Phantom Power! Vampire Load! or. . . idle current.

Sounds like something from Batman right? Idle current a.k.a. phantom power or vampire load means that your appliances use energy even when they're not in use! Your microwave oven, your stove, your DVD player, cable box . . . most of them display the time even after you turn them off. You may not realize this but this little time display is sucking a fair amount of power out of your sockets!

According to The Renewable Planet, "It has been estimated that about 10 percent of total home energy use is due to appliances and electronic equipment in standby mode."

A very unnecessary 10%!

So what can you do about this? Well, in my home after we discovered that vampire load was such an issue, we started using power strips. They look like this:



In this power strip we have the TV, DVD player, cable box, VCR, and printer all plugged in! Without the power strip this would cause an awful lot of vampire load. :(
BUT with the touch of the button on the left . . . the vampire load is stopped! It's as simple as that.

The prices of power strips can range from $5 to over $100. Just make sure you get one with an on/off switch and power surge protection if you are plugging in something expensive like a television or computer.

It's a good investment!
Vampire load be-gone!

ja mata :)