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Green in 365: Living Room – Plug in a Power Strip

January 11, 2013 By Emily McClements
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Green in 365 series

This is Day 11 of the Green in 365 series!

Our living rooms are mostly likely home to many of our electronic devices. Our big-screen TVs, cable boxes, DVD players, stereos and CD players, gaming systems, maybe computers, iPads, or iPods and all of the chargers that go along with them. There’s a lot of electricity coursing through this room, and the reality is that it is ticking up our electric meter, even if none of our electronics are on, or running.

Electronic devices pull what is called a “phantom load”, meaning that even when they are off they are still using electricity. The blinking red light and digital clock are tell-tale signs, but even things like cell phone, iPod, and laptop chargers pull an electric current through them, even if they are not charging anything.

This phantom load is both wasting electricity in your home, and wasting your money. The best way to get rid of the phantom load is to plug your electronics into a power strip (which also keeps them protected in case of a power surge), and then turn off the power strip when you are not using your electronics, or at least overnight while you are sleeping.

There are lots of different affordable options for power strips. You don’t have to get fancy, but you want to make sure yours has an easy on/off switch, and depending on how many devices and chargers you have, you may need to get more than one power strip. Using a power strip and turning it off when not in use can save you up to $100 a year on your electric bill! (source)

Do you have your electronics plugged into a power strip?

Find all the Green in 365 posts.



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1 CommentFiled Under: Around The House, Green in 365 Tagged With: green in 365, green living, home, living room, saving energy

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Comments

  1. Joel says

    January 28, 2013 at 11:31 am

    This is a really great idea and it can make a big difference in a really easy way. I also got a Kill-A-Watt when I got my new powerstrips. The kill-a-watt is an eye opener and really lets you see in real-time what kind of power is leaking out even when your appliances and electronics are off. A couple of the powerstrips we got automatically turn off things plugged into them when they’re not “in use.” It works really well and helps to automate the management of the whole power issue.

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