Phantom Loads Adding 8% to Your Electric Bill (video)
Did you know that over the course of a year, a microwave operating in standby mode will use about the same amount of electricity as it would if it ran on HIGH for 24 hours? Frightening, isn’t it? In fact, the average American home has 20-40 appliances plugged in at any given time, and in a year those appliances will together use what is equivalent to one month of electricity for the entire household - just sitting there. This great little short from GOOD Magazine called “Vampire Energy,” explains the costs of running your home’s appliances on standby mode, and does so with tangible examples and real numbers. Enjoy.
See Also:
“Smart Powerstrips Are the Garlic of Vampire Electroncs“
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You should check out something called the Kill-a-Watt made by a company called 3P. It measures how much energy an appliance etc. uses when the appliance is “off” or in use.
I work on a green initiative at Amazon.com in Seattle, and we’re trying to have informed visitors to our site shape a ranked list of the best eco-friendly and organic products (like the nifty Kill-a-Watt), so that mainstream consumers can consider green options when shopping. If anyone would like to add their insights, I’d certainly invite you to add your input at www.amazon.com/green. Cheers.