VANCOUVER TRENDZ [THURSDAY]

Juice Jar

April 3, 2008

If you practically have a heart attack every time you open your Hydro bill, you’re probably asking yourself, “How can I be consuming so much electricity?” And, more importantly, “How can I bring that bill down?”

You could vow to go without heat all winter, or you could build a nifty little jar that measures how much energy it takes to run your laptop, microwave, and the Wii you’ve been playing six hours a day since you got it for Christmas. Once you see how much energy each appliance draws (even when it’s turned off), you can make adjustments to bring your power usage down.

The DIY project is called the EnerJar, winner of this year’s Greener Gadgets Design Competition. Here’s what you need to get started: A soldering iron, a drill, and a voltmeter. Oh, and a jar. Basic knowledge of electronics is a bonus, but not a requirement. And if you don’t feel confident fiddling with electricity, enlist one of your geek friends to do the dirty work. Geeks love this stuff!

The building plans are free on the Internet, and the EnerJar’s inventors are giving the hardware away. There’s a cost to send out the parts, but they’ll give you a partial or full refund once you send a picture of your working EnerJar. Truly a power-ful deal!

See enerjar.net to see the plans.

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