FROM a young age, I’ve always thought of myself as being an environmentally conscious person, but as a technophile and a tech-journalist, there’s simply no easy way to reduce my dependency on electricity. With the rise in electricity tariffs beginning this month, I’m preparing myself for the worst.

For starters, I’ve resorted to using my notebook computer instead of my desktop, mobile dual-core versus desktop dual-core, and dual RAID versus single drive – that’s easily 100 watts (or 0.1KW per hour) savings at the very least!

I’ve also installed the lowest-rated energy-saving lamps in my apartment; sometimes I would turn them off completely and pretend that I am the lead character in Cast Away stuck inside a pitch-black cave.

Living in my pitch-black cave (read: apartment) also means that I have to reduce the screen brightness on my 15-inch notebook to the lowest so it won’t hurt my eyes. That power difference is about 6W, enough to power an energy-saving light bulb that can light an entire room.

Speaking of caves, I’ve resorted to using a light-emitting diode (LED) drop-in module in place of incandescent in my flashlights instead of switching on the lights. The LEDs are amazing, as there is a diminishing useful life, which means they will keep producing light until there is literally nothing left from the batteries.

I’ve also begun adapting to working in the dark. No light also means less heat generated from the lights.

Recently, I redeemed a solar-powered garden lantern and modified it for use as a night lamp. This ingenious China-made copy uses only a single orange LED. It’s so dim that I can barely make out the title of the book, let alone what I’m reading, but that’s OK because Ted Simon’s books are long-winded anyway.

I’ve also begun charging my phone in the office. Admit it, you do the same yourself. That should save us each 0.01KW per hour of charging.

Besides that, I’ve bought a reostart that dims down the light output from my salt crystal lamp from 15W to just under 3W. This lamp requires the use of a non-energy-efficient lamp that produces heat to keep the salt crystals warm and trigger the ionising effects. I’ve tried replacing it with an energy-saving lamp without much success. A 12-hour timer keeps it on during the night, and off during the day – that’s two days for the price of one!

I’ve also bought the highest floor I could afford in an attempt to cut down on cooling. Higher floor means natural cool air from the highlands and less dependency on air-conditioning. And unless they take the lift, mosquitoes can’t fly up past the 10th floor – that’s yet another saving from not having powered mosquito repellents.

Next, I’ve switched to an AMD platform with an integrated memory controller. Compared with an Intel platform, that’s savings of at least 0.03KW per hour for every hour my machine’s powered on!

I’ve turned down the audio on the TV, unplugged the DVD player on standby, and used for the first time the built-in TV speakers instead of external surround speakers in an attempt to cut down on power. Soon, I’ll be swapping out that 29-inch flat-screen TV for a 17-inch liquid crystal display monitor!

I’ve bought a plug-in power monitor – that way, I can bring it along and test an electrical appliance for power ratings before buying it. It also helps me keep an eye out on worn-out appliances that might result in an increase in electricity consumption.

Rather than just throttling down the outpower of my wireless router, I’ve now gone back to being wired; after all, once I get on the couch, I’m not going anywhere. No point having stray microwave signals frying my brain and racking up the bills.

So, there you go – if you want to save energy, live like a caveman!

Like to share an energy-saving tip? Drop me an e-mail at yehern@nstp.com.my, and try to keep it short – I’m trying to save on electricity, you know!