Have you ever thought that in some cases you may be paying a lot for your electricity bill when in reality you are not benefiting from it? This is due to energy vampires. In other words, those things you have at home that are draining the energy in your home when in reality there was no need for that. So let’s look at the devices that are the bane of your electricity bill.
Check now: this is causing your electricity bill to skyrocket!
In terms of electricity use, the term “energy vampire” refers to any device that carries a phantom, or stand-by, charge when it is not in active use.
While no one wants to waste energy, energy vampires aren’t always as bad as they seem. For example, if you want to download something from the Internet while you are at work, then naturally you have to have something working.
But there are many things in your home that don’t necessarily need to be on and active all the time, especially if they have significant phantom loads.
How can you identify the energy vampires that can make your electricity bill skyrocket?
Before we look into the most common energy vampires in your home, we want to emphasize that every appliance is different.
The amount of energy that a given class of appliances can use in standby mode not only varies between models, but can also vary significantly over time.
Part of this has to do with a shift to more energy-efficient components.
With this in mind, a microwave or multifunction printer that you purchased over a decade ago may have a fairly high phantom charge, but a new one purchased last year from the same company may only have a phantom charge of one watt. or less.
If you’re looking for energy vampires in your home, don’t worry about the little things like smartphone chargers and other similar equipment.
When looking for energy vampires remember that the newer your device is, the more likely it is optimized for lower power consumption, and the older your device is, the more likely it is to have lower power consumption. stand-by power higher than necessary. Unless you’ve purchased every gadget and appliance this year, it’s very likely that there are more than a few energy vampires hiding in your home.
Boxes de TV
Old TV boxes consumed a lot of energy. However, consumption has improved over the years. Still, despite improvements as large as a 50% reduction in energy consumption, they continue to consume a reasonable amount. Only in stand-by the cost can reach 26 Euros per month.
Televisions
Like set-top boxes, televisions have historically been at the top of the list of energy vampires.
Some of the newer televisions have optimized idle power consumption and consume about a watt, but the vast majority of televisions on the market are not that light on power consumption. Without measuring, it’s safe to assume that your TV is probably consuming 10-20W when idle.
Game consoles
Old game consoles tend to have no or almost no ghost charging. In other words, they do not contribute to raising the electricity bill.
On the other hand, newer video game consoles, however, are sneaky energy vampires. Do you know all those functions that your new console has, such as instant connection and the possibility of downloading and installing a game immediately after purchasing online via your computer or smartphone? This comes at the cost of 10-15 watts of standby power.
If you look in your console’s settings, you’ll find options to turn off these features and enter a true low-power standby mode that should reduce standby mode usage to one watt or less.
Speakers, receivers and sound systems
Whether it is a stand-alone system with a receiver, a soundbar or a set of speakers, everything consumes its share of energy.
Something as small as a Google Nest Mini that plugs into your whole-home audio system uses just 2W of power on standby. But larger speakers, like a pair of tower speakers with built-in Bluetooth support or a suitable stereo receiver, are likely to use more than 15W of power when idle.
The same applies to soundbars. 7-10W of standby power at idle is quite normal, with older models often using more.
Desktop computers
The standby power of desktop computers may vary depending on the configuration If you leave your computer on, but only the monitors go into standby mode, then your computer’s “idle” power is what it consumes while it is on, but not under load. This could easily be 100W or more.
Sleep mode, on the other hand, where the computer is not fully hibernated but is in a lower power consumption state, consumes more, between 3-10W.
Hibernate mode is functionally equivalent to turning off the computer, and the only idle power consumption will be a trivial fraction of a watt used by the PSU when the computer is off.
Laptops
If you assumed that your laptop consumes less energy than a desktop computer, you are correct. However, energy continues to be consumed in standby mode. When it is completely off, the power consumption is about one watt.
Sleep mode will increase phantom load to values between 2-5W. If you leave the computer running in a fully on state, but with the screen simply turned off when the machine is not in use, it will consume whatever that particular laptop’s idle charge is – between 10 and 30 W.
Printers and computer peripherals
Printer standby power can vary greatly depending on the size and age of your printer. A newer, smaller printer without network capabilities may only consume 3-5W. But if you switch to a network printer, consumption can be between 10 and 20W.
The same goes for other accessories.
Kitchen appliances
When it comes to kitchen appliances, standby power consumption can be very variable. An old microwave can consume 10-15W of idle power. This is because it was built when no one worried about energy vampires, but a microwave purchased in recent years can only consume 0.5W.
In the meantime, if possible, also turn off the screen of your devices when you are not using them to reduce energy consumption.
