Even if you’ve thoroughly shopped for the cheapest electricity rates and best electricity deals, and even if you’ve locked in one of the best electricity rates available, you could still be paying a scary price for vampire power.
What is vampire power?
Vampire power is the energy that certain electronics and electrical appliances continue to draw from electrical outlets, even when turned off or idle. It’s also referred to as standby power, phantom load or idle load.
Whatever you choose to call it, it’s a serious waste of energy and money. And it’s most likely happening in your home right now.
Where does vampire power lurk?
One way to identify electronics that consume power even in “off” or “sleep” mode is by an always-on LED. This could appear as a digital clock on a set-top box, a lit-up charging indicator or another type of status light.
Common items that consume standby power that you may have in your home include:
- Battery chargers for tablets and smartphones
- External power supplies for laptops and printers
- TV set-top boxes, DVD players, video game consoles and Internet routers/modems
- Smart appliances
What is the cost of vampire power?
Even though individual devices may not use huge amounts of vampire power, when you look at all the idle load in your home, it can really add up.
Although the amount of vampire power used varies from home to home, estimates say that always-on energy use by inactive devices can quickly add up to $100-200 a year in an average household.
Luckily, there are some simple ways to lose less to vampire power — and keep more of your hard-earned money.
The best electricity rates can’t slay vampire power — but you can!
As we mentioned, you may have one of the best electricity rates in Texas. But vampire power can quickly drain those savings. If you’re ready to banish phantom load, try these five tips:
1. Optimize your devices
Many devices — like computer screens, tablets and smartphones — let you adjust their energy efficiency settings. Take a look and see if you can minimize standby power consumption. Even some microwaves have power-saving modes that turn off the display — clock and all — when not in use.
2. Use a watt meter to find the biggest vampires
Buy or borrow a watt meter to figure out which electronics are consuming the most standby power. You can address these items first to make the biggest impact.
3. Use smart plugs and power strips
You can plug in electronics to a smart plug or power strip so they only draw power when needed. When you don’t need to use them, use your smartphone to turn the plug off, cutting power to the device. You can even set schedules for smart plugs to turn on and off at certain times.
4. Manually unplug rarely used or fully charged devices
If you have a TV in a guest room that only gets used a few times a month, it doesn’t need to stay plugged in. The same goes for devices like smartphones, tablets, electric razors, power banks and other items that have been fully charged. Just unplug them to stop the energy drain in its tracks.
5. Buy more efficient appliances and electronics
If it’s time to replace an electronic device or appliance in your home, check out ENERGY STAR®-rated products. Items with an ENERGY STAR label have been externally certified against strict performance requirements and shouldn’t consume much standby power.
Run an electricity price comparison for greater savings
Eliminating vampire power, following energy-saving tips and finding the best electricity rates for your home and lifestyle are three ways to optimize your energy bill.
To search for some of the best electricity rates available in your area and make apples-to-apples electricity price comparisons, shop at EverythingEnergy.com.