photo: Flickr.com
According to the US Department of Energy, “In the average home, 75% of the electricity used to power home electronics is consumed while the products are turned off.” Unplugging your chargers, small appliances and other items is essential to combating that kind of energy waste. But, your home’s “main drains” of unused electricity are in the entertainment center.
You have your TV running through your TiVO, running through your DVD player, all running through your stereo—it’s, no doubt, a sweet set-up. It is important to know, though, that when you click “off” on the remote for all that stuff, none of it is really off.
The easiest remedy to all this wasted energy is to plug all these devices into a power strip. And don’t worry, you can hide it stealthily out of sight in your entertainment center cabinet and/or work desk and still be able to easily click it on and off whenever you want to! When you do, you will really be turning off all those electronic gadgets – saving yourself close to $200 in energy costs a year!
Of course, you are not going to want to shut off your TiVO if you need to record an episode of Grey’s Anatomy that you already missed the first time it aired. So to be on the safe side, plug the TiVO into the wall and allow it to stay on. I mean, let’s be real. We don’t want to do without anything . . . but the wasted energy. So if you need a gadget to be on – then by all means, keep it on. But do we really "need" the TV, DVD player and stereo—not to mention your kids’ Wii—burning energy day and night?
Use a power strips for your entertainment center and compare your energy costs.
It’s a great way for all of us to get energy smart and to do our part to help reduce climate change.
And check out the SmartPower Blog for more on clean energy and energy efficiency.
