Electricity Vampires: The Top 8 Appliances Draining Your Home's Power

4. Microwave: Zap! There Goes Your Cash

You probably don’t give your microwave much thought while it zaps your leftovers to perfection, but here’s a wake-up call: it’s costing you an average of $13.34 per day to use. Combine that with a standby cost of $7.79 per year, and you’ve got yourself a sneaky energy thief!

To make it more efficient, adjust the power setting based on what you're heating. You don’t need to blast your food at full power all the time. And if your microwave is older than your favorite '90s sitcom, it might be time to invest in a newer, more energy-efficient model.