Star 94 is celebrating Earth Day all April long with daily tips on the "1 Thing" you can do to help the environment. Here's where you can find more information and all our tips!
APRIL 1ST: Unplug It!
You might not know this, but keeping your electronics plugged in all the time could be costing you over a hundred dollars a year. It's called phantom power, and it's costing you and the earth. But you can curb it by getting into one simple habit!
Here's your 1THING: Unplug it!
The average home has over 40 products constantly drawing power. Unplugging your phone charger when you're not using it might not seem like much, but with dozens of electronics plugged in it adds up quick!
Look around and see what you really need plugged in at all times, and then work to unplug the rest and keep them unplugged unless in use. The coffee maker, your laptop charger, the TV, your printer, extra lighting, fans, etc., turning them off isn't enough to stop them from drawing electricity.
Sounds exhausting? Here's a tip:
Use the extension strips or surge protectors that have a switch. That switch truly turns everything "OFF", the same way unplugging would. Plug everything for that area into one strip, for example your TV and entertainment system, then just switch it on and off before it's tv time! Likewise, keep your phone chargers, kitchen appliances, or other small appliances all on one strip that's easy to access. Then voila! One switch saved you money AND helped your carbon footprint.
P.S. Anything with a transformer (that clunky black block on the power cord) is a heavy draw for phantom power. Laptop chargers, video game consoles, tv's, those transformer "blocks" are drawing your power all the time. Keep an extra eye out for those!
Extra Stats:
The U.S. department of Energy estimates that approximately 10 percent of the average household electric bill is due to phantom energy loads.
Most household appliances are usually used between 3 and 30 minutes a day; the rest of the time, they're on standby.
Up to 40% of the annual energy consumption of electronic devices occurs when they're turned off.
