Home » Healthy Living » Green Living » Green Living Tips

Vampire Power Sucks ... Electricity

Ranked #5,382 in Healthy Living, #98,247 overall

And It's Taking a Bite Out of Your Budget!

It happens while you're sleeping—the lifeblood is sucked right out of your home! It's called vampire power, and it refers to the electric power that's consumed while your appliances are on standby or switched off. Though it only accounts for about 5% of U.S. household electricity use, standby power adds up. It wastes $10 billion each year! Standby power can be a problem if your appliances and devices are old, or if you have lots of them. There are also those of us who dislike any item drawing power unless it's being used. Why give a bonus to your local utility company?

Fortunately, there is help. You don't have to be a victim of vampire power any longer. Find out how you can save electricity and money with specially designed products for your home, including power strips, surge protectors, and Energy Star appliances.

Creative Commons License

SquidArt Courtesy of tagsforkids

Is Vampire Power a Problem in Your Home?

Loading poll. Please Wait...

Share this poll
- Stumbleupon
- Facebook
- MySpace
- Twitter
- Digg
- Delicious
- Email

Standby Power

A Few Facts Courtesy of Wikipedia

Standby power, also called vampire power, vampire draw, phantom load, or leaking electricity, refers to the electric power consumed by electronic appliances while they are switched off or in a standby mode. A very common "electricity vampire" is a power adapter which has no power-off switch. Some such devices offer remote controls and digital clock features to the user, while other devices, such as power adapters for laptop computers and other electronic devices, consume power without offering any features. The wasted standby power (vampire energy loss) of individual household electronic devices is typically very small, but the sum of all such devices within the household becomes significant. Standby power makes up a portion of homes' miscellaneous electric load, which also includes small appliances, security systems, and other small power draws.

U.S. Department of Energy:

In the average home, 75% of the electricity used to power home electronics is consumed while the products are turned off. This can be avoided by unplugging the appliance or using a power strip and using the switch on the power strip to cut all power to the appliance.

Bye Bye Standby

Press One Button and Put an End to Needless Energy Waste

Bye Bye Standby

Get Control of Your Gadgets

Bye Bye Standby BBSBUSA Energy Saving Kit

Amazon Price: (as of 02/17/2012)

Product Description: Bye Bye Standby is a brand new energy saving solution designed to reduce the daily energy consumption of electrical devices. Bye Bye Standby works by completely cutting power to the devices plugged into it when they're not in use, thus saving the power that these devices would otherwise have consumed in Standby Mode. Bye Bye Standby is a new way to save energy, carbon emissions and money.

Vampire Power in the News

The Latest News Headlines About Vampire Power

Vampire Power Reality Check: What Tech Gear Sucks the Most?: If your house is typical, you have dozens of electronic gadgets and other gear sucking up energy unnecessarily, resulting in surprisingly high electricity costs. Vampire power is industry parlance for standby power consumed by electronics-- such as ...
Home economics: Saving power costs in the house: In fact, the people who monitor such things say electric bills are down, especially in areas like the mid-Atlantic. "Vampire power," also known as "standby power," is electricity consumed by electronic devices and appliances even when they are switched ...
Library offers meters to help consumers understand electric consumption: The device will also help identify devices that use ?vampire power,? electricity that is consumed by an appliance or electronic device even when it is turned off. Some TVs, when off, use electricity to ?listen? for a signal from a remote control, ...
App we love: IGo Vampire Power Calculator: IGo Vampire Power Calculator ? Vampires may be cool, but "vampire energy" is not. In case you don't know, vampire energy is the electricity consumed by an appliance when it is turned off but plugged in. It accounts for 10 percent of an average home's ...

Solio Solar Powered Charger

Reduce Your Vampire Energy by Going Solar

Solio Magnesium Edition Universal Solar Hybrid Charger

Amazon Price: (as of 02/17/2012)

Product Description: Solio Magnesium hybrid charger combines efficient solar panels and a high capacity battery to collect and store power. With expanded compatibility and a strong yet elegant magnesium alloy shell, this is the most powerful and versatile hybrid charger ever made. Now compatible with the Universal iGo tip system for use with hundreds of different portable electronics. Charge your devices anytime, day or night.

Look Who's Talking About Vampire Power

Add Your Own Links and Vote for Your Favorites

1

Vote Up

energyQue: Vampire Power Sucks 10%

An Energy Saving Article about vampire power or st more...1 point

2

Vote Up

Marketwire - October 15, 2009

New Web Site, VampirePowerSucks.com, Offers Tips t more...1 point

3

Vote Up

Smart Power Strips the Garlic of Vampire Electronics : CleanTechnica

Written by Michelle Bennett, Published on May 3rd, more...1 point

4

Vote Up

Cheapest Way to Combat Vampire Power Still Sucks : TreeHugger

Well, the cheapest way is actually unplugging your more...1 point

5

Vote Up

Standby Power / Vampire Power -- Ask Mr. Electricity

Standby is only a problem if your devices or old, more...1 point

view all 7 links

Kill-a-Watt Usage Calculating Device

See Exactly How Much Vampire Power You're Using

P3 International P4460 Kill A Watt EZ Electricity Usage Monitor

Amazon Price: $22.41 (as of 02/17/2012)

Product Description: Find out if it's time for a new refrigerator, or if that old air conditioner is still saving you money. Simply connect your appliances to the Kill A Watt EZ, and it will assess how efficient they really are. Large LCD display will count consumption by the Kilowatt-hour, same as your local utility. Calculate your cumulative electrical expenses and forecast by the day, week, month, even an entire year. Also check the quality of your power by monitoring Voltage, Line Frequency, and Power Factor.

Power Strips with Switches or Remotes

Turn Off Devices and Adapters When You're Not Using Them

Save Money and Protect the Environment

Shop for Energy Star Products

Save an Average of 20-30% on Energy Usage

Energy Star is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy. The program helps consumers save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices.

Energy Saving Solutions on Squidoo

Don't Be a Victim of Vampire Power

Thanks For Visiting

Are You Ready to Take a Stand Against Vampire Power?

submit

Reply

vallain Oct 19, 2011 @ 10:13 pm | delete

This is an important topic for families trying to cut expenses wherever they can. We've taken electricity for granted and could cut back a lot. Blessed by a squid angel.

Reply

tvyps Apr 28, 2011 @ 12:17 am | delete

Interesting "GREEN" lens! I have lensrolled this to my DUMPSTER DIVING FOR FOOD AND PROFIT lens. I know it sounds silly, but there are a bunch of people doing this, not only for the economy, some in protest and some just plain wacko!!

Reply

electrician-directory Jan 19, 2011 @ 2:29 am | delete

Great lens. Very important information.

Check out more tips on saving your electricity bills: electric bill

Reply

deep cycle batteries Jan 6, 2011 @ 5:11 pm | delete

I am ready to take the power awareness already! thanks for sharing the lens, very informative!

deep cycle batteries

Reply

AndyPo Nov 6, 2010 @ 12:21 pm | delete

Great lens. Very important information.
Load More