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With Halloween approaching, you might expect to see a few vampires at your door. But the real ones are already inside.
And they’re silently draining your energy and inflating your bills.
Electricity vampires are appliances and devices that continue to consume electricity when off or on standby.
Examples include modern TVs, game consoles and appliances with digital displays or lights that stay on when not in use.
The power draw that continues when electricity vampires are off is referred to as phantom load, vampire draw, ghost load, standby power draw, among other names.
In many cases, this is wasted energy that drives up electricity bills unnecessarily.
In other cases, the power draw has a purpose (e.g. it enables “instant-on”).
The standby power draw from modern electricity vampires is typically 0.5W or less.
Older devices and appliances can have a substantially higher draw, typically 2 to 50 times more, when on standby mode.
This draw can be considerable over longer periods of time.
And when combined with other households, the standby losses from billions of appliances “represent a significant fraction of total electricity use” – see One Watt Initiative for more details.
Electricity vampires increase electricity bills, carbon emissions and can be a waste of energy.
Let’s take a look at these in more detail.
When devices and appliances continue to consume electricity unnecessarily when on standby, the energy consumed is wasted.
If a device consumes 1W on standby and we leave it in that mode 24/7 for a full year, it would consume 8.76 kWh.
If keeping it on standby wasn’t necessary, then that’s 8.76 kWh wasted.
This is equivalent to forgetting to turn an average sized LED TV off before going on holiday for a week.
Or charging a smartphone 241 times.
And that’s just for 1 electricity vampire.
Multiply that by the number of vampires you have and you might have some shocking electricity bills.
The more power you consume, the higher your electricity bills (unless you have solar panels, of course).
Wasted energy from electricity vampires means wasted money.
But how much are we talking?
If we pay 43 cents per kWh then our 1W-on-standby example will cost us nearly €4.
The cost starts getting considerable the more electricity vampires we have.
And some devices, such as games consoles, can have modes (e.g. “Instant On”) that appear similar to standby but consume over 10 times more power.
So the impact on bills can add up, quickly.
And if it’s unnecessary consumption then it’s a total waste of money.
The more electricity consumed, the higher the carbon footprint.
Typically.
This isn’t necessarily the case with solar panels.
But if we use our 1W-on-standby example and assume non-renewable energy is being consumed, then the consumption is equivalent to the CO2 emissions produced from burning 4 pounds of coal.
And again, that’s just for 1 electricity vampire.
So they waste energy, money and increase emissions, now let’s see how to stop them.
To stop wastage from electricity vampires, you first need to find them and switch them off completely, or consider upgrading them.
Let’s take a look at each in more detail.
You can find electricity vampires in several ways.
Turn off your appliances and devices, then look for lights and digital displays.
You may find a digital display on your microwave or washing machine. And you might see a small light on your TV, computer or extension leads.
These continue to consume electricity and help identify an electricity vampire.
Some electricity vampires are harder to find than others.
My coffee maker, for example, despite being powered off (with no lights or digital display) continues to consume electricity when plugged in.
There are intermittent spikes in power draw when off. They range from less than 1W to over 40W at times.
I wouldn’t have known this if I didn’t use a plug-in energy monitor.
It’s a great tool for finding all electricity vampires. But you need one sensitive enough to pick up fractions of a watt.
If you have solar installed you’ll likely have an app to help you monitor your consumption.
These, if sensitive enough, can help you find electricity vampires.
You may see unusual spikes and unexpected consumption at certain times during the day or night.
This can help you track down the offenders.
Once you’ve found the electricity vampires that don’t need to be on standby, simply unplug or switch them off at the socket.
If you have several in the same area (e.g. a TV, games console and chargers) consider using a power strip / multi socket extension lead.
It’ll be quicker to unplug.
Bonus points for smart sockets where you can use an app to switch everything off from anywhere.
Modern devices and appliances tend to be more efficient overall than their older counterparts.
However, they’re increasingly Smart – they can be voice activated, controlled from anywhere in the world and even be set up to run automatically.
These features typically create electricity vampires.
This is because they need to have functions running at all times. For example, voice activation requires the device listen for instructions.
So, while a device appears to be off, it may not be completely off.
Similarly, appliances and devices with digital timers and displays require power to keep those functions running.
Despite this, it may still be worthwhile upgrading.
This is because older appliances and devices tend to consume substantially more power when off but still plugged in.
The difference in consumption is typically even greater when they’re running.
So it may be worth considering upgrading your appliances and devices.
It’s also worth considering upgrading how you power these.
The negative impact from electricity vampires can be offset by solar.
Solar installations reduce electricity bill, carbon emissions and they can also reduce energy wastage.
Premium solar solutions, like those installed by Ohk energy, can use AI to help ensure you make the most of the energy you generate.
mySigen App, for example, is GPT integrated and can assist users as a home energy analyst. It can automatically access the solar installation and help users achieve maximum savings.
This might help you capture non-essential electricity vampires.
But, to make more substantial savings, it will help you make the most of your solar installation.
Ultimately, through solar, you can consume electricity guilt-free (as it’s renewable) and even expense-free after the payback period, which is typically 5-7 years.
Learn more, get a free no-obligation solar quote here:
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At Ohk energy, we believe in the power of community and giving back. That’s why, when we teamed up with Leinster and Ireland back-row star Caelan Doris, we saw an opportunity to make a real difference. To celebrate our partnership with Caelan, we launched the Power a Brighter Future campaign, raising vital funds for Childline by ISPCC.
From August 6th, 2024, to September 6th, 2024, we pledged €50 from every sale of solar PV systems and air-to-water heat pumps to Childline, an organisation dedicated to supporting vulnerable children across Ireland.
Thanks to the support of our customers and community, we are proud to announce that we raised over €16,300 for this incredible cause.">