Not many people have heard of Energy Vampires or are aware of its presence at home. M3 designers not only have your interior design interest at heart, we are also concerned about helping you live effectively in the home that we lovingly designed with you. You’re welcome.

Energy Vampires is what it’s commonly called but it also goes by two other terms – standby power and phantom load. Admittedly, “vampire” sounds a lot cooler. So what’s this Energy Vampire we speak of? It’s the electric power consumed by electronic devices when they are switched off (but still plugged in).

On average, a household has about 15 devices constantly plugged in at any given time. Have a look around your house; I’m guessing that there’s a least one hand phone charger hanging off the socket and the LED clock on your microwave is still flashing.

Before you rush around unplugging everything from its socket, let me give you some quick guide to shaving off the bills without the hassle on messing around with every single plugs in the house.

Devices with Digital Clock

The digital clock on your microwave may look innocuous but considering the number of times you use the microwave versus the number of hours the device is left idle, I daresay it consumes more electricity powering the clock than it does heating food. Coffee makers and ovens are the other two common culprits in the kitchen.

Computers and Entertainment Devices

You probably guessed it by now that the television, the cable box, game consoles, stereos and DVD players are all huge consumers of standby power. To mitigate this energy waste, hook up your entertainment system and related to power strips connected to a master switch. That way you can easily switch the whole system off when the family goes to bed or when everyone is out at work. According to industry experts, you can save a couple of hundreds a year if you keep up with this habit.

Hot Water Heater

This is an easy one. Turn off your water heater when not in use. Though most might be aware of this energy vampire, it still bears mentioning it as a reminder.

Smart Home Solutions

There are apps and products available in the market that will allow you to remotely control appliances like your air conditioning unit so that you don’t have to leave it running all day. Smart Home systems are able to connect to your mobile devices as well thus empowering you to save electricity and money at a touch of a button.