Most people use 4 to 5 electronic devices no matter what they are doing. Personally I have a study lamp, laptop, iPod charger, electric shaver, Kindle charger, camera charger, Xbox360, cell phone charger, controller charger, wireless headset charger, tv, fridge, microwave. alarm clock and more on my room mates side of the room. Now granted these are never all plugged in at once because frankly I do not have enough outlets but at the time I am typing this I am utilizing 4 power outlets and one with a surge protector. Even when all of these electronic devices are off they are still sucking power out of the outlets and wasting electricty. These are called vampire appliances. My shaver is fully charged yet it is still at this moment sucking power out of the outlet. According to the U.S. Department of Energy 20 percent of all power used in American homes is a result of vampire appliances. If we could stop using these it would be like shutting down 36 coal powered plants and therefore reducing greenhouse gasses as well as the electronic bill. It is not enough to just turn off your computer when you leave the room because the outlet is still sucking power. When you turn off these appliances the outlet is still in use and most of the power gets pulled out but does not charge your phone any more than normal. To actually cut the current you have to unplug the device. Waste money from vampires comes out to around $3 billion a year just from vampire appliances. The total amount of power that we use but is wasted would be enough to handle the electric needs of Peru, Greece, and Vietnam combined.
I think that we should turn off and unplug all of our appliances when leaving the room. I spend a lot of time on my computer and I usually just close the screen and let it sleep while I am at class but my computer is still sucking power. Even if I turn it off it is still using power. I am now going to unplug my circuit protector which actually does save power. The reason we are all made to unplug outlets when we leave for a break is because Elon does not want to pay for vampire appliances staying plugged in when the school is empty. Not only does this help you save power but it also prolongs the efficiency of your electronic devices. So next time you leave your room make sure that the power is off and you have unplugged some of your electronic devices. You may also want to turn off your surge protector. It takes maybe a minute and you save a ton of energy.
-Danny McGeough
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This is a great way to reduce the amount of energy we are using. Sometimes it isn't so easy to remember what you have plugged in and to unplug it when you are finished charging/using it but I think that if we try to start unplugging things when we are finished with them than it will be easier to do it every time.
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I can't believe the amount of wasted energy .. wow Greece .. jeesh
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