There’s a vampire clinging to the wall of your living room. And not the handsome, Edward Cullen variety, but a parasite that drives up your electricity bill and sucks away at your monthly savings.
Vampire power (also known as standby power or phantom load) refers to electrical appliances that use electricity even when they are switched off, and can be found in every household and business establishment.
According to the DOE, vampire power may account for between 6-10% of your monthly total power consumption per year. In other words, 6-10% of your Meralco bill is being spent on unnecessary features. Imagine how much you could save by eliminating such waste!
Vampire power is often used by devices to provide helpful features like digital clocks, remote control signaling, instant-on functions or standby modes. However, it could just be a case of inefficient design. Power adapters for disconnected electronic are great example of this. For instance, if you’ve ever left a phone charger plugged into a wall while disconnected from its smartphone, you might have noticed it grow warm to the touch. That is an example of wasted electricity being given off as heat.
Thankfully, there are ways of slaying vampire power which do not involve garlic or holy water. Our first step is to identify those household appliances responsible.
Below is a list of devices to look out for:
Personal computers
AC adapters for laptops.
Video game consoles (PS3, PS4, XBOX, Wii, etc).
LED strips and low power household lights (incandescent bulbs).
Certain air conditioners with quick turn-on functions.
Devices with rechargeable batteries which are left plugged even when fully charged.
Power adapters.
Now that we’ve identified the sources of our problem, the rest is easy.
Unplug all those appliances if they aren’t serving an essential function.
Buy appliances with higher electrical efficiencies. Also known as EEE or EEF, electrical efficiency is represented by the small yellow sticker pasted on the front of most appliances. The higher the number on the sticker, the more efficient the machine and the less power it will consume.
Keep track of your electric bill to see if your power saving strategies are effective. You can easily keep track of your power bill and other expenditures using apps like LISTA. LISTA features a streamlined bookkeeping service designed to help business owners track their personal finances and business transactions.
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Ang layunin ng Lista ay tulungan ang bawat Pilipino na itaas ang kalidad ng kanilang buhay one step at a time. Gamit ang libreng Lista App, maari nang ilista and mga pumapasok at lumalabas na pera upang ma-budget ito ng tama. Maari ding gamitin ang Lista upang maningil ng utang at gumawa ng invoice.
I-download ang lista app dito: https://listaph.page.link/website-blog-vampire-power
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