The real dirt on phantom loads
11 Jul '07 from Jetson Green
So, how much energy do phantom loads really waste, and what can we do about them?
To take from Tip #10 of the Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook
- If one million households halved their phantom power load, we'd eliminate 150,000 tons of CO2 per year;
- It's estimated that only 5% of the power drawn by cell phone chargers is actually used to charge phones, so the other 95% is waste when left plugged in;
- Buy Energy Star appliances when you can and you'll cut up to 50% of the phantom energy load;
- TV and VCRs alone waste $1 billion in lost electricity in the U.S. annually.
The idea is to plug stuff into a power strip when available and shut it off. Or unplug the device when not in use. This stuff is also known as vampire power. It's sucking our electrical blood.
image sxc.hu, Hannah Boettcher
Bookmark/Search this post with:
Related Content
- LED Concepts Installs LED Illuminated Light Box at Eco-friendly San Diego Natural History Museum
- EcoTek Lighting Installs Backlit LED Menu Boards at Yoshinoya America Inc. to Maximize
- "Green Financing" for start up businesses
- EcoTek Lighting Creates Brilliant Backlit LED Light Boxes for Fisker Automotive
- EcoTek Lighting Creates Brilliant Backlit LED Light Boxes for Fisker Automotive
Hi. There is a great
Hi. There is a great product out there just for phathom loads called a smart strip power strip being sold by SmartHomesUSA (web internet site) At the time I wrote a post on my website (Green Talk) they were on back order. The literature on this product says the strip outlet knows when to power down your electrical devices to reduce the phathom load issue.
For those of us who are too lazy to bend down and turn off our surge protectors or just plain forget, this product is a life saver!
See the following about this product: http://www.smarthomeusa.com/Shop/Bits-Ltd./Item/LCG4/
Anna www.green-talk.com
Cell Phone Chargers
Hi-
I've measured the standby power losses of many appliances and I find that many modern cell phone chargers don't draw a measurable amount of current when not charging phones.
My equipment measures one watt or greater so I'd say the chargers draw less than half a watt. If anyone has better, more sensitive equipment, I'd really like to know what cell chargers draw on standby.
Thanks for the great blog!
jsbarrie