Standby or vampire power as it is most commonly referred to, wastes $10 Billion of Electricity Annually in the United States alone. The average US household has about 25 electronic devices that constantly draw small amounts of power, costing on average $100 per year.

Top 10 Energy Vampires in Your home

  1. Laptop computers (when they are plugged in)
  2. Answering machines
  3. Computer printers
  4. TVs and cable boxes
  5. Video games
  6. Cell phone chargers
  7. Internet hubs and routers
  8. Plugged-in electric toys
  9. Night lights
  10. Holiday lights and decorations

hoilday Lights

How to slay the energy vampires in your home?

Minimize the amount of lights you use to decorate this year, switch to LED lights and most importantly use a timer for your holiday lights both inside and out.

Use a power strip as a central “turn off” point when you are done using equipment, which completely disconnects the power supply.

Unplug your chargers: cell phone chargers, camera chargers, battery chargers or power adapters, etc. These are drawing energy even when not in use (and even when not connected to an end-use product).

Check out the biggest Vampire Energy offenders

Sources:

Energy Star, Standby Power and Energy Vampires
Energy.gov, Are Energy Vampires Sucking You Dry?
Standby Power, Ranges of Standby Power
AOL, Energy Conscious Holiday Lighting

Read More