TreeHugger Picks: Cut Back on Phantom Power
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA 
on 12. 6.06
Call it what you will: phantom load, idle current, vampire power, wall wart; they're all euphemisms for the way devices use and waste electricity when they aren't even on, and they're everywhere. Here are some ways to save some bucks and carbon emissions and gain some peace of mind by eliminating unnecessary power use in your home.
1) Devices like the Kill-a-Watt and Wattson can point you to devices that attract the largest load, leading you to get...
2) A "smart" power strip like the Wattstopper Plug Load Control and Smart Strip Power Strip, that cut the power when your devices are off.
3) The Mini Power Minder has the smarts to shut off your computer’s peripherals and doodads when the computer itself is shut down.
4) Simply unplugging things like your cell phone charger, which is only in use a few minutes per day, will make a bigger difference than you'd think.
5) See How to Green Your Electricity to learn more about keeping phantoms, vampires and warts out of your electrical life.
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An alternative to the Kill-a-watt & Wattson (hard to get here) is the PowerAngel by Seasonic. Got mine for about $40 CAD.
Very nice! I've been trying to teach my husband that things like the electric toothbrush need to be plugged in maybe once a week or so, not all the time. One of these might get the idea across.
I've had this idea for a while, glad someone beat me to it.
You don't need to buy more gadgets to tell if something is using power. Unplug everything when not in use..period. Some power adapters will feel hot if still sucking down the kwh's.
are there uk versions of any of these? i've not had much luck looking.
i've tried using x10 home automation but i have a sneaking suspicion the little boxes draw current when off themselves, and it's ridiculously unreliable, prone to turning the stereo off when we're listening to it..
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Author's comment:
James,
IIRC, the Wattson home energy monitor was developed and is available in the UK. More info here.
-CD
I find this kind of hard to believe for it to at least be significant. Theres a law in science called Conservation of Energy which states that energy cannot be destroyed. WHen we think about power loss it is usually as a result of heat dissipated. For instance incandescent light bulbs are so inefficient because most of the power they use is given off as heat. In order for there to be any real "phantom power loss" your devices such as cell phone charges and tv's would have to be giving off noticable amounts of heat to transfer the energy. If anyone wants to prove me wrong feel free to.
Leon, you say, "devices such as cell phone charges and tv's would have to be giving off noticable amounts of heat to transfer the energy." First off, i know that my cell charger gets warm when plugged in. Secondly, noticeable to you and noticeable to a device designed to measure current are two completely different things.
I am with you completely on this phantom energy subject. Great information of how to stop the bleeding. You were ahead of most of us, I think this topic is getting more traction as energy prices are effecting families more and more. Smart power strips make good sense.