Reduce Your Vampire Power Problem

VampirePowerSucks.com is your single source for information about Vampire Power. With 10 billion dollars wasted annually on Vampire Power in the U.S., it is important that we all do our part. While the only way to completely eliminate Vampire Power is to either unplug all your devices or to manually turn off your power strips, you can significantly reduce the power you are wasting with simple changes to your lifestyle. Here, you’ll find tips, tricks and products that will help you to take a bite out of Vampire Power.

6 tips to reduce your Vampire Power usage

• Unplug your devices when not in use. It's as simple as that. Pull TV/computer/stereo/etc power cords out of the outlet. If they're not in use or if they're totally unneccesary (are you really going to ever use that VCR player again?), unplug.
• Use the other off switch. Many devices also have an 'off' switch in the back. For example, most computers come with one 'soft' power switch on the front, which takes it from standby to on. Separately, there is usually a real 'on/off' switch located in the back on the power supply (near where the power cord goes in). Standby switches aren't really power switches, so the device still sucks power.
• Buy “smart” power strips or unplug chargers when not in use. Your cell phone charger, iPod charger, laptop charger, etc. keeps drawing electricity even if your phone, iPod, laptop, etc isn't charging. iGo has introduced “smart” power strips that actually stop the flow of Vampire power to your devices when they are done charging or are turned off, so you don’t have to remember to turn off the strip. If you are going to use regular power strips, make sure to unplug them, or pull out the charger.
• If you're in the market for new electronics, buy Energy Star qualified. Energy Star takes standby power into account and their qualified devices draw less than the average when in their "off" mode. Some of their best electronic items include cordless phones and audio equipment.
• To learn about the power consumption of your electronics, look into devices that measure your power usage. These devices will tell you about the efficiency of your electronics, whether turned on or "off." It can actually be kind of fun (and definitely enlightening) to see how much juice each piece of equipment takes, in both active and standby mode. You'll likely be surprised.
• If you're up for a whole house project, check out one of the many wireless home energy control systems that let you cut off power to your various electronics quite easily, sometimes automatically, if they aren't in use.