I hope the guy above didn’t show up at your door this Halloween. But if he did, you’d likely slam your door because, frankly, this is one scary looking dude.
Well, some suckers may be quite obvious — such as Dracula and mosquitos — but others are innocuous looking. It’s those innocuous looks that allow the sucking to be insidious.
Take for instance all those electronics and appliances that are in most people’s homes: computers, CD and DVD players, washers and dryers, microwaves, coffee makers, and gadgets that need to be charged, such as cell phones, PDAs, toothbrushes, etc. Reportedly, many people think that once they are turned “off,” that’s the end of the power that they consume. But even those of you who realize that turning off the gadget doesn’t equate to turning off the electrical current might be surprised by the magnitude of this stat: “About 40% of electricity being used to power your home electronics is being used to power your home electronics when they are in standby mode.” 40%!
And, on a national level, “the latest estimates show 5% of electricity used in the US goes to standby power. This amounts to about $4 billion a year.”
This figure is predicted to quickly and sharply increase (I’d guess due to everything getting more high-tech: things that were not electronic in the past becoming electronic, new gadgets being invented and marketed to the tech-hungry public, and even electronics getting “more electronic,” but the article didn’t say): “the percentage could rise to 20 by 2010, according to the US Department of Energy.
Look at these international estimates and the magnitude of the issue becomes even more clear:
- Japan — 12%
- Australia — 11%
- Germany & the Netherlands — 10% each
- France — 7%
- US — 5%, as noted above
- China — ? — sources didn’t say — would be interesting
Tips to help slay this vampire:
- Chargers — lithium-ion powered chargers should automatically halt the flow of current when it’s not needed; if you’re unsure if yours do, unplug when not in use
- Computer systems — hook up your system, including accessories like printers and scanners, to a single power strip — and switch the power off when not in use
- Other items — when possible, unplug when not in use — might be a pain and too inconvenient for some items (such as items with clocks — microwaves, for instance — as the clocks would need to be reset all the time), but easier for many items
- Appliances — purchase new appliances that are energy-efficient and endorsed by the “Energy Star” program
Not only are these vampire electronics costly to consumers and to nations, they’re costly to the environment. As per the article, “if only 1 of 10 US homes used only appliances backed by the Energy Star program, the Energy Department estimates, it would reduce carbon emissions the same amount as by planting 1.7 million acres of trees.”
There are enough energy wasters in life (fill in your own examples…I’m not going there!), your electronics don’t need to be another.
Sources:
All direct quotes are from source #1, while the international stats are from source #2.
Picture from expage.com
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