Vampire power usage can be a real drain on your power consumption and, in turn, your check book. Wikipedia defines vampire power as:
[T]he electric power consumed by electronic appliances while they are switched off or in a standby mode.
Basically it is a device which uses power “waiting” for you (i.e. in standby mode). 99% of the time this is wasted power as your devices are not doing anything useful.
To help cut down on your vampire power consumption, check out these tips. This article gives you a good idea of how much power your devices are actually pulling while in standby mode. Add it up and over time this can become a significant amount.
Personally, I always unplug “once in a while” devices such as cell phone chargers, my coffee maker, etc. I recently got an awesome power strip which allows me to easy cut power to my computer devices when I am done with them without having to go unplug them.
If anyone has any additional tips, please share as I am always looking for more ways to cut my power usage.
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This isn’t so much a tip as a piece of information that I feel is quite interesting.
Some time ago in the UK a similar argument concerning standby was put forward and a decision was taken to stop having a standby option for electronic devices and that they should be on or off.
However, a few points were ignored or forgotten. The reason standby options were introduced was actually to save power. This was because older electrical and electronic devices often used valves which had to heat up before they were able to work. This lead to people leaving TVs, radios etc on because the next time they wanted to use it they would have to wait as long as 5 minutes for them to warm up! So to conserve energy, a standby switch was introduced.
Now, of course valves and CRT’s (which is really just a huge valve with a special function) are things of the past and modern equipment is almost instant from the off (or on?).
So, might we see a return to people not turning off equipment for the small time saving and at some point will another government say we need a standby because people aren’t turning off equipment?
I leave my TV on standby for this reason and my DVD recorder doesn’t have a standby so I leave it on most of the time. The practical reasons for having/not having a standby don’t seem to have considered the social aspects- that people will do what is most convenient for them.
Leaving electrical equipment on standby can be put down to laziness and ignorance of what standby mode costs in power consumption. Few that I have spoken to realise that an adapter or an equipment on standby is partly functioning and drawing current and can, in the case of a power adapter, sit in the corner and have it’s transformer overheat.
There is no reason other than laziness that equipment should be switched off at the power outlet socket or unplugged where there an unswitched outlet. Existing unswitched power outlets should be changed for switched outlets whenever possible.
I figure it cost about 10 cents per watt per month. So even 20 appliances at 10 watts a piece is going to cost $20 a month–not worth the hassle to me. Twenty is quite a lot, too. Here is what I can think of at my house:
2 x cell phone chargers
1 x coffee pot
1 x Wii
1 x plasma TV
1 x receiver
1 x DVD player
1 x cable box
1 x media player
1 x remote charger
1 x baby monitor charger
1 x computer
I leave my main computer on all the time–again I will gladly pay the cost to have instant access. My older Linux box upstairs has a CRT monitor that I hit the hard power switch on.
So I don’t have to mess with it for $12 or so per month? No problemo. I don’t see why it is such a bad thing to pay a little bit for convenience. Many of these items have power strips, etc. that are tucked away in cabinets and behind furniture.
Hi Jason,
For people that live in areas where the power fluctuates or there are lightning strikes frequently I would suggest a surge suppressor over a power strip.
A surge suppressor will stop a power spike from frying your computer equipment if a lightning strike causes a surge down the power line.
What I do is connect all my computer equipment to the surge protector and when i am done for the day I shut down the computer(s) and then turn the surge protector off.
This not only stops the ‘vampire’ effect it keeps a power surge from damaging my equipment.
The equipment up protect is yours, the choice of a power strip over a surge suppessor is about 15 USD…
The article is ok but the comments are awesome!
The article is ok but the comments are awesome!