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In a time when energy conservation and depletion of natural resources have crept into the public eye, an area utilities company is partnering with the Minot Public Library in an effort to educate consumers about the amount of energy used in everyday tasks.

Xcel Energy, a Minneapolis-based company that provides electricity to most of Minot, is helping to provide Power Check Energy Meters to members of the library for check-out.

The meters, when plugged into household appliances, reveal how much electricity is used by that particular appliance.

According to a press release issued jointly by Xcel and the library, the meters work on any standard 120-volt electric appliance and are easy to use.

The Power Check meters utilize digital electronics to measure precise, accurate measurements in an easy-to-use format. The meters are also capable of performing several other functions. They have the ability to download data to a personal computer, where the data can be charted or graphed.

Currently, the Minot Public Library has six units all already checked out with three more reservations made according to library director Jerry Kaup.

Kaup said he was expecting the program to be a success, and it has not disappointed thus far. Pilot programs in Minneapolis and Denver, with 50 units for each city, resulted in as many as 670 reservations on those libraries' waiting lists for the units.

Kaup said he took one home himself.

"It's made me more energy conscious," Kaup said with a laugh. "I'm definitely more conscious of how I use the lights in my house it's amazing to watch those amps and those costs ticking away."

The cost of a new, more energy-efficient appliance is often recovered in the amount of energy costs the appliance saves. Accordingly, the meters also include a "payback calculator," which automatically calculates the number of months needed to recover the cost of a newer, more efficient appliance.

"It would really be useful if you're thinking about getting a new refrigerator," Kaup said.

Since the meter has the local rates programmed into it, Kaup said it would probably surprise most people how quickly the price of a new refrigerator or other appliance would be offset by its energy savings.

"This is a great tool to help people manage their home energy costs," said Kathy Aas, Xcel's community relations manager, in the press release. "You can determine the operating cost of appliances like refrigerators, computers or electric space heaters and then predict your savings by reducing energy use."

Aas said people will also discover "energy vampires."

"An energy vampire is (a piece of) electronic equipment or an appliance that consumes energy when it is off," Aas said Tuesday in an e-mail to The Minot Daily News. "If it is equipment that has an 'instant-on' feature, it would usually be drawing energy in the off mode."

International Energy Agency statistics indicate that the use of energy in American homes has grown to 19 times the level used 60 years ago.