Trying to lower your utility bills is difficult at the best of times, but it can be much more difficult during the holidays when you're home more often than usual. Whether you're throwing holiday parties for the whole family or everyone's just home from school and working for the week between Christmas and New Year's, your December energy bill could skyrocket. According to a recent CNET poll80% of adults are already worried about their utility bills, but the culprit behind your sky-high energy bill may be surprising.
You might think that your TV, coffee maker, and games console are completely turned off, but you'd be wrong. Although the power switch may be turned off while they are plugged in, they still consume power silently 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It's called “phantom load,” and these little energy vampires add very real and very stupid costs to your bill every month.
But is it worth the effort to turn them off? We'll tell you exactly how much money you can save by doing this. Plus, we've got some more simple thermostat and laundry tips you're probably getting wrong too.
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Can turning off appliances save me money?
Turning off home appliances may seem counterintuitive. After all, they're off, so why would they absorb energy?
The fact is that home appliances still consume energy even when they are turned off but still connected to the network. energy.gov. Regardless of whether the device is turned off or in standby mode, the most dangerous reasons are:
- A device that can still use energy in the form of lights or other displays indicating that the device is turned off.
- Desktop computers that have been put to sleep rather than turned off.
- Chargers that continue to draw power even when the device is not connected.
- Media players that constantly consume power, especially those that may still be scanning for updates in the background.
- Phones with displays that are visible when they are not actively in use, such as cordless phones.
- New smart home appliances such as refrigerators, washers and dryers with always-on displays, internet connectivity and electronic controls.
Reduce standby power consumption to save energy and money.
Many people are shocked to realize how much energy can accumulate while in standby mode. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, reserve energy accounts for 5% to 10% of residential energy consumption. Department of Energy.
The amount you save may depend on the number of devices you use and your habits with them. For example, an educational experiment conducted at Colorado State University found that a combination radio/CD player/cassette player consistently consumed 4 watts, regardless of whether it was in use. Unplugging it when not in use will save 100 times more energy over the life of the device.
Research published Natural Resources Defense Council (PDF) found that reducing the load on always-on devices would save consumers a total of $8 billion per year and avoid using 64 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. It also has environmental benefits, such as preventing 44 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions. NRDC estimates that always-on devices cost up to $165 per household per year on average.
Buying a smart plug can help you save energy by controlling the power of almost any device you plug in. This fork from Leviton is CNET's top pick.
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How can I optimize standby power consumption?
The first step, of course, is to turn off everything that is not actively used or used infrequently. Examples of devices that can be easily unplugged include televisions and consoles in guest rooms. It's also usually easy to turn off media players when not in use, such as a radio or CD player. When you remove your device from the charger, it can help you get into the habit of unplugging the charger itself. You might also be surprised at how many devices we've connected but don't even use anymore. Examples include old cordless phones, old media players, or lamps that are more decorative than functional.
Unplugging and reconnecting everything can be tedious, especially if your outlets are in hard-to-reach places. If an outlet is not available, it will be difficult to keep up.
Instead, you can also configure ways to make the phantom load shutdown process more automatic. You can connect devices to network filters. Thus, you can turn off multiple devices with one press of the power button. You can also get timers to connect devices or smart plugs so you can automate the power connection to the device. For example, you can set the TV's turn-on time so that it only turns on during peak usage time for example, evenings or weekends.
Investments in smart thermostat This will ensure comfort in your room, and optimizing energy consumption will be a good investment in long-term savings. Likewise, installing LED bulbs is a great investment and consumes much less energy compared to incandescent bulbs. Although the initial costs may seem high, the savings add up over the years.
You can also explore the possibility of getting Energy Star Products. Many of these products are designed to have lower standby power consumption than non-Energy Star certified products.
Find additional resources to save energy
As energy bills become higher and more erratic over time, it's more important than ever to find ways to save on energy costs. For example, in addition to turning off devices in your home, you might want to check out our guide on turning off the lights when not in use. Another key way to improve your electric/heating bills is to know ideal temperature you should install for your home. You can also view our guide on quick tips to save on gas and electricity bills, for example turn off the water heater or change the air filters.
