With shorter daylight hours just around the corner, we will all be using a little more electricity to light our homes {and hopefully a little less from running the AC–HH, I’m talking to you!}. After last years horrifying electric bill, I am still on a mission to cut costs. I’ve already done the major fixers, and this year, I plan to try to make smaller dents in our overall consumption.
I just started unplugging my lamps, coffee maker, and TV when they are not in use. I’ll report back when I have physical proof {i.e. a lower power bill} letting me know it’s paying off. I decided to try it, though, because I read that it can save up to 20% by unplugging all of those little appliances when they are not in use. {To be fair, more conservative articles suggested 5-10%}
Apparently all of that power that goes to running gadgets that aren’t in use is called phantom power or vampire power. It just slowly sucks away tiny bits of power, which can add up if you have lots of unnecessary items plugged in throughout the house. I, for one, do not need a phantom or a vampire situation in my house, so that is reason enough for me to start unplugging.
While it is hard to know how much energy each device/appliance/gadget takes up, I found a handy little table that give you a general idea. You can look on your power bill and see how much each kilowatt hour is costing you, and then do the math. {The national average kilowatt hour cost is $.11} I figure, I’ll just wait and see how much less energy I used last year as compared to this year when the bill comes.
When it comes right down to it, there are TONS of things you probably have plugged in right now, without really even giving them a second thought. One website I found listed the top 25, and I’ll admit, I had a pretty large percentage of the list plugged in {HAD being the operative word}:
- Television
- DVD players
- VCRs
- Video game consoles
- Cable box
- Desktop computer
- Computer monitors
- Laptops
- Printers
- Scanners/Photo Copier
- Wireless router
- Fax machine
- Stereo/Radio
- Lamps
- Toasters
- Microwave
- Coffee maker
- Clothes washer
- Clothes dryer
- Alarm clock
- Answering machine
- Cordless phone
- Cell phone charger
- Electric toothbrush charger
- Battery charger
Please say I am not alone in having like 98% of these plugged in all of the time? {Admittedly, though, I don’t know if I am to the point where I will be unplugging my washer and dryer between uses, so those stay.}
Have any of you tried this already? Were there noticeable savings?
~Mavis
Karin C says
Good Morning, I have been unplugging about half of what is in the list for a number of years, it drives my husband crazy, but oh well that’s what I am here for. we have high Hydro rates and a two teared rate plan , any that I can save is a win 🙂 have a great day Mavus and Lucy princess :).
Mavis Butterfield says
Well good! I’m glad I’m not the only one and I KNOW this is going to make my husband nuts too. 🙂
Mrs. Chow says
Same here – drives him nuts. He will pick up something to use it, and it will be unplugged!
Dena says
I think that a lot of the appliances listed have come to have the ‘small computers’ in them, built for our convenience. Sure, your might take another couple of seconds to have to plug in the clothes washer, coffee pot, printer, etc., each time you use it, but each has that nice little lighted dial using energy & ready to go when you are. I absolutely know that my husband would put up a fuss to have to run upstairs to turn on the printer when he is working on his laptop downstairs in order to print one page. All these things have computers (or electronic circuits) built into them, for our convenience(?); we buy them that way (or they only come that way now adays). You pay for what you get, either at the initial purchase, or later on in slightly higher energy bills. Our energy company (Peninsula Light) also has a 3 tiered system, w/ the cheaper rates at the beginning of the month. So I do most of my dehydrating or smoking during that period, since I’m using more energy w/ those appliances. Can’t get a clothes washer without a lint trap any more (manufacturers took them out for their cost savings), so you have to toss all clothes into the dryer to remove the lint (before hanging up to dry), unless you can find a washer a few eons old. But the new ones (w/ the circuit boards) do have water saving features! You get what you pay for, or hunt up what you want, if it is still produced. Or plug & unplug.
KAte says
I can see unplugging a lot of those things. Although my HH is a tech guy and he has insisted for so long that the ammt of power most of those things pull is negligible, so I’ve finally dropped the unplugging issue and let it go.
