Everything sucks energy these days, even when they aren’t being used. This is the brilliance of phantom load, or vampire, power.
Take a look around your house. TV in standby mode? It’s wasting watts all the while it is waiting to be watched.
Is your phone charger in the outlet with nothing plugged in? It’s still sucking power. Same with that desktop or laptop computer that is turned off, but still plugged in.
Many of our devices aren’t necessities. Rather, they’re conveniences dressed up as a super smarty progress for the people.
And the real kicker? The ''smarter'' your technology gets, the dumber it is about using energy.
We’re talking billions of watts wasted globally when we could just say no, unplug a charger, or flip a switch. It’s kind of like leaving your car idling all night because you might want to drive to the store at 3 a.m.
Waste is the new smart. We’ve been sold this idea that a “connected” home is the future, but it’s just a fancy new way of burning through our dwindling energy resources while making us more sedentary than ever before.
We’re so obsessed with making life short term easier that we’re making the planet long term harder to live on.
Every watt these vampire gadgets suck up is another step toward an emptier energy tank.
So, what’s a simple-living energy minimalist to do?
1. Unplug! Yank those chargers out of the wall like you’re pulling weeds.
2. Get yourself a smart power strip that cuts the juice to standby devices—ironic, I know, but it works.
3. Turn off the Wi-Fi router at night; the internet will still be there in the morning.
4. Ask yourself if you really need a fridge that texts you when you’re low on eggs.
5. Live simply, own fewer devices, and drive a wooden stake in the chest of that vampire power suckage for good.
In a world where waste is a feature, not a bug, all we have to do is pull the plug.
This applies to individual actions, as well as to pulling the plug on the entire wasteful system.
How are you pulling the plug?
I'm using the power strips (since I can't remember when, 2000, or even before) wherever I can and I do switch them off at night or when I'm away. Plus they provide you with extra sockets. I must say this is one handy modern product that is really useful. Just recently added one in my kitchen so now my water cooker is disconnected when I don't use it. I did pull out the plug when leaving the house. Got tired of that and now I don't have to plug in the mocrowave, because they were sharing. For the internet I have yet to find a solution. Router is in storage room where the meters are. Couple more improvements possible, washing machine, stereo... working on, thanks for the reminder!
ReplyDeleteYou are well on your way to managing phantom load in your home. Good to hear that the strips work as well as they do.
Delete- Gregg
This is probably a dumb question, but what about multi-bulb light fixtures? In both my bathrooms, the light fixture has 4 bulbs. If I were to take 2 out (I don't need Broadway show lights to brush my teeth!), would the empty sockets still suck a teeny bit of energy?
ReplyDeleteIt is a good question, and the answer can save you money. The bathroom fixtures with four sockets can work fine with only two bulbs. The empty sockets will not use any energy, and like you said, you don’t really need so much light that you can get a tan from it. You can take two out and save money each time you flip the switch. My dining room light has 5 sockets and I only have a bulb in one.
Delete- Gregg