{"id":3771,"date":"2008-10-24T12:16:08","date_gmt":"2008-10-24T18:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress-367309-1145705.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=3771"},"modified":"2008-10-24T12:16:08","modified_gmt":"2008-10-24T18:16:08","slug":"ward-off-energy-sucking-vampires-just-in-time-for-halloween","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/ward-off-energy-sucking-vampires-just-in-time-for-halloween\/","title":{"rendered":"Ward Off Energy Sucking Vampires Just in Time for Halloween"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/files\/2008\/10\/vampire.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-3772\" src=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/files\/2008\/10\/vampire-245x300.jpg\" alt=\"vampire picture\" width=\"245\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>Did you know that you could have vampires in your home at this very moment? Most of us do &#8211; in the form of a vampire load. A vampire load (also known as a phantom load) is the power that is sucked from a piece of electronic equipment when it is seemingly turned off (but still in standby use) or not in use.<\/p>\n<p>In order to bring awareness to this waste of energy, Best Buy has created <a href=\"http:\/\/askablueshirt.net\/vampire-awareness\/\" target=\"_blank\">National Vampire Awareness<\/a> on October 30th. They are working to educate consumers on the effects of vampire loads and how to avoid unnecessary energy use. They have a Halloween spoofy video on their website to help them do the job as well as some facts and tips.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>According to their site:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<blockquote>\n<li>Vampire loads are responsible for wasting an estimated $4 billion in the U.S. annually and the Department of Energy notes that this figure could rise by 20 percent by 2010.<\/li>\n<li>The average American home has approximately 20 to 40 electronics plugged in that abuse vampire power.<\/li>\n<li>These appliances can cost you close to $1,000 in electricity costs per year at current rates (more in the future if energy costs continue to climb).<\/li>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you have any of the following items in your home, you&#8217;ve got a potential vampire problem on your hands:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>a programmable coffee maker<\/li>\n<li>a microwave oven with a clock<\/li>\n<li>computers<\/li>\n<li>stereos<\/li>\n<li>televisions<\/li>\n<li>cell phone, mp3, or battery chargers<\/li>\n<li>electronic exercise equipment with a display<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This list could go on. How do you take care of the vampires? It&#8217;s actually very easy and no garlic or pointy stakes are necessary.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Unplug chargers when not in use. Even when they aren&#8217;t charging electronic equipment they continue to draw power if plugged in.<\/li>\n<li>Buy power strips for your computer system, your entertainment system and any other set up you&#8217;ve got with multiple power cords. Then turn them off when not in use with one flick of the power strip.<\/li>\n<li>Unplug digital alarm clocks, microwave ovens and programmable coffee makers when you are leaving the house for more than one day. It will take a minute or two to reset them, but the energy and money savings will be worth it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So this October 30th, ward off the vampires in your home by getting rid of your vampire loads. You know what, don&#8217;t wait until next week. Start doing it today.<\/p>\n<p>Image courtesy of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/numberstumper\/\" target=\"_blank\">numberstumper<\/a> on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/numberstumper\/53201406\/\" target=\"_blank\">flickr<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Did you know that you could have vampires in your home at this very moment? Most of us do &#8211; in the form of a vampire load. A vampire load&nbsp;[ &hellip; ]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":3772,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1975,1579,1976,1977,166,1978,1979],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ward Off Energy Sucking Vampires Just in Time for Halloween &#8226; Sustainablog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/ward-off-energy-sucking-vampires-just-in-time-for-halloween\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ward Off Energy Sucking Vampires Just in Time for Halloween &#8226; Sustainablog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Did you know that you could have vampires in your home at this very moment? 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