According to Efficiency Maine, 75% of electricity used for home electronics is consumed while the products are turned off. You can use a Kill-a-Watt meter to test which appliances are "vampires"--sucking electricity all night long. Stop them by unplugging them or putting them on a power strip with a switch.
More to know about Vampire Loads
- Electricity in Maine costs about 15.5 cents per kilowatt hour, well above the national average. Leaving a desktop computer in "idle" mode (monitor and hard drive powered down) for a year costs about $183 here in Maine.
- Any device that requires resetting after a blackout is a vampire. Some microwave ovens, for example, draw electricity to maintain clock settings. Try wearing a watch to keep time, then put your microwave oven on a switch outlet so you can turn it off. Ignore the blink when you turn it back on; you can cook with it just fine. The flashing time will remind you to turn it off when you're done. ("It's not a problem, it's a feature!")
- Always unplug cell phone chargers and other transformers from the wall. Any "wall wart" that gets warm to the touch is wasting energy! Don't just disconnect your cell phone or laptop from the charger. Remember to unplug the charger from the wall.
- Consider replacing old-fashioned incandescent night lights with the new Light Emitting Capacitor (LEC) technology. These blue-green nightlights are cool to the touch, consuming only 0.03 watts (that's three one hundreths of a watt). LECs are 8 times more efficient than LEDs and 200 times more efficient than incandescent night lights, saving you about $9.50 per year.
- The best tool to use to measure vampire loads is a Kill-A-Watt meter. Plug this electricity monitor into the wall, then plug your appliance into it. An LCD screen shows you exactly how much electricity the vampire is using.
- Keep in mind that simply turning lights and appliances off can often be a more effective conservation approach than buying the most efficient product and leaving it on all the time. For example, a 100 watt incandescent light bulb on a motion sensor that comes on only when someone comes to your porch will use just 0.1 KWh per day, whereas a 25 watt CFL left on all night will consume 0.25 KWh per day. You'd save 0.15 KWh per day ($8.48 per year) with the incandescent bulb that's on only when needed.
- Consider putting in a timer switch or a motion switch for bathrooms and other rooms where lights can be left on accidentally. A bathroom vanity with three 75 watt light bulbs left on while your family is away for a week's vacation will consume 37.8 KWh, costing you $5.86.
- The average household in Maine uses 500 KWh per month, or about 16 KWh per day. Take a look at your power bill. If you consume more than average, chances are that you have some vampire loads. Make some changes, then see if you notice a change on your power bill -- and in your bank account!
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A Kill-a-Watt home electricity meter is an indispensable tool in tracking down vampire loads. More info »
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