EcoTip - Home Appliances' 'phantom' power load.
by TreeHugger 
on 11.18.04
Q. What in the US uses a whole one dozen power plants and costs more than a billion bucks annually? A. All those tiny glowing LEDs and associated standby activity in your microwave, cordless phone, TV, DVD, etc. The US EPA estimate that a whopping 75% of energy used in the average home comes from appliances that are thought to be...
...'turned off'. In fact, they are only in 'standby' mode. TVs, phones and computers seem to be the worst offenders, according to German research. What to do? Well in some countries you can turn off your appliances at the power socket. Or simply pull the plug from the socket. If you can't reach the fitting, then be on the lookout for appliances carrying the Energy Star logo. They can use up to a full half of the standby electricity of standard household gizmos. If all the 'average' US houses adopted Energy Star, it would be like taking 1.5 million cars and their 20 billion ton of greenhouse gases off the road. This link takes gives you info on qualifying TVs, and you'll see other appliances listed as well. ::Energy Star [by WM]
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This tip is not entirely accurate - it is 75% of energy generated by electronics, not 75% of your entire energy usage. See the EERE site for more details.