Jul 9

Written by: ngreditor
7/9/2011 7:30 PM 

June 2011 EnergyWiseSM Tip:Pay Attention; What You ‘Plug In’ Can Cost You Money

Here’s a ghost story that’s really haunting: your appliances are plugged in, but even though none of them are turned on your meter still spins. This mystery may be solvable. Read on.

You have been doing your best to manage the energy you use in your home. You installed compact fluorescent lamps, invested in a high-efficiency heat pump system, and when they wore out you replaced your old less-efficient appliances with those that have received the ENERGY STARTM. As you open your latest electric bill, you can hardly wait to see the big drop in energy use and a much smaller bill. That is when it hits you. After all that work to reduce your use, your account still shows significant energy consumption. You were not even home much of the past month, yet the kilowatt hours are still there! How can that be?

Have you ever considered your “plug load”? A plug load is the energy consumed by any electric device that is plugged into a socket. Many of these devices consume power, even when you are not using them. That wasted amount of energy, often referred to as “vampire or phantom load,” is the amount of energy devices consume while in standby mode or switched “off.”

A recent Minnesota field study revealed that consumer electronics and entertainment devices account for 15 to 25 percent of the residential electric load. Today, we find that plug load is the fastest growing energy load in the residential sector. Here are a few examples of the leading contributors:

Your public power electric utility wants you to get the most energy value for your money. It costs far less to save energy than it does to build a new power plant to generate additional power.