Today is National Vampire Awareness Day
The people over at Best Buy have let me know that it’s National Vampire Awareness Day. Oddly enough, it is not in honor of the Halloween holiday.
No, this day is being set aside to make you aware of the energy vampires found in your home. And they’re not sucking your blood… they’re sucking your checking account dry.
Energy Vampires are the electronic devices - your computer, DVD/VCR, stereo, cellphone, etc. - that continue to use energy even when switched off or in standby mode.
This excess energy consumption is costing you money and it’s causing power plants to send more carbon dioxide into the air - for no reason!
Head over to the Vampire Awareness Day website for more details, a fun video, and a Fact Sheet.
What Can You Do?
- Easy. Attach power strips to all your major (and minor) electronic toys and switch off the strip when they’re not in use.
- Unplug your battery and devices chargers when not being used to charge your stuff. That’s right - even your cellphone charger is using power when the phone is not attached to it.
- Don’t rely on the “sleep” mode for your computer - shut it off. Otherwise, you’re blowing $70 a year to keep it powered up (in case you need it at 4 in the morning.)
- Buy only Energy Star electronics and appliances the next time you go shopping for more toys.
Why Should You Do it?
Individually, these appliances and electronics don’t use up much. But every house is full of devices that rob you of money. Add them all up and you could potentially be spending an extra $1,000 a year. Think about how many more electronic goodness you could buy with that kind of money…
For more information on how to save money and energy, check out the Department of Energy Energy Savers page.
