It's Not Just Your Imagination, Your House IS Haunted
Children are so much more perceptive than we numb adults. They believe in things that our intellect tells us are impossible. The next time your child (if you have any) comes bursting through the door in the middle of the night, screaming about the monster under their bed, believe them.
Luckily, there's a sure fire way to dispose of that ghost or monster that haunts your child's room...and yours. It's simple really. Would you like to know?
Exorcism procedure: Unplug some stuff!
That's right, we're talking about phantom power here (what'd you think we were talking about?). It's real. It's troubling. It's sucking the life out of your wallet and the environment.
Other names and terms for phantom power are: phantom load, idle current, vampire power, wall wart...but it's all talking about the same thing.
So what is phantom power? It is the power that all of our electronic devices consume when they're off. "But I thought they were off. How can they use power?" I'm glad you asked. Your devices are not really off, they're on stand-by power. If they were truly off, you'd have to reset/reprogram them every time you turned them back on.
Obviously, this presents a problem to unplugging them, doesn't it? Well, we're going to have to do something. In many cases, like with your TV and VCR, they consume more power when they're off then when they're on!
We can practically go outside to our meter and watch the kilo-watt hours tick by, can't we?!?
So how does a person solve the problem of phantom power without the inconvenience of resetting everything every time they plug it back in? Well here are some handy devices to help you do so.
Consider using a "smart power strip" like the Smart Strip in your home office or computer desk. It will monitor the current flowing through the strip and turn off your computer/peripherals when they are not in active use. Cool huh?
From the manufacturer:
On average, if you leave your computer and it's peripherals on for:
24 hours x 7 days = 168 hours per week total.
9 hours x 5 days = 45 hours per week used, if shut off.
168 hours total minus 45 hours used = 123 hours of energy saved.
123 hours saved / 168 hours total = 73% energy saved.
Check out the Kill-a-Watt to help you discover how much power every electronic device in your home uses, one by one. Know this will help you determine how to better adjust each of them for maximum power savings.
Want to monitor your entire home's watt usage in real time, not one device at a time (as with the Kill-a-Watt)? Consider this device from EnergyMonitor.com. There is also another whole house energy monitor that I've found called the Wattson. However, the link to that product doesn't seem to be working, but I'll try to find alternative information for it. [UPDATED: Here's the link]
I can tell you that this monitor is iPod-esque in it it's aesthetics and gives off an ambient glow from the bottom so you can monitor your home's energy usage in style.
I saved the easiest for last. A simple way to cut out phantom power is to unplug what devices you can when they're not in use. Such devices may include your phone charger, blender, coffee maker, can opener, lamps, and more. You'll be amazed at the difference such a small effort can make on your electric bill and the environment.
Make it Fun:
- Play a game with the kids using the Kill-a-Watt to see who can find the appliance that uses the most electricity.
- See which of you and your friends can save the most money by cutting back on phantom power. You could pool the money you collectively saved and have a celebration party. Because you're using the money you would have normally spent in electric bills, that's essentially a free party. Can't go wrong there.
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