This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Project Envolve. All opinions expressed in this post and blog are my own and may not reflect the opinion of Project Envolve and its sponsors.
This winter has been rather brutal. Snow, wind, ice, long hours in front of the TV because it’s just too darn cold to go anywhere. All of these can wreak havoc on your electric bill. But do you know what’s an even scarier energy sucker? Phantom power.
What is phantom power, you ask? Before I explain, go around your house and count the number of appliances that are plugged in at all times. Go ahead. I’ll wait.
Done? Good.
If your family is anything like mine, I’m guessing the number of electric outlets with permanent guests is around 30. In my kitchen alone, we have the stove, fridge, coffee pot, toaster and microwave constantly sucking energy like the little vampires they are.
This is where the Kill a Watt comes in. This handy little gadget can tell you how much energy an appliance is using by simply staying plugged in 24/7. Experts believe that a whopping 5-10 percent of a average households energy consumption is from phantom power alone.
Unfortunately there isn’t much we can do about appliances like the stove and fridge, but thankfully there is something we can do about the other 30ish things that you constantly leave plugged in.
Option1: Simply unplug them! That’s right. Pull on the cord until the little prongs come out of the wall. You can do it.
Option 2: If that’s too much of a hassle though, another option is a power strip. This only works though if you actually turn the power strip off once in a while. Otherwise, you have 5 things sucking energy instead of the standard two.
Option 3: An even easier way to combat this problem is to buy a smart power strip. These power strips cut the source of energy to any appliance that goes into standby mode. They even have remote controlled power strips, so instead of just turning your TV off after the Late Show (or the Late Late Show, depending on your level of insomnia), you can simply use the remote to turn off the whole power strip. Pretty ingenious if you ask me!
Start by assessing your phantom energy usage to determine which are the biggest culprits and work to decrease your phantom power consumption with the options above and the tips below!
Want to find out what the biggest energy “vampires” are in your home? Simply enter to win a Kill a Watt via the Rafflecopter below! In the meantime, check out Project Envolve for more energy saving tips!
These are such great tips! And I am absolutely guilty of keeping my gadgets on all the time. My husband thinks it’s absolutely ridiculous that our bill is so high and everything you just stated here are all the things I don’t do!
What A Cool Gadget I Must Get One & Try For Myself Would Love To Save Some Money On The Electric Thanks!!
I feel guilty. I know I have at least 30, if not more. I really need to pay attention to this.
I really need to work on unplugging things that aren’t being used!
These are great tips! I am always looking for ways to save on my power bill.
I wish I could unplug everything I’m not using. My husband however gets mad with I do this to the coffee makers and tvs!
Yes, I should take my kids by the hands and make them go around and count everything that is plugged in (Unnecessarily!!). In fact, I think we will be doing this tomorrow!
Love this and I so want one of these now.
Absolutely great tips— we end up wasting so much energy 🙁
I should do this with my kids!!!
I need to go around and count the energy sappers in my house. I know we have a tv or two that never get used, but are plugged in. Thanks for reminding me of this.
I need a gadget like this! I know we spend so much more than we need to, but we’re just too lazy to do anything about it.
I love the name Kill a Watt, and really need it! We never unplug anything, and I guess it should be no surprise that our electric bills are way too high. I will have to start paying attention to this!
Our electric bills could definitley be lower because we have all kinds of things plugged in that shouldn’t be. I need to fix that.
I know we have things plugged in that probably shouldn’t be! I will be taking a closer look at this.
I really think I could use one of these
this sounds great, love how it can save money!
Wow, I need to get one of those so I can figure out how many energy vampires are in my house!
Great saving energy tips. Next time shopping we are going to check out the Kill a Watt! Sounds interesting
I definitely let my computers go into sleep mode between uses, but I do think there are some vampires around here that need to be killed.
I would love to win one of these. I so need it!
Using powerstrips is a really smart idea, and I hadn’t even heard of the remote controlled powestrips = super cool! I’m scared to give you the number of outlets currently being used in our home (even though the switch is turned off).
I definitely have way too much stuff plugged in at all times! I try to put things on powerstrips and try to remember to unplug things but I might just have to get one of these! Thanks for sharing!