Power Conservation First Step - How Much Power Are You Using?

Conserving power isn't just about helping the enviornment or lowering your electric bill - it's about knowing how much power you really need, if times get tough. When the power goes out, you will need to make choices on where to spend your reserve power - and the fist step there is knowing how much power you are using during normal times.
I picked up the Kill-A-Watt power usage meter over a year ago, and use it regularly. In conjunction with our backup power solution at the house, we have a good read on exactly how long we can keep our 'Net connection alive when utility power goes out - it's also been handy in figuring out how much juice the various phantom loads around the house really suck up. More on this soon.