Hidden electricity...

If you ever have come in on a flight in the middle of the night what strikes you is how much the city still glows. There are lights on all the time, from the street lights, to the office lights, to the 24 hour quickie marts that dots the landscape. Electricity in action abounds. The same occurs at home, all the appliances and lights that we leave on. I live next to a vacant house and the landlord has set up some timers to give the illusion that someone is there. Reminds me of George Washinton at Valley Forge that lit false fires to give the British the impression that there were more troops than there actually were.

So what does that mean for us, how much hidden electricity is disappearing in our lives. Will we ever get it back. A big culprit in this tons of hidden electricity is that most of what we use have electrical switches instead of mechanical switches. Perhaps a return to true switches will cut the hidden electricity of our lives.

So when in doubt, disconnect. It only takes a moment to plug it in and pull it out. The simplest mechanical switch there is.