Boo!

Is phantom energy haunting your electric bill?

Phantom energy - also called phantom load, standby power or vampire power – is the electricity consumed by a device when it is turned off.

That’s right – when it’s turned off. Our great-grandmothers may have used radios that took time to “warm up,” but that was because the radio wasn’t in constant “ready” mode. Today’s televisions and computer monitors pull power when plugged into the wall, as does anything with a digital clock display, such as the microwave, DVD player and coffee maker. Anything with a thicker-than-usual plug, such as a charger for a cellphone, laptop, power tool or hand-held vacuum, is among the worst offenders.

Luckily, this is a problem even great-grandma could have solved pretty intuitively – unplug the offending appliance when you’re not using it. It wasn’t hard for me to get used to unplugging my cellphone charger when I’m not actually charging my phone. It’s been a bit tougher to remember to plug and unplug the TV, but it’s worth the improvement to my electric bill. (Some people buy power strips they can switch off to disable the appliance’s power-draining capability but I’m too cheap to do that.)

A few other facts:

• By some estimates, cutting phantom energy can trim an annual electric bill by $200.


• There is a way to test your phantom energy without buying a fancy kit or meter some websites want to sell.


• According to the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services: “A typical home has as many as 12 to 15 appliances on standby power that are consuming electricity 24 hours a day, or about 5 percent of the average total electric bill,” and: “The total phantom load of the United States could power the countries of Greece, Peru, and Vietnam combined.”

Phantom energy -- pretty scary stuff, eh?