Energy Vampires

Our household is full of electronic devices. We do our best to not leave lights on in unoccupied rooms, or leave a television or radio running unattended. But our visit to an energy efficient open house made us realize how much energy – and money – we were wasting.

Everything that plugs in is sucking electric energy, but we learned that even devices that are turned “off” are still consuming energy. If it has a clock, a charging indicator, or any sort of electronic “brain”, it is sucking energy and dollars simply by being plugged in to the wall. Here’s a breakdown of what it looks like:

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Obviously, the best way to avoid this is to have no electronic devices in your household. No one wants to do that, understandably, so the next best method is to unplug all our wonderful electronics when they aren’t being used. For convenience, plug all those items in to power strips so that several related pieces of equipment can be turned off or unplugged at once (TV, DVD player, and cable box, for example). Once your cell phone is fully charged, unplug the charger from the wall. The same goes for electric razors, iPods, and any other chargeable electronic device. Just removing your phone from the charger doesn’t solve the problem – the charger is still pulling juice. I go as far as unplugging my laptop when the battery is fully charged, even if I’m using it. I can plug back in when the battery gets low, but there’s no reason to suck more energy than I’m using.

So pick your reason for unplugging. Want to save some money on your utility bill? Want to save a mountaintop? Both? Unplug when you aren’t using or re-charging. Keep away the energy vampires. Sphere: Related Content