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Avoid Phantom Energy

Energy efficiency of electrical appliances have made great strides in the last couple of decades. It is easy to identify which appliances are rated the most energy efficient because of the Energy Star Program. However, the last couple of decades have also produced a number of electronic devices and features that steal back some of the efficiency gains.

When an appliance continues to draw energy when they are turned off or in standby mode it is referred to as phantom energy. It is estimated that phantom energy now accounts for approximately 10 percent of the electricity used in the United States.

Here is a short list of devices that may be consuming energy when they are not being actively used:

Televisions, cable boxes, DVD players

Computers and printers

Microwaves, coffee makers, answering machines

Outdoor lights with motion sensors

Any appliance with a clock or timer

Any device with a remote control

Any device with a power cube, such as cell phones, game boys, etc.

An excellent way to figure out which of your appliance might be consuming phantom energy is to go around your house at night with the lights off and look for all the glowing clocks and red and green indicator lights. These devices are all consuming energy. Now that you know which appliances are affected how do you avoid phantom energy use.

The simplest answer is to unplug your electronic devices when they are not in use. Of course that isn't going to work for every device. Some things such as smoke detectors, alarm systems or outdoor motion sensor lights will have to stay plugged in at all times for safety reasons. You also might want to leave things such as microwaves or hard to program devices alone for convenience's sake.

An easy way to avoid phantom energy use is to plug in several appliances into one power cord that has an on/off switch. This way you can stop phantom energy by simply clicking one button and not have to worry about unplugging each device separately. Unplug power cubes or battery rechargers when they are not charging anything.

By doing what you can to reduce phantom energy use, you will not only save money on your monthly energy bill but you will also reduce the local utility producer's need to generate more electricity which will keep the overall rates down for all electrical use.