Electricity Vampires
Have you heard the term "Vampire Electronics?" Conservation advocates have coined the phrase to describe those appliances that are left plugged in all the time and quietly suck small amounts of electricity. This includes your microwave, coffeepot, DVD player and stereo. They say that 5 percent of the power used in the United States goes to fuel these standby appliances, to the tune of $4 billion a year.
You can fight back against your vampire electronics by unplugging cell phone and camera chargers when they're not in use, rigging your computer system to depend on a single power strip and choosing Energy Star products. I've already unplugged my electric toothbrush and a couple of lamps that never get turned on. How will you start to slay your electricity sucking appliances?
The toaster oven and microwave pictured to the right are my very own appliances. I unplugged them both after I took that picture and am trying to keep them that way. The only thing that keeps throwing me is that I'm really used to looking at the clock on the microwave. I've just got to change my habits.
[via CNN]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-11-2007 @ 12:21PM
alison tyler said...
Wow, I've never heard of this term before. I think I'm guilty of being a vampire electronic enabler. I'll have to go around the house with a necklace made of garlic and unplug the undead appliances. Thank you for the heads-up!
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