Rid Your Home of Energy Bandits

The old adage of “if you’re not using it, turn it off,” holds true in many instances, especially with household electronic devices. However, getting these devices to truly turn off may take more than simply pushing the power button.

In the average home, 75 percent of the electricity used to power electronics is consumed while the products are turned off, according to the Department of Energy. These “phantom loads” occur in most appliances that use electricity, such as VCRs, televisions, stereos, computers and kitchen appliances.

While the wasted standby power of household electronic devices is typically very small, the sum of all such devices within the household becomes significant.
In fact, did you know that a television with a remote could use more energy during the 20 hours it is turned off waiting for you to turn it on than it does while you are watching it for four hours in the evening?

Here are some clues to identify your energy bandits: They’re appliances with remote controls, such as televisions, DVD players and audio equipment. They feature a continuous digital display – like glowing clocks on stoves and microwaves. They use rechargeable batteries, such as cordless phones (which use energy even after the battery is charged). And they’re appliances with external power supplies, such as inkjet printers and iPod chargers.

Watch out for the cube shaped transformers that plug into the wall. These devices are 60 – 80 percent inefficient when plugged in, so it is especially important that these are on power strips.

To find phantom loads in your home, turn off all lights at night and look for any lighted electronic displays (LEDs) or other glows in the house. Any device that requires resetting after a blackout or power surge is also an energy bandit.

Ridding your home of these energy bandits is as simple as pulling the plug. You can even switch off several devices that are often used together – such as a PC, a monitor and a printer – by using a switchable power bar or surge protector with multiple sockets. Unplug rarely used appliances and charges that aren’t in use, including your microwave, toaster oven, hair dryer, game console and coffee pot.

Saving energy means saving money
Take control of your own energy usage by following these simple, no-cost tips:

• For energy savings and convenience, turn off your computer’s monitor if you aren’t going to use it for more than 20 minutes, and turn off both the computer and monitor if you’re not going to use them for more than two hours. Though there is a small rush of energy when a computer starts up, this small amount of energy is still less than the energy used when a computer is running for long periods of time.

• Make sure your electronic devices are on power strips or surge protectors.

• A common misconception is that screen savers reduce monitors’ energy use; they do not. Automatic switching to sleep mode or manually turning monitors off is always the better energy-saving strategy.

• To maximize savings with a laptop, put the AC adapter on a power strip that can be turned off (or will turn off automatically). The transformer (or big black box) in the AC adapter draws power continuously, even when the laptop is not plugged into it.

• Unplug battery chargers when the batteries are fully charged or the chargers are not in use.

• Plug home electronics, such as TVs and DVD players, into power strips and turn the power strips off when the equipment is not in use (TVs and DVDs in standby mode still use several watts of power).