Unplugging your ‘cable box’ will mess with its ability to record shows if you’re using the dvr feature.
Also, why would you unplug your alarm? You’d have to rest the clock every night, or get a battery powered one, and I’ll be willing to be that in the long run the battery is worse for the environment.
martha says
We use our TV/ DVD/ Wii so infrequently that we put them on a power-strip and turn off after each use. We air dry clothes all summer and most of the winter. I can’t see unplugging appliances, as they are too difficult to access. The biggest help to save energy is to vacuum refrigerator coils MONTHLY! This really helps it work efficiently.
Sue says
Two thoughts — one is that you can pretty much tell whether something pulls a phantom load or not, based on whether or not it has an electronic display. If it keeps track of time, or of previous settings, etc, that’s what it’s using that little bit of power for. When you unplug you will lose that information, so if you rely on any saved settings you might need to adjust to making manual settings each use if you unplug in between. Also remember that things like DVRs will lose their instructions about what to record, as well as their information about what time it is. A second ‘also’ is that anything that you want to be able to operate using a remote without turning it on manually first (like a garage door opener) will use a phantom load.
Second thought is that anything you plug into a power strip will be OFF (no phantom load) when you turn off the power strip. So you don’t always have to reach behind to unplug each and every thing — just plug related items into a power strip and then turn that off when not in use.
Great project — I look forward to seeing your results!
Katy says
I have a simple suggestion. Use a surge protector with an on/off switch to plug in a bunch of items – then you only need to turn off the surge protector with one easy switch instead of manually unplugging. It will make it a bit more user friendly and then only one “vampire” is active instead of each item you have plugged into it.
Sandra says
Our library (Gig Harbor) has a device you can check out that measures how much power each of your devices or appliances consume. That way you can unplug the big phantom power consumers, and ignore (if you want) the tiny power consumers. That would save time plugging / unplugging things (which also wears on the plug and cord, btw).
MerryMouse says
That’s awesome that your library rents those doo-hickeys out. They are called “Kill-a-Watt” meters and they only cost about $10 at Harbor Freight. I used one to go around my whole house to test actual wattages for EVERY one of my appliances when running/on and when resting. The only one that sucked power like a fiend was my plug-in Dustbuster vacuum recharging unit. My power bill for the winter (1800 sq ft) is about 45 bucks. Summer goes up to about $70 with the AC. Yeah we are frugal! The reason I wanted to know actual wattage was to figure how big a generator I might need for the essentials in case of a power outage. It was really helpful. So now I have a complete list. Weird, huh? Oh, and the Dustbuster is G-O-N-E!
Angie Miller says
I unplug 90% of what’s on your list, And it does make a difference on the bill. And yes it drives my husband and kids crazy!
Marcia says
I’ve got all that plugged in and my spouse yelled at me when I started unplugging the coffee maker.
Really, many of those things have clocks, and we can’t use them if we unplug them. Like we can’t set up the coffee maker on a clock.
Our electric bill is tiny. $30 a month?
Caroline says
I don’t think I’d be unplugging my printer. It’s probably cheaper to leave it on because everytime you start it up, it cleans the ink heads – ink is way more expensive than electricity…
Leslie says
We keep most of those things unplugged. TV, DVD player, and Xbox are on a power strip, so turned off when not in use. Washer and dryer are unplugged when not in use. I hadn’t considered lamps. We only have two in the whole house, and one is never used. So I might as well unplug that too.
Caroline- interested point about the ink heads.
kcmama says
So, I am curious, Mavis. Which of the items on that list are you now unplugging daily? I am unplugging the toaster, the fans in my kids’ rooms, the shredder, hair dryers, hair straighteners, electric toothbrush. I will not touch the washer/dryer, microwave, printers, routers, modems, tv, dvd, wii for fear I will really mess something up!
Mavis Butterfield says
The only thing we have plugged in right now is the laptop, oven/microwave unit modem and washer/dryer. That’s it! 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
Helen in Meridian says
what about your two freezers and your new refrigerator?
