“Standby power, also called vampire power, phantom load, or leaking electricity, refers to the electric power consumed by electronic appliances while they are switched off or in a standby mode.” (Definition from Wikipedia)
I must admit, just about every outlet in our house is filled almost all the time. We rarely unplug appliances, aside from our seasonally-used blender (Margarita, anyone?), and our semi-rarely used vacuum cleaner.
Consider this statement from The Economist Intelligence Unit, which advises businesses how to save money in technological matters:
“Strange though it seems, a typical microwave oven consumes more electricity powering its digital clock than it does heating food. For while heating food requires more than 100 times as much power as running the clock, most microwave ovens stand idle—in “standby” mode—more than 99% of the time. And they are not alone: many other devices, such as televisions, DVD players, stereos and computers also spend much of their lives in standby mode, collectively consuming a huge amount of energy.”
So, how much “vampire power” are your appliances sucking? You can find out with a simple little device called Kill A Watt. This will measure the power your appliances are using while they’re idle.
Check it out at: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/05/killawatt.php
MallDad ordered one today, rationalizing that this product will offset the post-consumer waste it generates by helping us reduce our energy waste in a big way. We’ll let you know how we fare.
Tip for Day Seventeen: Unplug appliances when they aren’t in use.
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