Thwart energy vampires in your home

Even though vampires are all the rage in Hollywood right now, you might not have to look to the big screen to see them; they could be lurking in your home, and I don’t mean on the pages of “Twilight” either. But don’t be scared, although the statistics are frightening. The average American has 40 or more phantom energy ‘vampires’ skulking in the dark corners and recessed spaces of their home—taking the form of coffee makers, cell phone chargers, cable transmitter boxes, and computers, just to name a few—sucking up dollars, and proving to be a big menace to the environment. Although they look fairly harmless, these ‘phantom’ appliances and electronic devices, even in “standby” modes, account for about 40 to 90 percent of the electricity used to power them. Depending on the device—such as a tool charger or Playstation that’s plugged in all the time but only “on” for a small amount of time—it could consume more energy in its “off” state than when in use. This alarming and unwarranted use of energy comprises about 5 percent of the average U.S. household’s total energy bill, adding up to $100 a year in electricity, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. While this may not seem like a lot, think about the large-scale environmental impact. The combined impact of phantom energy use in U.S. houses accounts for more than 65 billion kilowatt hours, wastes more than $5.8 billion, and releases billions of pounds of heat-trapping carbon monoxide into the atmosphere. Also, this percentage could rise to 20 percent by 2010, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, a phenomenon energy efficiency experts find terrifying as energy prices rise and the planet warms. So what can you do to slay those unwanted pests and help your environment at the same time? While unplugging everything when not in use is the best answer energy-wise, it’s not very practical. First, walk through your house and spot your parasitic energy culprits. They could be appliances or electronic devices that use an LCD display (such as the clock on microwaves and coffee makers), and device chargers, including your toothbrush, home phone, and iPod docking stations, as well as anything typically have in standby mode are guilty. Decide which ones can easily be unplugged without losing programmed information (such as digital clocks). Computers, printers, and scanners for example, can all be plugged into a power strip (also adding surge protection!), which then can easily be turned off with the flip of a switch. Stand-alone devices like cell phone chargers can be plugged into outlets controlled by light switches, purchased at your local hardware store. You can even buy a socket that automatically switches a device off when it goes into standby mode. In addition to these accommodations for your current appliances and devices, another option is to look into appliances that consume less energy, labeled by the government-backed Energy Star program, coordinated jointly by the DOE and EPA. According to the EPA, if one in 10 American homes used only Energy Star-endoresed appliances, it would reduce U.S. carbon emissions by the same amount as planting 1.7 million acres of trees. This growing problem is something even lawmakers are addressing. In California, a proposal was passed last year - dubbed the Vampire Slayers Act - to add ‘vampire electronics’ labels to consumer products, detailing how much energy a charger, computer, or DVD player, for instance, uses when on, off or in standby mode. Technology today can make our lives convenient. However, that convenience can unknowingly come at a high price, impacting our energy consumption, thus our wallets and the earth.