Remember the days when your home had only one TV and a computer was something you only needed at work? These days, most homes have multiple TVs and computers that are all connected to various devices such as DVD players, game consoles, external monitors, and printers.
While these cool electronics are packed with features that entertain us or help us be more productive, the energy consumed by all these gadgets in our homes can add up to nearly 10 percent of a household’s monthly electric bill!
The problem is that many people forget to turn off their devices when they aren’t using them, and many electronics even continue to draw power after they’ve been turned off, wasting energy in the form of “vampire loads.”
There is a convenient and low-cost solution. Replacing your conventional power strips with advanced power strips (APS) can help reduce the electricity wasted when these devices are idle, without your having to change the way you normally use your electronics.
APS are designed primarily for home entertainment centers and home office areas where there are typically many consumer electronics plugged into a power strip, and they work by preventing electronics from drawing power when they are off or not being used.
There are a variety of different types of APS to fit different people’s needs. For example, if you often fall asleep when watching TV at night, an activity monitor APS can turn everything off for you. Or, if you are always diligent about turning all your electronics off when you aren’t using them but are concerned about the lingering vampire power draw, a masterless APS can make sure that everything is completely off.
Source: U.S. Department of Energy