Kill-a-Watt program helps Georgians save money, energy
GPLS News, August 2009
Susan Cooley, director of the Sara Hightower Regional Library in Rome, is a strong advocate of the Kill-a-Watt program.
Georgia Public Library Service (GPLS) has finalized a new partnership with the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority (GEFA) that will bring more people to libraries and enable all patrons to save money on their electric bills by "going green."
Beginning in August, public libraries around the state will introduce the "Kill-a-Watt" loan program. Its goal is to help residents measure both their energy consumption and the efficiency of the electric appliances in their homes.
Citizens will be able to check out a "Kill-a-Watt" Energy Detector Toolkit at any branch library. The "Kill-a-Watt" unit measures energy consumption by the kilowatt-hour — the same unit of measurement that utilities use. It can estimate the electrical consumption and costs associated with each appliance by the hour, day, week, month or even an entire year. Each toolkit will also include instructions on how to use the meter, what the information means and tips about energy consumption.
The program will dovetail with the Governor's Energy Challenge, a voluntary program operated by GEFA to promote energy efficiency among the business, government and residential sectors, challenging Georgians to reduce energy consumption by 15 percent.
"These detectors are a great way for consumers to see how much it costs to leave on appliances, computers and printers and to see how much money devices such as phone chargers can waste when they are left in an outlet after completing a charge," said Deputy State Librarian Julie Walker. "We are delighted for public libraries to partner with GEFA and help people reduce unnecessary energy consumption."
Susan Cooley, director of the Sara Hightower Regional Library in Rome, is a strong advocate of the new program. "I think it is great that our patrons can now begin reducing their carbon footprints by visiting the local library to check out a ‘Kill-a-Watt' detector," she said.
Cooley plans to spotlight the detectors and their availability at libraries on the August episode of "Be Green," an award-winning environmental awareness show that she co-hosts with Mary Hardin Thornton, director of Keep Rome Floyd Beautiful. "Be Green" is part of the prime-time, public-access programming that the Rome Floyd County Library offers through the local cable television system's Public Education and Government Channel, Channel 4.
Although libraries in Illinois, Maine and New Hampshire have implemented similar programs on a smaller scale, Georgia's "Kill-a-Watt" library loan program will be the first such program of this scale in the United States. The program is funded through a grant to GEFA from the U.S. Department of Energy.