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Are Energy Vampire Taps Costing You Money?
By
Danelle Ice - Home Ever After |
May 31st, 2008 |
Category:
How to Save on... |
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Are Energy Vampire Taps Costing You Money?
Vampire taps are in all of our houses right now and chances are, they’re costing you money. Many electrical devices use energy in “standby mode” 24 hours a day, even when they’re not in use. A little extra energy may not seem like a big deal at first thought. However, each extra item using electricity tacks on a little to your electric bill, making your cost higher for items you aren’t even using!
Common vampire taps include:
- Electric razors and electric toothbrushes
- Computers, monitors, external modems and hard drives
- Fax machines, printers and scanners
- Cell phone chargers
- Telephones and answering machines
- Stoves and microwaves
- Breadmakers and rice cookers
- Clock radios and cable boxes
- TVs, VCRs, DVD players and DVRs
- Game systems (Wii, PS, Xbox)
- Stereo systems and security systems
- Baby monitors
- Washing machines
- Battery chargers
- Vacuum cleaners
- Electric lawnmowers
- Garage door openers
- Power tools
What can you do to eliminate energy waste from vampire taps in your home?
First, unplug items you aren’t using. It seems like a great idea to just unplug everything, but that can be a hassle, especially for hard-to-reach outlets. One suggestion is to plug multiple cords into one powerstrip (or surge protector) that you can switch off as needed, like before going to bed or leaving the house.
For items that are occasionally used, like power tools, only plug them in to get a full charge when you’re going to use them. Store occasional use items unplugged at other times.
Thanks to MorgueFile for the photo!
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I have tried to be less wasterful with energy, I unplug the baby monitors when I’m not using them. But things with clocks, I keep plugged in like clock radios and stuff because I wouldn’t want to keep having to reset it everynight. I never thought of my cell phone charger though…ah technology
@ISI: You might want to try an alarm clock with a battery backup and use rechargable batteries. That way you can unplu in the morning, and plug back in at night, and it sets itself for you!
Danelle, Home Ever After
Excellent Tips! I really need to be more vigillent.