You have vampires in your home! Even though these aren’t the mythological blood-sucking creatures of the night, you should still be wary. Energy vampires are electronic products that use standby power. Standby power refers to energy that is used by certain electronic devices that are off, but still plugged into an electrical outlet. According to the federal Energy Star program, $100 of the average American household’s annual electric bill comes from energy vampires.
Some of the most common electronic devices that use standby power include items that have digital or LCD displays, such as clocks, printers and microwaves. Devices that have remote controls are also big culprits when it comes to sucking energy.
Here is a list of some of the most common energy vampires that may be lurking in your home.
- Televisions
- DVD players
- VCR’s
- Stereos
- Coffee pots with digital clocks
- Microwaves
Charger cords, such as those that are used to charge cell phones and laptops, are also common energy suckers. When chargers are plugged into electrical outlets but not into an electronic device, they can consume a lot of energy.
Now that you can identify these little energy monsters, you can work on stopping them. The best way to prevent consumption of standby power is by unplugging each of the culprits. One easy way to do this is by plugging each device that uses standby power into a power strip. When you aren’t using the devices, the power strip can be switched off. This may seem inconvenient if you’ve gotten used to the digital clocks or remote controls, but you might soon change your mind when you get your next electric bill. Battery chargers for your electronic gadgets should also be unplugged as soon as they are finished charging your devices.
Electronic devices with the Energy Star label are designed to use as little power as possible. If you’d prefer not going through the hassle of unplugging your devices when you aren’t using them, you may want to consider replacing them with Energy Star-compliant devices.
For more information on keeping your energy vampires at bay, contact us at Mowery Heating, Air Conditioning and Plumbing. We provide quality HVAC services in the Greater Indianapolis area.
Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
Mowery services the Brownsburg, Indiana and the surrounding areas. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!
