Before I went out of town last weekend, I decided to do a little test to see how much energy my computer and connected electronics have been using. I powered down the computer, and unplugged the surge protector that powers the computer along with all the other devices. Truthfully, I can’t tell there was much difference in usage between that and having the computer in sleep mode. There was however a very steady usage of power, in fact it was $0.04 every hour except at noon on Saturday when it went up to $0.05. The only thing that I can think that happens at noon on Saturday is the city tests the sirens. Could those two things be related? Probably not…
I learned that I am paying around $1.00 per day to supply power to the vampires, the devices that drain a little power all the time. The refrigerator which uses around $0.25 per day is not included in that figure. One dollar a day may not sound like much, but when I think of it on terms of $365 per year it sounds like a lot of money to spend powering stuff I’m not using. And a lot of money I could be spending on something much more fun.
This week I’m going to move the Kill-A-Watt around a bit and see where all this power is going. I suspect a lot of it is being used by my DVR’s/Entertainment Systems. I read a tip this weekend that recommended plugging the Cable Box/DVR into a timer. You can set it to power down the in the middle of the night and then power back up at a time you would actually use it. I’m a little concerned about the strain that the daily powering up and down might put on my Tivo so I’m going to do a little research first.
Here are a few vampires that you might want to check in your house:
- Cell Phone Chargers – many of them use power even when they aren’t charging a phone
- Laptops – it’s better for the laptop and your wallet to unplug a laptop once it’s been charged
- Printers – try to only turn on the printer when you are actually printing something
- Kitchen Appliances – the microwave, coffee maker and other devices may be using a little bit of power all the time. A good indicator of power usage is if the device has a light that is always lit or a clock.
- Televisions, DVD Players, DVR’s – anything that responds to a remote uses some power to be able to respond to that signal.
- Cordless Phones and Answering Machines – they aren’t much use to you if they aren’t plugged in to receive calls. But if you have more phones than you use, consider unplugging unused phones.
The easiest solution to cutting back on the vampires is to plug all your devices into a surge protector that can easily be powered down. Before you purchase a surge protector, look at your devices. I have a small table in my living room that houses the cordless phone and some other phone related gadgets. I was going to plug them into a surge protector I had on hand, when I discovered that every single one of the devices had one of those huge plugs, so I’m going to have to get something like this one that will accommodate all of them. There are some pretty cool devices on the market designed to help make it easier to power down those vampires. This Belkin Conserve Socket would be great if you have trouble remember to unplug the cell phone charger. And this Belkin Conserve Smart AV F7C007q Energy-Saving Power Strip would be a an easy alternative to physically unplugging or flipping the switch on television peripherals. Do you have any tips for hunting vampires?
Cristian
Question! By unplugging the laptop at night, wouldn’t the battery go down–meaning that over several days, the battery usage would be greater than if I just left it on all day and it stayed at 99%?
Just wondering–that’s my rationale for thinking I should leave the Mac plugged in all day, so I’m sticking to it!
C
Susanna
I might leave it plugged in if I’m using it all day. But once it’s fully charged and I’m not using it, I don’t think it’s good to leave it plugged in. It uses electricity and may hurt the battery (there’s conflicting evidence about this). I used to leave my Macbook Pro, which is probably 6 or 7 years old, plugged in all the time. The battery eventually wouldn’t hold a charge and the guy at the Genius Bar told me that I should be letting the battery occasionally drain completely. Since I’ve been doing that, around three years, it seems to hold a charge much better.
Cristian
Well, good to know! I will be letting my Macbook Pro die every now and again 🙂
Susanna
I just re-read my comment. I did have the original battery replaced. It’s the new(er) one that holds a charge now. I think once a battery’s toast, there’s no bringing it back. I think the one I have now is probably the same age as the one I had to replace.