Energy Vampires

Ever look at your electric bill and wonder “why is this so expensive??”  Are you turning down your air conditioner to save money or double-checking that every light is off before you leave the house?  Ever wonder if you can lower you bill other ways?  In the next series of articles, we will examine your electricity bill, look at ways to cut costs, and explore solar as a viable option for cutting the cord.

Cutting Costs by Getting Rid of Vampires

Last article we examined our electric bills in order to get a better understanding of where the money goes.  We learned it’s not all going towards the electricity you purchase.  In this article, we will learn some ways to lower the portion of the bill you have direct control over.

We have all seen vampires in the movies, but did you know there are vampires lurking in your home? I kid you not- electricity vampires are everywhere. However, these vampires don’t suck blood, they suck money right out of your wallet.

You probably have heard about electricity or energy vampires before. They are the innocuous things we leave plugged in all day every day that continue to draw current from the grid. So things like your stove, lamps, and the television continuously draw electricity even though they are not in use. Some things need to remain plugged in because they are difficult and unsafe to re-plug every time (think about moving your stove out of the way every time you wanted to heat up that frozen pizza!). However, there are a few things you can do to limit energy vampirism and even measure it.

For example, a phone charger left plugged in all day–even without a device attached to it (called standby power)–consumes an average of 0.26 watts of energy…constantly. You lose energy when you leave that charger plugged in all day, even without anything attached to it. Same goes for your laptop charging cord, your toaster, and your TV. Some things we need to leave plugged in, like our refrigerator, but some things can get the plug pulled:

• Unplug easy things like your computer power cord, phone charger, stereo, desktop computer, small appliances in the kitchen/bathroom, or printer when not in use. Click here for info on how much energy some common products use in standby mode.
• Use surge protectors with an on/off toggle switch. That way you can plug a bunch of things into it and stop the power leach with just one flick of the switch. Plus, the power surge protection is well worth it during those summer lightning storms here in Central Ohio.
• Many homes (like mine) do not have overhead lighting. Usually when you see this, there’s an outlet on the wall which is controlled by a nearby light switch. Take advantage of the energy savings built right into a home without overhead lighting and plug the biggest draws of energy into the outlet controlled by the wall switch.
• There’s a little device called a Kill A Watt Meter that can calculate the cost of leaving your appliance plugged in and even devices that will turn your appliances at set time for a set duration.

Getting rid of these energy vampires could save hundreds per year on your energy bill, putting a little more cash in your pockets. But more importantly, these concepts plant the seed of just how much wasted energy costs us all–and not just monetarily. What a great way to kill a vampire!