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We've previously covered how standby mode in game consoles suck. Well, it seems like many devices across the US are sucking a whole lot of power--$19 Billion/yr worth. That is just the US estimation, it is not extrapolated out across the globe.
Approximately $19 billion worth of electricity, equal to the output of 50 large power plants, is devoured annually by U.S. household electronics, appliances, and other equipment when consumers are not actively using them, according to a ground breaking study released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The report, "Home Idle Load: Devices Wasting Huge Amounts of Electricity When Not in Active Use," found most of the devices either plugged in or hard-wired into America's homes consume electricity around-the-clock, even when the owners are not using them or think they are turned off. The annual cost for this vampire energy drain, which provides little benefit to consumers, ranges from $165 per U.S. household on average to as high as $440 under some utilities' top-tier rates.
"One reason for such high idle energy levels is that many previously purely mechanical devices have gone digital: Appliances like washers, dryers, and fridges now have displays, electronic controls, and increasingly even Internet connectivity, for example," says Pierre Delforge, the report's author and NRDC's director of high-tech sector energy efficiency. "In many cases, they are using far more electricity than necessary."
(Score: 4, Funny) by looorg on Friday May 08 2015, @05:55PM
The electricity company installed some new box that was supposed to give a better measurement of how much I consumed. I went away on a longer trip (about three months) and when I got home they where very upset with me, before I left I had turned off all the power, which in turn apparently also meant I turned off their little box. There was a pile of letters when I returned, concerned at first but getting more angry and upset with each passing two week notice. They where demanding access to my property to check (later replace) their faulty box. When they found out I had been away and I had turned off the power they got somewhat upset with me, apparently you are not allowed to turn off you own power according to them. So now I do it all the time when I'm gone from home for more then a day, just because I can. Like clockwork I'll get a letter in the mail a week or two after with how they want to send a repairman over to check on their device (I should be home all days of the week during all hours of the day waiting for them to arrive, right!) they clearly have not even made a note or anything of this. I assume they have some detection equipment setup to check on the devices and when they don't report in or can't be reached it becomes an event and if my little box goes on and off for days sometime they send out a repairman.
(Score: 1) by GDX on Friday May 08 2015, @06:17PM
I think that box was wrongly installed, normally those boxes should be installed before the main house breaker/switch. At least that is how is done where i live in Europe.
(Score: 2) by Zinho on Friday May 08 2015, @06:46PM
Sounds like they put the meter on the wrong side of your main cutoff switch. I'm pretty sure that on my installation the meter is on the supply side of the cutoff breaker; it would be really odd if unloading the back side of that circuit cut off the meter from the street.
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