Is Phantom Energy Haunting Your House?
by Union of Concerned Scientists on 03.12.07
Many of the electronic devices in your home stay on, even when they're "off." Chargers for cell phones, digital cameras, power tools and other gadgets draw energy even when they're not in use. Appliances like televisions, computer monitors and DVD players can also draw power whenever they're plugged into an outlet. All together, "phantom energy" use account for about 5 percent of an individual's home's electricity use.
You can take some simple steps to reduce the financial and environmental impact from these "vampire" appliances. Unplugging devices is the simplest way to solve the problem, but can be a hassle. Plugging a couple of your devices into a surge protector that can be clicked on and off can make things easier.
When you're shopping for a new device, check out this online database of products rated by their standby energy use from the Federal Energy Management Program at the U.S. Department of Energy. And devices that have the Energy Star label from the Environmental Protection Agency will use less energy when they're in or out of use. See also: ::How To Green Your Electricity
There is some evidence that cell phone chargers don't draw energy when left plugged in. http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/sustainable/charger/
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editor note: Indeed, we saw that. Some chargers do, some don't, some have a very low draw. But in general, there are many things that do draw some power besides cell phone chargers (many even get fairly warm to the touch).
A few more:
Put phantom load devices, or power strips, on timers that shut them off at night, or when not needed. A $5 timer can pay for itself in a year in power savings if it turns off devices that use 20 watts of power for 8 hours a day.
Decide which devices you actually need. A cordless phone can use around $15 a year in electricity. If you don't really need the cordless function, a basic wired phone will use far less electricity, get it frome the phone plug, and is available for about $5.
There are power strips that will shut off automatically when you turn off your computer - useful when you have a lot of accessories (scanners, printers, monitors, routers, etc.) plugged in, but only used when a specific computer is turned on.
I solved the "phantom power" problem. Now I just leave all my appliances on all the time. No problem.
The new energy star requirements are addressing this phantom load. It's nice to see the gov't making strides in this area - as most people (myself included) aren't giong to unplug a device when not in use. Call me lazy. :)
My point is that if MOST people aren't going to do something, then it's best to address the root issue - the size of phantom load. People don't want to be inconvenienced; most people don't even know about phantom load; in my opinion, it's best to address the root issue at the manufacturer than trying to educate people (call me cynical, but I think most people don't care or too lazy to make up for improper engineering/manufacturing).
Make people thankful for the energy they do get, that'll make 'em switch stuff off, eventually.
Brian, there are ways to engineer out the phantom loads entirely, even better than just making the load small. Even a 4 watt night light left on all the time uses almost 3000 watts a month. Just one. So even bringing half a dozen appliances down to lets say 1 watt on standby, gives you over 4000 watts a month on standby just for one house.
But a TV with no phantom load will be $10 more than one without, so the only solution in our free economy is to regulate such things into being. Just like all the safety advances in cars over the last 50 years.
Power is measured in the US in KiloWatt/Hours, which is an odd unit of measure, since a Watt is a Joule per second. A Kilowatt hours is 3.6 million joules per second. Leaving a 4 watt nightlight on for a month, generates 2880 watt/hours of power, or 2.8kw/h, with say an nominal $.15 (15 cents) per kilowatt hour, thats about $.40 (40 cents) a month.
Try turning off that 100 watt light bulb when you aren't using it. It already has a off switch, uses 20 times as much power per hour. Heck leaving that light on for 4 hours cost more than the 4 watt nightlight.
I'm happy to pay the $1/month to keep my clocks, phones, ipods charged, and allow me to power on the TV with the remote control.
What is a criminal waste, is the UL approval that causes those companies to make those "wall warts" in the first place. Its much cheaper to get approval on an external power supply, than on each device. Find a solution to wall warts, and the phantom power loads will go down.
When it comes to TV's, its part of our instantaneous gratification culture. If a small amount of power is left trickling through the CRT's, then the TV turns on instantly. If the power is cut, then it can take 3-4 seconds.
Old TV's used to not have the instant on feature, and now (most) people would find it a big enough irritation that they would avoid energy saving ones.
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OK-- I can see taking a moment to unplug chargers for cell phones, etc. However, I have satelite tv and it takes several minutes for it to reconnect if the receiver is turned off. It has to do through the set up process. While I might be willing, most people aren't.
I have a real paranormal presence in my house, I had 16 different "ghost hunting" groups come into my house... and they all found the same thing!
I have a real paranormal presence in my house, I had 16 different "ghost hunting" groups come into my house... and they all found the same thing!