Power Socket SWITCH Would Cut 11% Off Electric Bills

We all know about phantom load--the electricity that continues to run through your electronics and appliances when they're turned off but still plugged in. Also called vampire power, it accounts for as much as a whopping 11% of our electricity usage. And while there have been products designed to fight the phantom loads, we haven't yet seen a truly viable large scale solution. But the Power Socket Switch might be just that--with the flick of a wrist, it lets you turn off the power flow to each socket it your home.

Even though it only takes an extra second to completely unplug an appliance after you're done using it, evidence shows that people simply aren't doing this--phantom power is still sapping electricity around the world. Implementing a straightforward device like this, where a mindless twist turns off the power and cuts out the phantom, could be a major solution.

Plugging your appliances into a power strip, then turning it off when not in use accomplishes essentially the same thing you see here--but this is arguably much more convenient and intuitive. I don't know anyone who has a power strip for every outlet in their house. Devices like these went a ways towards combating phantom power, but the simplicity and elegance of the Power Socket Switch makes it seem like much more of a contender for mass marketing and use.