The name Energy Vampire has been given to all of the appliances and electronic devices around your home that consume electricity even when they are turned off. For the most part, these items function in a stand-by mode or sleep mode when consumers think that they are shut off. However, stats from the Department of Energy show that these devices continue to sip power and account for over 10% of the average household electric bill each month.
How To Identify These Thieves
There are several telltale signs of an energy vampire. The most obvious is any type of display that is always visible. If you have a cable box that displays the time or a clock on your microwave or oven, these appliances are constantly using electricity. You can also add in your alarm clock due to the constant lit display and the backup battery feature. You rest easy knowing you will never oversleep, even if there is a power outage because your alarm clock has a backup battery. But that battery is constantly using power for recharging. Finally, anything with a remote control is never really turned off. It is continuously in a ready mode to be activated by the remote. That is the actual cost of convenience.
Top Energy Thieves In Your Home
Your favorite entertainment tech items are also the ones that are silently slipping the most money from your wallet each month. Your cable or satellite box is one of the pack leaders. These devices are always on and ready to be activated by a remote or begin recording a show for you. SRP estimates that each cable or satellite box in your home consumes about $13 in power each year. It might not sound too bad, but then add the $15 a year for the 50” plasma TV, and you are at nearly $30. Or the number jumps to around $60 if you have two viewing areas. Each modem or router adds about another $10 per year to the tab. And each printer sitting there on stand-by is another $7 annually. While none of these devices are outrageously costly to leave in a sleep mode, they do add up.
Put an average price of $5 per year on each vampire device in your home. Now count the number of items in your home that are secretly drawing power 24/7. The list should include all computers, clocks, radios, modems, smart home devices, and televisions. Don’t forget the less entertaining items like appliances, the garage door openers, security system, irrigation timer, and so on. The average household spends around $200 a year for power that they did not even know they were using.
How To Banish Energy Vampires
The most reliable and safe method to eliminate wasted energy is the use of power strips. However, climbing behind appliances and large electrical devices is not safe or simple. The best option is installing power strips throughout your home to manage the power of other items like computer equipment, televisions, and appliances. It is also important to remember that the tablet and smartphone charges you leave plugged in are also stealing power. However, when plugged into a power strip, you can always eliminate all of the trickle power wasters in your home.
Accessibility to outlets is an issue in many homes, making it impossible to reach even a power strip. Call (541) 234-8864 to speak to the pros at Excel Electric about adding easily reachable outlets in your home. We offer free, no-obligation price quotes for all jobs and back our work with a full warranty on parts and labor.