[BrianG]

All TV's, VCRs, PC's, etc that have a "soft power button" (meaning; it doesn't actually interrupt power but activates a logic circuit) consume some power. I am certain they do NOT consume the same power in standby vs "on", unless they are very low power devices to begin with (maybe a DVD player or VCR). The only problem with disconnecting these devices is that removing power can wipe memory (like the station presets in TV's/VCR/etc).

You can have your PC go into hibernation instead of standby. Standby powers down or reduces power to certain components, but still pulls current. Hibernation moves whatever is in memory to the harddrive and literally shuts down the whole PC. As such, it needs as much harddrive space as the amount memory you have, but not usually a big deal with today's drive capacities. However, hibernation takes just about as long to "boot up" as simply turning the PC on fresh. I guess it depends on if you want to continue where you left off or not...

If you use a lot of light, you can save power by using those energy efficient flourescent bulbs (the ones that have the same screw-type base as regular bulbs). They typically use around 70-80% less power since there is less wasted power as heat. They are substantially more expensive to buy though, but they DO last longer. Do not use them in the bathroom though because the moisture tends to shorten their life from my experience. You can also help by putting dimmer controls on regular bulbs. You can reduce power by 20%+ but the light level can be hardly noticeable. You can NOT use dimmers with flourescent bulbs though.

Those "wall warts" are parasites too. You know... those power supply box plugs that take up a lot of room. Even with no load, they can consume around 5 watts of power. Disconnecting these can help, but can be inconvenient.

It's generally a bad idea to use a circuit breaker as a switch. Using them as such can wear them out and may not trip at their rated load after a while.

The simplest way to conveniently cut power would be to use an appropriately-sized power strip, especially for those wall-wart plugs - just make sure you get one that has extra space specifically for them. Even though a power strip gives you more outlets but only takes up one wall outlet space, do NOT exceed 10A on one wall outlet because most receptables are typically only rated to 15A max - plus you don't want to overload the 12GA or 14GA wire you have in the wall.