13 Vampire Energy Sucking Devices In Your Home

Jennifer — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:43:35 +0000

Did you know there are vampires in your home right now? This is not a Halloween story. It’s real. They are sucking the life out of your household energy budget. I’m talking about energy vampires, the gadgets and appliances that drain your electricity and your wallet even when you are not using them.
There are so many devices that have a standby mode, which means they use up energy even when turned off. Vampire power can cost you up to 10% of your electric bill. In fact, on a national basis, standby power accounts for more than 100 billion kilowatt hours of annual U.S. electricity consumption and more than $10 billion in annual energy costs.

The first challenge is to identify products that draw standby power. Here are clues to recognizing products that draw power continuously:

    * Remote control
    * External power supply
    * Digital display, LED status light, or digital clock
    * Contains a battery charger
    * Has soft-touch key-pad

A product with one or more these features will have standby power use; however, other products won’t have any of these and may still have standby. The only way to be sure is to measure them with a meter.

Here are the 13 worst energy suckers, followed by ways to drive the proverbial stake through the heart of their vampire-like behavior:

1. Set-top box for TV (such as a DVR, VCR or cable box)

2. Television – rear projection and plasma TV’s are the worst offenders

3. Desktop and laptop computers

4. Audio systems – powered subwoofers are the biggest energy suckers

5. Printers and scanners

6. CD and DVD players

7. Cordless telephone

8. Fax machine

9. Wireless router

10. Microwave oven

11. External USB hard drive

12. DSL modem

13. Computer monitors

EASY WAYS TO SLAY THE ENERGY VAMPIRES

Use a power strip as a central "turn off" point when you are done using equipment, which completely disconnects the power supply. You can use one for your computer and all peripheral equipment, and another for your home electronics (TV, VCR, DVD, stereo, gaming). Keep in mind, however, that if you’ve set a timer to wake up a product, such as programming a DVR or VCR to record a program, then the product must remain plugged in (and able to draw standby power) to function as intended.

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

Buy low-standby products if you can find them. Look for products labeled Energy Star, which means they meet certain government guidelines for energy savings. Get more help from the U.S. Dept. of Energy at: www.energystar.gov

Photo courtesy of Flickr

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13 Vampire Energy Sucking Devices In Your Home

15 Easy Ways to Go Green and Cut Your Bills

Jennifer — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 01:08:40 +0000

1. Replace light bulbs with CFL (compact fluorescent) light bulbs. I know you heard it a thousand times but there is a reason you heard it a thousand times. They use 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs and last up to 10 times longer. Keep in mind that CFL’s don’t last as long when they are frequently switched on and off. For most areas of the United States, a general rule-of-thumb for when to turn off a fluorescent light is if you leave a room for more than 15 minutes, it is probably more cost effective to turn the light off. Or in other words, if you leave the room for only up to 15 minutes, it will generally be more cost effective to leave the light(s) on. In areas where electric rates are high and/or during peak demand periods, this period may be as low as 5 minutes.

2. Stop pre-rinsing your dishes before you put them in the dishwasher. It’s unnecessary, and you’ll save up to 6,500 gallons of water per year.

3. Do all your washes in cold water, yes, even the whites with bleach. Today’s laundry products are designed to work just fine in cold water and you’ll save about $60 a year.

4. Save $25 to $75 in electricity each year by using the system standby or hibernating feature on your computer. Check out MichaelBluejay.com for more information on how much electricity your computer uses.

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

6. Minimize your dryer use. It will save energy, your clothes will last longer (less exposure to heat) and you’ll save ironing, too. Take out clothes when they are still a little damp, and line dry them on hangers, drying racks or (if the weather’s nice) on a line outdoors.

7. Keep car tires properly inflated. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, underinflated tires alone cost the country more than 1.25 billion gallons of gasoline annually.

8. See whether you can get rebates for purchasing energy-efficient appliances. Enter your zip code at the U.S. federal government Energy Star website to find out.

9. Clean or replace furnace filters monthly during the heating season. Clogged filters force the blower to work longer, raising your electric bills.

10. Insulate and seal cracks and gaps in your ducts. That can help reduce energy costs by 30 percent.

11. Lower water-heater temperature to 120 degrees from 130 and insulate hot-water pipes to cut your energy bills by up to 5 percent. Just check the owners manual on how to do this, if you can’t find your owner’s manual you may be able to find it online at the manufacturers website. Also don’t forget to install a water heater timer and low flow shower head for even more savings.

12. Weather-strip old windows and doors and you’ll reduce your heating and cooling costs by 15 to 30 percent.

13. Move the thermostat to an inside wall away from windows and doors so that drafts don’t cause the heating system to cycle on unnecessarily. And consider getting a programmable thermostat so the temperature will automatically be adjusted at different times of the day.

14. Add insulation. An estimated 80 percent of older homes are underinsulated. Properly insulating and sealing your home can cut your heating and cooling bills by 10 percent. Check out this cheap way to insulate your house by using bubble wrap at BuildItSolar.com

15. Do your own home energy audit; the U.S. Dept. of Energy explains how. Or call a professional energy auditor. They use a blower door or infrared photography to pinpoint where your home is leaking energy. Some utilities provide free audits; you can also find certified professionals in your area through www.resnet.us.

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Mr. Cheap Stuff» how to save energy

13 Vampire Energy Sucking Devices In Your Home

15 Easy Ways to Go Green and Cut Your Bills