On August 11th, I invited you to join me on a journey of four electricity-free days over the course of a month. This is a non-violent protest against national policies that perpetuate a fossil-fuel dependency and the corporations that profit from them. My August 18th post tells the tale of my first attempt at living without power; I gave myself a grade of C+. Yesterday, I did a better job and I learned a few things too with a “Whatts up?” portable energy meter.

This week, I found it easier to remember my plan. There was no accidental flipping on of lights in windowless bathrooms, no toaster usage, and no remembering mid-brush that I’m not to use the electric toothbrush. I was able to keep my violations down to two. First there was the unconscious use of the garage door opener when I backed out the car. Then there was the conscious use of my smart phone to make a single call inviting a friend to dinner. Happily, my husband Dave–a man not actually participating in the electricity-free experiment–did a much better job of turning off lights, too.

Dave did another great thing: he looked up our utility account online and found graphs of our actual energy usage. Specifically, he found our kw/day use in July 2012 was 31.7. In 2013, we used 11.3 kw/day in July. What was the difference? Last year Madison, WI experienced–like most of the country–in a record-breaking heat wave and drought. Consequently, we consumed nearly three times the amount of energy to stay cool. This reality is unsettling when I think of civilization’s desire to stay cool and rising global temperatures; the automatic response of a wealthy nation will aggravate the problem.

Another surprising revelation in Dave’s data review was that we use 48% less electricity that the average home in Madison. Now, we’re not especially brave when it comes to the temperature of our home. I really dislike cold, Dave can’t stand heat. Time spent on the boat is only a partial reason for the difference. I think we use considerably less energy than most homes like ours because our house sits in a forest. It is so naturally cool that it’s common for me to wear a fleece inside on an 80-plus degree day.

Next, I busted out the “Whatts Up?” portable energy meter. It came free from the sustainability section of my local library. This nifty gizmo comes in a 8″ x 10″ case and has an intuitive logic that is easy to pick up. Basically, you plug it into the wall, then plug an appliance into the meter. The meter will tell you what the appliance draws when it’s turned off; turn the appliance on and it’ll read what it draws then. I must confess, my readings are likely a bit off. In an ideal world I am to leave each appliance plugged into the meter for several days so the gizmo can average out the reading. But, for this experiment, my numbers gave me a flavor of what’s happening.

The coffee maker clock draws 1.6 watts when the machine is off. On, the meter leaps to 850 watts. The 31″ TV draws .9 watts off and 111.5 watts when it’s on. An Ecowatt bulb that burns the equivalent of a 60 watt bulb only burns 15.5 watts when it’s on (a standard 40 watt bulb burns–yup, you guessed it–40.1 watts). Our laptop draws 7.2 watts when it’s off but plugged in. When the computer is on it burns 34.7 watts. I was especially interested in the refrigerator, the big item Dave doesn’t want me to unplug for my experiment. I left it plugged into the meter overnight for a more accurate read and it cycles between 1.6 and 201 watts depending on whether the compressor is off or on. Another few presses of the button and the meter calculated that it costs us $5.89 per month to run the fridge. The worst energy pig was the toaster: off it drew .5 watts, on it drew a staggering 1,334 watts. In all, the big a-ha was that most things draw energy even when they’re off.

Dinner was really special. I readied most of the meal while light permeated the skylight in the kitchen. Before dark I lit six tea candles and set them about the kitchen counters and dining table. A few big candles set a cozy atmosphere in the main room. A couple more candles illuminated the guest bath. When my girlfriend arrived I announced, “You are here on a very special day! We are having an electricity-free day today, a protest against fossil fuel,an experiment for my blog. So, you won’t mind if we dine by candlelight tonight, will you?”

“Oh, how wonderful!” she said. “Of course I wont mind. It sounds like fun!” The dinner was delicious, relaxing, and delightfully intimate.

So here’s what I learned this week: it’s true. You really should unplug appliances when they’re not in use. You really should use energy-saving fluorescent bulbs. You really should run air conditioning at a minimum. Shut your computer down at day’s end. Turn the TV off when you’re not in the room. No doubt, these simplistic statements infuriate many of my environmental colleagues. I can see them now, slapping their foreheads and shouting, “Heather, what have we been telling you?!” But here’s the deal, seeing the cost and benefits for myself, following my own curious exploration, is fun! And fun is not something the environmental movement is known to promote.

For week 2 of this experiment, I give myself the grade of B.