Phantom power aka phantom load, idle current or vampire power, is the little incremental charges added to your monthly energy bill when you don’t unplug stuff around your house like your toaster, cell phone charger and that weird light up knick knack photo frame your Aunt Mable gave you for your last birthday. When you weren’t looking and weren’t using them, all of these gadgets were sucking extra energy from the grid into your home. It has been estimated that phantom power can add up to an extra 10% to your energy bill. In my house that would account for at least a free month of hydro a year. Whew! It’s easy to unplug stuff you don’t use too often; it’s another matter entirely to crawl behind your AV system to unplug it every day. Just remember the potential savings and that plugging your stereo/TV/DVD/computer set up into a single power strip or something more streamlined that is easily accessible should help to be all the encouragement you need to switch off and watch the savings pile up.
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