Watch Out for Vampires

Not the Dracula type, the household ones we all have. Vampires are all the little (and some big) electronics that are always in the on position. Just look around your house at night and you will see all the little lights that are on – clocks, cable TV boxes, DVD players, stereos, TV’s charges, appliances, and the list goes on. While houses have become more efficient over the years, the extra electrical load has offset most if not all of the energy savings from efficiency. Manufacturers are currently redesigning chargers for cell phones and other devices to cut down on their standby power usage when not charging, which is a start. Unplugging many of these when not in use helps to cut down on electricity usage. Using a power strip that you can turn off is a low tech way to accomplish this. It is possible to use remote control switching to turn off selected equipment automatically when you leave the house. Unfortunately, programming is often lost and clocks are reset, so many of these products can’t be turned on and off regularly without great inconvenience. What we need is for manufacturers to redesign their products so they use less, or preferably no power when we aren’t using them. We may have to suffer a little by waiting a minute or two for the TV to turn on, but in the long run, changes like these will allow us to enjoy our luxurious lifestyles longer than not making them.

This post was originally published on www.housingzone.com