SANTA MARIA - Computers, TV's and microwaves, they're things many of us use everyday.
But for members of the Stegall family, the cost of having these appliances was putting a lot of pressure on their wallets.
"Well lets just try this lets put everything we can on a power strip lets turn things off and on unplug things that we're not using and see if it makes a difference." Kelly Stegall says.
And 30 days after spending a couple hours making their house into an energy saver they received the bill that has changed their way of living.
Stegall says, "We were shocked when we got our first power bill..now that we've made the changes we save about $110 a month we went from $160 down to $50..".
It's as easy as unplugging the appliances that you don't use all day like your coffee pot and it can lead to more cash in your pocket.
The Stegalls credit their Smart Meter for giving them detailed information about their energy usage and helping them identify unusual spikes and activity in their bills, something PG&E says makes them role models in energy savings.
"We feel that the smart meter is really going to give our customers a lot more information and we're finding that with that information they can make better energy choices." PG&E Spokesperson Kory Raftery told Your Central Coast News.
With the amount of money this family has saved, the Stegalls say they hope educating the community can help others reap the benefits.
"Anybody can make this change really easy and i think they would be shocked if they just took a few hours thought about what things they don't need to use what things can be completely unplugged and just try it for 30 days and see if they can make a difference." says Kelly Stegall
