Our homes are filled with an alphabet of electronics: DVD, PC, TV, Xbox. Americans own approximately 24 electronic products per household, according to the Consumer Electronics Association, so considerable energy goes toward powering those products.
And some of these products consume power even when they are not in use. To control these “energy vampires,” Burke-Divide Electric Cooperative offers some suggestions.
Use power strips
No matter what types of electronics you use, those glowing lights at night prove power is still being consumed, even while everyone is sleeping. Those TVs, game consoles, cable boxes and other electronics alldra w small amounts of power, even when not in use, wasting energy in the form of “vampire loads.”
There is a convenient and low-cost solution. A power strip makes it easy to turn them all off with one click. Advanced models offer options like timers, remote control or the ability to set a “master device” to shut down everything else when it’s turned off.
Replacing your conventional power strips with advanced power strips (APS) can help reduce the electricity wasted when these devices are idle.
APS are designed primarily for home entertainmentcenters and home office areas where there are typically many consumer electronics plugged into a power strip, and they work by preventing electronics from drawing power when they are off or not being used.
Unplug
When a laptop or smartphone is fully charged, unplug it.
Turn off computers, game consoles and other devices when they are not in use. Powering down your computer completely every night uses 50% less energy thansleep mode.