Vampires in Your House!

Featured

By jimw ⋅ November 2, 2009 ⋅

While you sleep, while you eat, and while you’re hard at work, vampires lurk in the depths of your home. From morning to night, they are sucking you dry. It’s called vampire power – but for you it’s simply wasted money.

Energy vampires are devices that use electricity even when they are turned off. They can account for up to 20 percent of your electric bill.(1) You can improve your home’s energy savings by identifying and unplugging these energy vampires.

Americans spend $10 billion per year on vampire energy. If we didn’t waste this energy, we could shut down 30 coal-fired power plants – and send every American child to a Jonas Brothers concert.(2)

Did you know that your home-entertainment system can cost you up to $75 per year in vampire energy – even when it’s turned off?(3)

How to Cut Down on Energy Vampires:

Use the energy-saving features commonly built into most computers.
Unplug energy-sucking appliances when they aren’t in use.
Better yet, plug all your appliances and the chargers for your mobile phones and other gadgets into a power strip, and flip the power strip to “off” when not needed. Using a “smart” power strip that automatically shuts off when devices are inactive makes this even easier for you.
Consider purchasing a “kill-a-watt” device to measure the energy consumption of your household appliances and electronics when turned on or off.
If you need a new appliance, purchase one that is Energy Star qualified. EnergyStar devices use much less power in the off mode than regular appliances.(4)

What really bites is that you’re the one who is left bleeding as the energy vampires suck you dry. Stop being bled dry. Slay your vampires by taking these actions to save energy and money this Halloween!

Your Mayor Can Help Your Community Do Even More:
Ask your mayor to lead the way to an energy-efficient future that creates good green jobs which support families, can’t be outsourced, and keep money in our pockets.
http://action.sierraclub.org/vampirepetition

Brought to you by the Sierra Club, in celebration of National Weatherization Day.
(1.) Duke Energy – NC
(2.) energystar.gov
(3.) energystar.gov
(4.) energystar.gov

Bookmark It