Phantom power: Electricity you pay for, without benefit
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The latest KCP&L rate increase for Kansas customers took effect Dec. 1, 2010. The average residential rate will increase 4.5 percent, or about $50 per year. The increase is to pay for delays and cost overruns for the Iatan 2 power plant. KCP&L rates have now gone up 30 percent in the past five years.—Source: The Kansas City Star, 11/22/10
As I read this article in The Star, I realized that my standard of living had just taken a hit. As a retiree, I did not get a Social Security cost-of-living increase last year or this year, and Congress defeated the $250 payment to seniors. My next thought was, I didn't work 30 years only to have KCP&L reduce my standard of living. To me, the rate increase was a call for me to find ways to lower my electricity use.
Most of us think that when we turn an electronic device off, it stops drawing power. Unfortunately, that's often not true. Most devices, instead of switching off, revert to a standby mode that continues to use power while the device waits for you to switch it on again. For example, when you grab your TV's remote control and press "on," the television must be getting some power already to enable it to receive that "on" signal and respond to it. It's standing by, waiting for you to turn it on with the remote. That's how the term "standby power" originated.
Other examples are the digital clock display on your microwave oven or the power adapter for your laptop computer. All of these devices consume power without offering any features in return. If the adapter is warm to the touch, it's using power.
This wasted power—also called phantom power or vampire power—is bad for your wallet and for the environment. Studies conducted by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimate that standby power consumption in the United States accounts for 5 percent of all residential power consumption. This means that Americans spend more than $3.5 billion annually on phantom power, and the average U.S. family spends $270 each year for energy that is of absolutely no benefit. It also means that standby power is responsible for 27 tons of needless carbon dioxide discharged into the atmosphere yearly by power plants producing the power to meet this unnecessary demand.
Phantom power is used when electronic devices that you keep plugged in quietly drain electricity, all day, all night, every day, even when they're off. Just about everything that requires being plugged in draws phantom power. Almost any device with an external power supply, remote control, or continuous display (including an LED display), or that charges batteries, will draw continuous phantom power.
If you have a DVD player, do you leave it plugged in all the time? If you do, you are paying almost $9 a year more on your electric bill. I would bet that most of you have a computer. If it's a desktop model and you leave it plugged in, you are paying an extra $34 a year for power that gives you absolutely no benefit. If you purchased an X-box or a Wii for your grandchild last Christmas and you leave either one plugged into the wall receptacle, you are paying an extra $25 annually in electricity. The cost of phantom power usage for these electronic toys adds new meaning to the adage "you must pay to play."
Do you own a large-screen television, and do you leave it plugged in? Congratulations! You have just won the Vampire Power Award! Plasma screen television sets can cost you an unnecessary $160 a year even when they are turned off.
So what does this mean when mitigating the recent KCP&L rate increase? It means you can save money simply by unplugging your electrical devices while you're not using them. Use a switchable power strip for clusters of computer or video products; that way you can switch everything completely off with one action.
Before you shop, go to the Department of Energy's Energy Star Web site (www.energystar.gov) and identify products with lower standby power requirements.
Below are a few of the most common phantom power user devices and the expected amount of power they waste each year.
For further reading
Lebot, Benoit; Alan Meier; and Alain Anglade. 2000. "Global Implications of Standby Power Use," in the Proceedings of ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings. Asilomar (Calif.): American Council for An Energy Efficient Economy (Washington, D.C.). Also published as Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Report No. LBNL-46019: June, 2000.
Device Potential Annual Savings1 DVD Player $14 |
1 Department of Energy Standby Power, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, using $0.11 per KWH.
2 When a 1,000-W microwave is off with the door closed, it draws 3 W. With the door open, it draws 26 W. When cooking, it draws 1,433 W.
