Energy Vampires

Energy Vampires

I recently read an article about how most homes and businesses waste electricity every day.  The reporter was referring to the plethora of gadgets and devices that have become necessities in our digital age.  The article did a good job of identifying many devices that are energy vampires, but was short on advice to curtail this wasteful situation.  I had to chuckle as one of the few suggestions was to unplug your alarm clock.  I hardly consider using an electric clock an indication of being a spendthrift or energy waster.   There are several things you can do in order to cut down on hidden energy use and still be on time for work each day.

Take a cursory look around your house.  I bet you can find a dozen or more small power supplies plugged into outlets.  The cell phone or iPod charger, the telephone answering machine, the wireless telephone hand set, the electric screw drive charger and stove timer, all consume small amounts of electricity.  When you add them up and figure that most other houses on your street, in your town and in your state all have many of the same appliances, the amount of electricity being used is significant.

It is not practical to turn off some of these devices since doing so may cause memory loss and the need to re-program them.  For those of you without teenagers this can take hours.   In other cases, just unplugging chargers when not in use is a good start.

You can plug all the chargers into a power strip and when not using them you can turn the strip off.   If you are a bit forgetful, the power strip can be connected to a timer.  However, even the timer will use power but not as much as several chargers.

Here are a few other tips:

-         If you are going away for three or more days, turn off your hot water heater.

-         Put motion sensors on lights in hallways, garages etc.

-         Use only the amount of light you need for the task at hand.

-         Open those windows and use a fan instead of A/C.

-         And of course the obvious, use CFLs or LED lamps wherever possible.

The bottom line is that energy conservation is a cumulative thing.  If everyone does a few things, the impact can be significant.

Saving Energy Can Be Tough

With energy costs rising, global warming issues finally getting some attention and a realization that we must conserve our world’s resources, there has been a renewed effort to conserve our electricity consumption. Much has already been written about installing more efficient lighting and turning it off when not needed. Seeking out the most efficient appliances such as hot water heaters, refrigerators and dishwashers has become common place for many conservation conscious consumers. Over and above the obvious culprits of energy waste are hidden offenders of these new 21st century mores.

Called “vampire devices” these ubiquitous electronic devices individually consume only very small amounts of electricity. Because of their shear numbers and because they are usually turned on 24/7, they account for significant energy use. Just as their name sake might indicate, curtailing this drain on our energy resources might require more than a wooden stake through the heart.

Look around your house. They are everywhere. The digital clocks on the microwave, on the stove, on the VHS machine, on the cable box, etc., etc., are good examples. Since in most homes, none of these clocks agree, do we need them all? Many of us use cordless phones that, when they are in the cradle, are consuming small amounts of electricity. Even when the phone is not in the cradle, the cradle itself is using a few watts of power.
Almost all modern home entertainment devices from TVs to DVD players, from game consoles to simple radios are always “ON” even when they are turned “OFF.” Don’t believe me? Just touch the little transformer plugged into the wall that powers one of your small devices when the device is turned off. It is warm. Warm means “ON.”

Of course the problem is that in most cases you can’t turn these devices off. Sure, you can unplug the microwave when not in use. Some of the more muscular among us might pull the stove away from the wall and unplug it when not in use. Of course these solutions are ridiculous. Even the home entertainment devices are not easily disconnected. Many TV’s must have power to maintain the internal memory. After a power failure, how long does it take for you to reset all the channels and settings?

For sure there are some things you can do. For example, there is no reason to leave the cell phone charger plugged in when not in use. Unfortunately, what you can reasonably do is very little. The designers and manufactures need to do things differently. Some designs could use memory chips that don’t require constant power. The placement of a convenient on/off switch to make using the clock on the microwave or stove optional is another simple thing.

In the meantime, we all need to keep an eye out for the little savings. The little savings can add up to big saving quickly. Perhaps this is more of a wooden toothpick than a wooden stake. It is a beginning.