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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: 2) by bzipitidoo on Friday May 08 2015, @08:10PM
My parents used UVerse briefly, when the FAA switched broadcast TV from analog to digital signals. Eventually, I changed their old analog tube TV for a much more efficient flatscreen with a digital tuner, and dumped the cable. What a waste of money that experiment turned out to be. We hardly watch any TV, and cable did not change that. There are many shows I am not familiar with because they were only available on cable, and so I miss a lot of cultural references. I found I still couldn't get the ones I could think of thanks to their bundling and packaging practices. While we had it, I took the opportunity to check their DVR boxes. Yes, took about 11W when "off". Maybe they figure that if you have money to burn on cable TV, you won't care that the boxes run up your electric bill.
The surprise was my parents' gas dryer. It's a Maytag, and it uses a little electricity to power the controls. While "off", that drier still sucks down 5W! It's enough to keep the top of the control panel warm to the touch 24/7. Well, driers are a huge waste anyway. Clothes get dry just fine on a clothes line or rack. Only thing a drier does is burn an awful lot of energy to get them dry faster-- when they are working correctly. Also helps put toxic chemicals in the clothes, if typical fabric softeners are used. I am still stunned and disgusted that the majority was suckered into thinking of those appliances as a necessity.
Another big, big waste of energy is the daily shower. My grandparents lived on a farm and used a hand pump on a well. The necessary was the classic outhouse out back. Their farmhouse had no plumbing. They bathed once a week, which involved pumping and lugging in enough water to fill the tub, and heating it on the wood burning iron cook stove. That's far too much work to do on a daily basis. Only time they bathed more often is if they did some exceptionally dirty chore that day. Now with indoor plumbing, we've gone crazy with the hygiene. It is now socially unacceptable to take showers less often than daily.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 08 2015, @09:26PM
Alright grandpa! I will get off the lawn already! Jeeze your cranky today.
(Score: 2) by Snow on Friday May 08 2015, @09:33PM
Regarding the clothes dryer: Yes, clothes will dry when hung outside, but they aren't very soft when they dry that way. Also, you have clothes hanging all over you house/yard. This may be against the rules of your homeowners association (if applicable).
Regarding the shower: Your grandparents also had to shit outside, in the winter, and then use the sear's catalog to wipe with. Would you suggest that toilets are a waste? Improved hygiene has many health benefits.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Friday May 08 2015, @09:50PM
Homeowners associations are full of fascists who would have swung if they had been at the Nuremberg trials. It's one of the biggest ironies about the Land of the Free that those organizations are tolerated, accepted, and even welcomed.
Clothes dry just fine inside. 1 minute after putting them on, they lose their stiffness. There is also softener that can be added to the wash.
They didn't use the outhouse much in the winter. The cow barn was far warmer. As to toilet paper, that's another dubious western custom. Bidets are more sanitary.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Saturday May 09 2015, @07:14AM
That depends. In some rooms you need extra de-humidifier to dry fast enough to avoid bacterial and fungi growth that makes your clothes smelly.
As a twist if these things are allowed to grow and then the clothes dry. Your clothes won't smell anything. Until you sweat, then they will start smelling slowly enough for you to miss it and for everybody else to smell it.. So a de-humidifier any day, despite the $$ it will use.