Standby power, also known as phantom load or vampire power, refers to the energy used by appliances that are switched off or are in ‘standby mode’.
If you live in a typical U.S. home, your appliances and home electronics are responsible for about 20% of your energy bills. More than 75% of that power is consumed while the appliances and electronics are in standby mode.
Many devices, such as televisions, DVD players, stereos and computers spend much of their lives in standby mode, collectively consuming a huge amount of energy. Efforts are being made around the world to reduce this unnecessary power consumption. To reduce the amount of phantom load in your home, plug your computer and entertainment equipment into a power strip and turn the strip off.
Also, remember to unplug the cell phone charger when it is not charging the phone.
Join Us and Bike to Work
22 hours ago
4 comments:
What about DVR through Dish Network? If I plug the TV, VCR, and Stereo into a power strip, and turned that off when not in use, but left the DVR plugged directly into the wall - would the DVR still record the shows I program it to record?
Can you tell me which devices in a normal home DON'T use vampire power? Hair Dryers? Lamps? Thanks!
Gogreengirl, many appliances continue to draw a small amount of power when they are switched off. These "phantom" loads occur in most appliances that use electricity, such as VCRs, televisions, stereos, computers, and kitchen appliances, but typically not simple items like hair dryers and lamps (they are either on or off). If you unplug an appliance or use a power strip and use the switch on the power strip to cut all power to the appliance, that will do the job. Use a strip for your rechargers and other power supplies, too, or simply unplug them.
If you keep your DVR plugged in, and your Dish Network is receiving signals as usual, it should record shows per your programming (it does not require connection to the TV).
The beauty of a DVR is that is it constantly on and you can watch whatever was on an hour ago. It is possible to turn off the DVR cable box; however, it does reset itself each time, and you would have to re-program your TV series.
Phantom load exists in equipment with electronic clocks or timers, with remote controls, portable equipment, and equipment with wall cubes. Anything with a remote control uses phantom load- there has to be a circuit inside there waiting to get the wake up call from the remote. To be technical, phantom load is caused by miniature transformers that convert AC electricity into DC electricity.
These are all excellent posts. thanks for the links. You seem to be reading day and night looking for good stuff to post lol.
Post a Comment