Many appliances in your home draw power even when not in use. This is called a phantom load, and the devices that do it are sometimes called electronic vampires, because they are sucking up power. I don’t know why it’s all about phantoms & vampires, maybe it was Halloween when a group of people sat around trying to think up names for these things.
What I do know is that you are paying for that electricity, and it’s so easy not to. It might sound like a hassle at first, but unplugging or switching power off at a surge protector only takes a second, and you get used to it very quickly, just like flipping off the lights when you leave a room.
Cell phone chargers: just disconnect your phone, and then pull the charger out of the wall. When you need to charge your phone, plug in the charger, then connect your phone. Personal note of experience: Do it in that order. When I first started trying to save the world one cell phone charger at a time, I would have weird problems with my phone, and I thought, heck with this! I’m not going deal with a messed up phone just to save a few bucks a year. Somehow plugging/unplugging the charger while the phone was attached must have caused an odd spike in the phone. As long as the phone is NOT attached while plugging/unplugging the charger, you should have no issues.
Media Center (TV, DVD player, DVR, VCR, Wii, PlayStation, Xbox…): You will want some of these things to have access to power all the time. For instance, your DVR needs to be able to do its thing & record your shows when you’re not paying attention. But some things are not on as frequently, like the game stations (depending on the average age of your household!), and these you can plug into a surge protector with an on/off switch. That way you don’t have to pay the electric company just to keep the pretty red light on all day in the front of all of these machines. Just flick the surge protector switch when not in use. Or, Monster makes a great surge protector (I’m sure other companies make them too), where you plug the “always on” stuff in on one side, and the “switchable” stuff in on the other.
Computers: If you turn your computer off completely, then also use a “switchable” surge protector for it and all the peripherals. If you must leave it on all the time, then please use your energy saving features to sleep or hibernate! The way to access those features varies a bit depending on your computer type & operating system, but a google search should pull up the information in no time.
My father was an energy conservation fanatic before it was fashionable. If we left a room with a light on or a radio going, it was a punishable offense(We lost radio privileges for a week). Before we went on vacation he unplugged every electrical appliance except the refrigerator. So I know about the vampires.I don’t think my dad was the only energy miser in the 60′s. There was a recent tv commercial about a guy who had bought his first home, and he is opening and closing his front door, and looking up to Heaven and saying somewhat sarcasticaly, “See Dad, I’m airconditioning the whole outdoors!”
Sonya Lenzo
http://oldbooksmarket.com/
“Parasite” might be a better term than vampire, but changing the name doesn’t change the problem. This is a simple fix that can result in real savings. Another would be to install window film on the South, East and West elevations of your home.
Steve C
Over here in the UK all of the plugs have on/off switches….but they only work if you turn them on or off. All in all, it’s up to you to save energy. You’re appliances won’t shut themselves off and they certainly won’t unplug themselves.
I seem to always be turning things off and my wife seems to like to turn and leave things on – a perfect match!
Absolutely! Switching things off, even if they’re only on stand-by, can result in savings! Thanks!
This is great advice. My electric bill runs about 600/month. I think we could spend $100 on surge protectors and save a few bucks every month. It would pay off fast. Thanks Naomi!
I always keep telling my flat mate to swicht some of the electrical devices when he is not using them! I will send him a link to your post so he can know from a professional that the electricity vampires really exist!
What a simple and powerful solution to save money in your home (as well as your office). This weekend I’m going to look at ways that we can eliminate “Energy Vampires” in our home.
Yours In Health!
G.E. Moon II
http://www.abundanthealthcenter.com/item/Solarcal-D-41
Knowing about electronics vampires to keep our energy usage better managed is wise and helpful. Thank you for the information!
Happy Dating and Relationships,
April Braswell
After 40, 50, 60 Dating Expert Finding Love at Any Age
http://aprilbraswell.com/blog/after50datingtipchristiansinglesfindmate.htm
I’m sure I am bad at this…I leave everything plugged in….it’s something you don’t even think about..thanks for bringing it to my attention
Sales Expert
We argue about this in our house a lot. People leave lights on in every room and I yell. I’m often told I sound like “grandma.” Well, turns out, my mom knew stuff!
Peggy
I was laughing reading your post because I finally started to do these things…not because I was resisting the change in habit (I always just leave the hairdryer plugged in) but the fact that my mother read her latest article that she had to tell us about which explained how to save money on utlities! Oh do I need to hypnotize myself…
Jen B
Personalized Empowerment – It’s Time
Great stuff. If only everybody would take your advise
http://foreverecofriendly.com/
Naomi, Phantom loads are really a consideration to look at when adding up how much energy you use. I had 8 cell phone chargers around my home because of how fast the battery in my phone loses charge. Thanks for an informative article on phantom loads.
Scott Sylvan Bell
http://www.scottbellconsultant.com
Good advice Naomi … I especially like the clarification about the cell phone/charger order of plugging in – and that probably explains the issues I have had with my cell phone in the past. What abou the idea that it takes more energy when you first turn on an electronic – any truth to that?
All the best,
Neil
The Poobah of Probiotics
http://geneflora.com/antibiotic-superbugs-probiotics/
Great little tip for saving on electricity. Likewise for the cell phone sequence of plugging ion the charger into the wall first then connecting the phone to the charger.
Michael
I’m all for the enviorment. I suppose I could take a few extra seconds to unplug those things.
Nice writeup. Thanks for sharing the information.