Vampire Electronics: Slay the Power-Predators That Are Sucking You Dry

Christina Hansen - Contributing Writer
Posted on Tuesday 13th October 2009

Halloween is rapidly approaching, but before you start carving pumpkins, planning your costume, or helping neighborhood trick-or-treaters or office colleagues meet their candy quota, you’ll need to slay a few vampires. “Vampire electronics,” that is – the devices and appliances that suck wattage out of the power grid when you’re not using them and, in doing so, bleed your budget dry.

Simply put, all plug-in appliances, devices, and gadgets that go into standby mode when not in active use can be considered vampire electronics. Which are the most obvious culprits? As a general rule, they’re the devices with digital displays (think clocks and timers) and LED indicator lights that burn brightly day in and day out. But there are a host of other power-predators, including TVs, cell phone chargers, and even electric toothbrushes, which give no tell-tale signs. Even when such items are turned “off,” they’re actually still “sucking” power from wall outlets, and driving up your utility bill. Recent studies have shown that up to 40% of power drawn by vampire electronics is wasted in standby mode. It’s enough to give you goose bumps.

One easy way to determine which electronics are indeed vampires is to plug them into a basic electricity usage meter, like CableOrganizer.com’s P3 Kill A Watt™. This telling little gadget rats out vampire electronics by indicating exactly how much power a device or appliance is consuming both on and off-duty. Just connect the power meter to a wall receptacle, and then plug an appliance into the meter’s outlet. Remember to take one reading with the appliance running, and another with it turned off – that’s where the proof is.

On the other hand, if you’re a more aggressive vampire slayer who prefers to dispense with detective work and cut right to the chase, then just plug your peripherals and other electronics into an intuitive surge protector like CableOrganizer.com’s Smart Strip.

Smart power strips are designed to differentiate between primary devices like computers and HDTVs, and secondary devices like printers, scanners, DVD players, and video game systems. Why is it important to differentiate? Because when a smart power strip senses that a primary device has been turned off, it automatically cuts power to all of the vampirical accessory electronics that are connected to it. After all, there’s no reason why you should let your printer and speakers feed voraciously off the power grid if your PC is turned off.

These are just two of many “green” solutions CableOrganizer.com offers those looking for ways to save energy, reduce their carbon footprint and lower monthly electricity bills.

Christina Hansen is a Product Specialist at CableOrganizer.com – a leading eTailer of cable, wire and equipment management solutions. She may be reached through the company’s Web site located at CableOrganizer.com.

test image for this block