Vampire power costs
There's a lot of interest in the fact that many electronic devices in our homes are using energy even while they are turned off or not being used. But, how much money do these energy vampires really suck up?
For many people, the standby power used by one device will seem minuscule, but the costs can add up when you take into account just how many things we all have plugged in. What's more, many households, have multiple televisions, computers, cordless phones, and others.
All told, the money wasted by an average U.S. household on standby power each year could easily be used to purchase an iPod Shuffle or in some cases even a Nano.
Below is a list of the annual average costs for many household gadgets that are turned off and plugged in. Just add up the costs for everything you have plugged in at home to find out how much standby power costs you each year.
Keep in mind that these are just averages, and in some categories there are big differences between most and least efficient products. How much energy each of your devices consumes will depend on both the device itself and your local electricity costs.
We calculated the following averages based on energy use stats from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy using a price of 11 cents per kilowatt-hour.
Home Entertainment
- CRT TV: $1.00
- LCD TV: $2.97
- Plasma TV: $2.97
- DVD: $1.53
- VCR: $4.63
- Digital cable box: $17.65
- Satellite cable box: $15.50
- DVR: $36.63
- Digital cable box with DVR: $43.01
- Set-top satellite box with DVR: $27.52
- Video game console: $1.00
- Portable stereo: $1.64
- AM/FM tuner: $1.11
- CD player: $4.99
Home Office
- Desktop computer: $3.96
- Laptop computer: $8.81
- Laptop charger (unattached to laptop): $4.38
- LCD monitor: $1.12
- Printer: $1.98
- Multifunction printer, scanner, copier: $5.21
- Computer speakers: $1.98
Other
- Coffee maker: $1.12
- Microwave oven: $3.05
- Cordless phone: $1.98
- Answering machine: $1.99
- Power tool: $3.96
- Handheld vacuum: $2.97
- Electric toothbrush: $1.98
- Cell phone charger (unattached to phone): $0.26
Costs start adding up when you take into account electronics that may be left on when you're not using them.
Here's a small sampling:
- Desktop computer: $71.00
- Video game console: $23.10
- VCR: $7.69
- DVD player: $7.46
- CD player: $8.53
When you add up how much money every U.S. household spends on standy power it amounts to about $4 billion a year of wasted energy.
Environmental journalist Lori Bongiorno shares green-living tips and product reviews with Yahoo! Green's users. Send Lori a question or suggestion for potential use in a future column. Her book, Green Greener Greenest: A Practical Guide to Making Eco-smart Choices a Part of Your Life is available on Yahoo! Shopping and Amazon.com.
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