You’ve always known there’s something scary lurking in your home. Under the bed or in certain rooms of the house, you can feel it. They’ve always told you it was nonsense, this fear that they do exist. But the truth is there ARE scary things in your home.
They don’t have fangs. They can’t rise out of graves. But beware, they will suck the dollars right out of your bank account. They’re called Vampire Loads and they’re hiding in your home and office.A Vampire Load is an electricity load of purely wasted energy that exists in your electronic equipment. When you think you’ve turned “off ” all your equipment, in reality, these loads are increasing your electricity bill. In other words, your computer or DVD player is quietly costing you money. Now that’s pretty scary.
According to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory* this “standby power” can equate up to 10% of residential use. If a simple electronic can draw 5 watts per year, it means it can cost you about 5 dollars. Where the equation gets expensive is that many households can have dozens of appliances.The best way to stake this wasted energy is to use a power strip. For example, if you have TV and DVD player next to each other, you can send them to one power strip with an off switch. Use this power strip to power down and prevent these electronics such as your computer from drawing energy.
Also, if you know that you’ll be out for an extended time, unplug some of those appliances such as your kitchen’s microwave. The more appliances you can unplug the more watts you will save.So your instincts were right. There are frightening things in your home. But you can throw the garlic out because with a little time and a few power strips, you’ll be rid of these energy pests.