Vampire Energy!

Each night and over the weekend they lurk. The vampires I'm talking about do not suck blood, but instead suck up electricity. Anything that shows time, has a light, for example:

***Recent Article in Yahoo Green on Vampire Energy Usage***

• 1. Computer (Set your comuter to shut down!)

  2. Computer Speakers

  3. Cell phone charger

  4. Monitor

  5. Microwave, Oven, Coffee Maker (all have clocks on them)

  6. DVD/VHS/Cable boxes

  7. Plasma TV's (HUGE!)

All of these items continue to pull electricity even though you are not using them and even though you are on standby mode. But you can stop them!

• 1. Turn off your computer, your monitor, your speakers when not in use

  2. Unplug your chargers!

  3. Turn off your printers, copiers

  4. Plug TV/cable boxes/DVD/VHS players onto a strip and turn it off when done

Check out this great site that shows just how much money you are spending, er, wasting!

"Holy Water" items for Vampires!

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. "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.