Comments on: Stop Wasting Money on Electricity! Your Guide to Identifying & Unplugging Standby Power Appliances

By: PAT Testing North East

PAT Testing North East — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 09:46:47 +0000

Just go into any office, or business premises, and look at all the computers that are left on – they are never turned off. I was working in a call centre recently, overnight whilst they were closed. From 6pm to 8am every day this building was closed. It housed over 400 computers, and every single one was left on. What a complete waste of electricity.

By: caesar

caesar — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 22:32:15 +0000

i have a guitar amp..when not on no lights come on..if its plugged in am i wasting electricity

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By: G.E. Miller

G.E. Miller — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 11:55:19 +0000

@ HK – some do…but I tend to plug in lamps to those because they are usually in rooms that don’t have ceiling lights.

@ Michael – good point, I think that is a common misconception.

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 19:34:38 +0000

If you do this, be sure you know that your surge protector doesn’t actually protect your electronics when it’s off. Unplug the whole thing if you have concerns about power surges.

By: HK

HK — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 17:55:52 +0000

I never understood why American wall outlets did not have an on/off switch. I come from India and we have them for everything. You could also have a master switch that will turn everything off as you leave the house (a lot of hotel rooms require you to drop your magnetic key in a receiver to provide electricity for use in the room). Your major equipment that REQUIRES uninterrupted electric supply (truly, only the fridge, A/C, answering machine, clocks and alarm systems). As you enter your home you can flick everything on (everything you had on before you left) with the flick of a single switch. Convenient and prudent at the same time…

Plus, you don’t risk getting electrocuted plugging something in and you do not have to plug outlets for kids or pets (the outlets in India are not placed close to the floor).

By: stephanie

stephanie — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 23:15:36 +0000

I have a Chefmate microwave that randomly starts beeping, displaying 6s, and not working if it’s plugged in for too long (upon googling, I found out this is relatively common). So I have kept my microwave unplugged when not in use for quite some time now! It only takes an extra 5 seconds to plug it in and reset the clock when I want to use it, I don’t even notice the extra effort anymore.

Although I keep a few things plugged in at nearly all times when I’m at home, I had read about this “phantom” a while back and routinely unplug almost everything when I’m out of town for more than a day. In the past few months I haven’t been plugging anything back in until I actually use it, and often unplugging things again when not in use. My electric bills have been $25 or less, so I can definitely see myself keeping this up. (Then again, I only own 3 or 4 things from the entire list you’ve posted of culprits, so that makes it pretty easy to keep things unplugged when not in use.)

By: G.E. Miller

G.E. Miller — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 21:18:05 +0000

@ JLH – based on the product description, I don’t think this shuts off all electricity flow. I think it basically just turns offer other appliances connected to your TV when you turn your TV off.

By: JLH

JLH — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 20:28:04 +0000

Anyone use one of the smart power strips they have now? So you don’t have to manually unplug or turn off the strip?

By: G.E. Miller

G.E. Miller — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 12:01:43 +0000

@ Adelle – you can keep lamps plugged in. They don’t use electricity when off… I suppose that is a good thing since you couldn’t see to plug them in, hah.

@ Ron – Yeah, I know. Kind of unfortunate, huh?