Phantom Loads. How To Eliminate Them and Save Energy

Silent Thieves, Phantom Loads

Phantom loads are also known as vampire loads or standby power. They are silent thieves that take money out of our wallets contribute to the pollution of or environment by drawing electrical power from the grid, even when the devices causing them have been turned off. As you can see in the diagram above, standby power accounts for a full seven percent of all energy consumed in the United States. If we were to eliminate them, we could do away with seven percent of all of our power plants! Your home most likely contains devices that are generating phantom loads right now and wasting your money. Here are some ways that you can help reduce phantom loads in your home.

Why Do We Have Vampire Loads or Phantom Loads?

Phantom loads are everywhere and there are more kinds of devices now that use energy when "off" than ever before. This is because many modern electronic devices, such as TV's and stereos, are really on, but sleeping, listening for a signal from a remote control to wake up and turn fully on. The act of being on standby, where capacitors are filled with energy and ready to turn on the TV, etc, can use almost as much energy as being fully on.

One example that I found in my own home was my satellite TV box. In the "on" position is uses sixty watts of power. In the "off" position is consumes forty watts of power. I verified this with a device called a Kill A Watt that monitors how much power each device in your home uses.

There are other phantom loads coming from devices that you would never suspect. I found that my blender, of all things, continued to draw fifteen watts in the off position. I have no idea why, but the Kill A Watt power meter doesn't lie.

Power Strips And Smart Strips Help Eliminate Phantom Loads

It might seem old fashioned to have to get up out of your chair and turn on the TV, but there is no excuse for letting it sit there and draw as much energy as a light bulb uses, twenty four hours a day. In addition to the money that is being sucked out of your wallet, the phantom loads in your home are causing more power to have to be generated and therefore more CO2 and pollution to be released into the atmosphere.

The best way to get rid of phantom loads is to place them on a power strip with a simple off button.

A New Weapon In The War On Phantom Loads, Smart Power Strips

For computer peripherals and other electronics, a smart power strip is a great way to save energy and eliminate vampire loads. It senses when the computer or TV is on and shuts off things such as printers and DVD players when they are not needed.

There are also some new power strips that feature a motion sensor and sense if someone is in the room or not. These are great for devices like computers and printers.

To begin to get rid of phantom loads in your home, try power strips such as these. To find out which of your electronics needs a power strip or smart strip, determine how many watts of energy the device draws by using a device such as the Kill a Watt power use meter.

Other Energy Saving Ideas

Once you have eliminated the phantom loads in your home, look for other energy wasters. Things that draw energy, such as garden fountains, don't need to be left on twenty four hours a day when nobody is around to enjoy them. Consider putting them on a motion switch so that they are on only part of the time, or just when you enter the garden.

Switch out your incandescent bulbs with long lasting compact fluorescents. CF bulbs now come in different shades of light and provide the same quality of reading light as incandescent bulbs. Initially they take a few seconds longer to achieve full brightness but you become used to this. You can save about seven percent on your utility bill by switching to CF bulbs. Add this to the seven percent you save by eliminating phantom loads from your home and you will see a savings of over fourteen percent or more on your energy bill.