extended hours on Saturday from 9am-4pm and on Sunday 10am-5pm.

Follow The Tool Library on:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/WSToolLibrary
Twitter: @WSToolLibrary
and Meetup: www.meetup.com/West-Seattle-Tool-Library/

Website: sustainablewestseattle.org/tool-library
Email: library@sustainablewestseattle.org