What is Vampire Energy?

Vampire energy is an expression coined to represent energy used to power electronic devices while on “stand-by” or “sleep” mode.

Is Vampire Energy Loss Significant?

Yes, according to research done by Energy Star, the average household spends $100 a year on energy leeching devices. On a national scale, vampire energy is accountable for over 100 billion kilowatt hours of electricity consumption and $10 billion in annual energy costs.

Keep The Fangs Off Your Wallet

Just as garlic is said to repel Dracula, vampire energy can be warded off as well using a few simple techniques:

When buying new appliances look for those that are Energy Star qualified products. These products are designed to use less energy in stand-by mode.

Check computers and portable devices for power management software. More recent computers have software to help manage the computer’s use of power.

Use an electrical strip with a master on/off switch. This will make it easy to turn off multiple electrical devices with the flip of one switch.

Unplug your chargers. This applies to phones, laptops, mp3 players, and any other device charger. These chargers will continue to draw power if they are plugged in, even when they are not charging a device.

So don’t forget your garlic when traveling at night and follow the steps above to help prevent vampire energy from sinking it’s teeth into your bank account.

References: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=about.vampires