[mjd420nova]

Okay, here's a real life example of some research I did on my own. I used a current meter for each of the devices that I plug into the wall in my home. I excluded such things as lamps, water bed heater and the refrigerator. I also lumped all of the AC adapters together from all the various devices they power, including two laptops, a notebook, cell phone charger, answering machine/cordless phone, GMRS handsets, police scanner, computer scanner, printer, cable modem, and desktop speaker system. These are the "wall wart" type of adapters. I found that they use less current than a 100 watt lightbulb, altogether. I also checked such devices as the instant on TV, DVD/CD player, clock radio and home theather system. Those devices plugged directly into the outlet without an adapter but do use some small current even when not turned on. These units together use less power than a 40 watt bulb when in the quiesent state or turned off. To me, this is neglible and was far less than I expected. My big current users were the refrigerator and water bed heater. I then proceeded to the garage and found a large number of very high current usage devices but most are not what you'd find in the average home but are essential in mine. They are a bench grinder, drill press, hydraulic press, 60 gallon air compressor, lathe and hydraulic lift. On to the ham radio station revealed a huge power hog in the terms of peak usage but they are not used all the time and I was unable to adequately measure their usage as my meter was just a simple 110 volt plugin type and the station runs on 220 volt. That usage is mostly during nighttime hours when usage is at a minimum but when fully powered up and transmitting will draw more current than the entire house combined. All of the AC adapters that are assocoated with laptops or PC's are on power strips that are shut off after usage. The one PC and one home server that are never turned off and are wired to a UPS unit account for only three hundred watts when in peak usage and the peripherals are also on power strips and shut off unless needed. The UPS only powers the server and PC unit, not the monitors or any externals. My monthly electric bill runs $40. in the winter and $50. in the summer when many fans come into play and I use the shop equipment more. I do have a small one kilowatt generator to power the ham station in an emergency but only gets run for two minutes each week to keep it ready. I don't see any real "vampires" here but combined in a community they will add up.

[open4energy]

There are some things in a home that really need to keep working. An example of this is a fridge. Yes we can turn it down, buy an energy star rated one when we do buy, and even place water containers in the freezer to optimize cooling. But we cannot turn it off.
Then there are other devices, mainly computers and electronics where at times it may/should be "dead".
This is where our attitude really comes to play. Will we do what is needed to fully disconnect it?
We have just completed our study on the energy required to charge a blackberry. In it we find that the energy wasted is typically 10 times that which is actually required for charging. http://open4energy.c...kberry_charging
More we found that there is no legitimate/functional reason not to save the wasted energy. In this case it is all wasted because we cannot be "bothered" to unplug the charger after an hour when charging is complete, and leave it unplugged until next required. There is no functional advantage to leaving the charger consuming energy, pretending it is a small heater, at all.
But there are other use cases Notebooks, Printers, Fax Machines, DVR's, DVD's and others, which use Phantom Power, better called Standby Power in these cases. The power is consumed to offer that extra little convenience in operation. It may be to save them warming up, a remote wireless device to switch them back on rather than having to go to the device and press a button.
We have now saved 35% of the electricity used by our computer and electronic appliances by managing without these minor capabilities. We bend down, unplug and "kill" all devices that are not working. It took a little while to get used to doing this, but looking back it has been good for us.
Our evening walks are taken in an attitude of giving thanks for the savings we can make.
Our 20% rebate as thanks from PG&E was a surprise, for we did not do this to save the money. We did it to be better stewards of what the Lord has blessed us with. How good it is to feel good about ourselves, and how nice it will be to enjoy a meal out together, the reward of our efforts.

[open4energy]

Jim



You are just spot on, I thought you might enjoy this article on my recent testing of a "smart power strip" - a so called vampire power buster. In summary, the only vampire in the picture is the strip - its cost, its consumption and its distraction. See complete article at http://open4energy.c.../grn/msr/energymeasuringwattsup09071445 It really makes one wonder at some of the things we see written!