Mavis Butterfield says
I stand corrected. Also have the frig plugged in a 1 chest freezer in the garage. We sold freezer #2 before we moved.
Jean says
Hi Mavis. I have been unplugging for the past few years. When we are done with the coffee pot( which takes some time to unplug, since I drink a lot of coffee 🙂 ) ,the toaster, the washer and dryer and chargers. Though, I am still struggling with the chargers. My kids leave them in everyday and everyday am unplugging them and reminding them. To no avail. My family too thinks I’m a little crazy. Now that it is getting a little cooler here in CT. the AC doesn’t get used as much, so we unplug it when we are not using them. Every little bit helps with the lowering the electric bill. Now for the oil bills.:(.
Also, I love your blog.:)
Terri says
i was surprised and delighted in Europe last spring to see electrical outlets there come with switches so you can turn them off. We should have those too. Our costs are so low by comparison – but we should be using less. Leaving small appliances and chargers plugged in is a fire hazard. I don’t tempt fate – I always unplug those.
Betty D says
i have a sub station for my computer/printer etc….when finish I just turn it off and it has all the other things plugged into it…..there fore turning them off. I dont have a lot of the other things others have to turn off…but its still hard to keeping the bill low. I hear those smart meters in the future will decide how much you will be allow to use and can turn you off when needed…not sure we’re ready for those times as error’s do happen. Like all the suggestions etc…thanks everyone for sharing.
Practical Parsimony says
I only own seven of the list. Well, I do own a toaster that has not been out of the cabinet in a dozen years or more. I would have to pull out the electric stove, climb on or over the washer and dryer. Also, I am not going to unplug the wifi or lamps. The electric water heater requires going outdoors, down the basement steps into a creepy-at-night basement to turn off the breaker. The crock pot, microwave, and dehydrator, and vacuum all share one plug. Only the microwave is left plugged in IF I can remember to plug it back in. Unplugging lamps would involve climbing under tables or moving the sofa. I am not going to use a strip to be able to unplug lamps. I don’t believe they use energy when the light is turned off even if the lamp is turned off. I could be wrong! Things like the hairdryer, mixer, and curling iron are unplugged for safety reasons. I have no idea where the power cord to the printer could be, so it is never on.
The best measure of phantom power and its importance comes when we think of the energy saved in the US. The cumulative effect on the conservation of energy is why people are encouraged to cut out phantom power consumption.
Jillian says
PSE has a smart power strip on sake right now for 10.00 on the rebates section of their site. The strip is usually 50.00. It will leave your dvr on but turn everything else off pretty neat.
Jennifer Asbury says
Hi, I just wanted to add, that when we turn off the coffee maker we simply put the coffee in a Thermos and it stays Hot for hours! We also just turn off the hot water heater through most of the day at the breaker. We simply turn it on at certain hours ( i.e AM) It only take maybe an half hour to heat. We also turn off breakers to the dryer when I am mainly drying on the line, the stove, when not cooking..It’s a whole lot easier with some things with just the breaker box. We found some mattress pad heaters at Walmart for the beds..We are able to turn off the heat at night and simply turn on the mattress pads and everyone is nice and toasty..We all had to keep them on hte lowest setting or it is super hot. We then dress for the weather and the first one up turns on a space heater that heats 1000 sq. ft…Then we turn it off when the sun is warming the windows and simply open the curtains! Also turned down the temp in the fridge and freezer tremendously, yet everything is still frozen and cold. It is now running a lot less now.
bnlgrabo says
Can someone please explain how unplugging items that don’t appear to be using standby juice at all, ex., extinguished table lamps, turned off blow dryers, idle mixers, etc. saves any power at all? Thank you.
Karin C says
There is always an active current running through the lines in your house so when plugged in the are connected to it and draw small amounts can be up to 10% of your bill.
David E. McClendon, Sr. says
Absolutely! We read about phantom power back last August. Our power bill had been around $180-200 per month. We unplugged and so far this year we have not had one over $70 with a few as low as the $40 range. It is hard to get into the habit of unplugging things, but it does add up.