How to Reduce Phantom Power

We all want to conserve energy, but because so much of our lives depends on electronic equipment, we can often feel as though conservation is hard to do. But what if you could reduce your electric bill by 10 percent a year just by eliminating "phantom power," the current that electrical items continue to draw even when they are not in use? Electric items all suck electricity even when we're not using them. Keep your phantom power to a minimum through some simple techniques.

Power cords
Wall-outlet timer

Instructions

Small Electronics
- 1
  Take an area of your home or office and make it the centralized charging station.
- 2
  Plug in a multi-outlet surge protector power strip, the type with an on/off switch.
- 3
  Plug all of your small electronics' charging cords into this power strip.
- 4
  Turn the switch on the power strip off when your equipment is charged or not in use. Not only will this help reduce your phantom power, but all of your devices will be located in one spot, so you won't have to hear "Where's my iPod?" quite as often.
TVs, DVD Players and Home Entertainment Systems
- 5
  Plug all of your devices into a multi-outlet surge protector power strip.
- 6
  Plug the power strip into a timer that gets plugged into the wall outlet.
- 7
  Set the timer to turn the power off around the time of night you usually go to bed. If you don't watch TV in the morning before you go to work, set the timer to turn the power back on right before you get home. This way, your equipment won't be drawing unnecessary power all night and all day.

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Green

How to Reduce Phantom Power

Instructions

Small Electronics

TVs, DVD Players and Home Entertainment Systems