According to some estimates as much as eleven percent of the electricity consumed in the United States is by phantom loads. Appliances that are "instant on" or have a remote control are the cause of these energy wasters. Since many modern appliances feature remote controls there can be dozens of phantom load causing devices in a single home. A satellite TV receiver for example, can use up to fifty watts even when the "off" button has been pressed. Flat screen and other TVs feature both a remote control circuit that is always on and a circuit that allows the TV to turn on faster. Capacitors are kept charged so that there will be no waiting for a picture to appear. Phantom loads are named for the fact that even when all of these devices are off, your electric meter continues to spin.
How Do You Get Rid Of Phantom Loads?
For many Americans the need for convenience outweighs the need to save energy. Even though you may be paying for this convenience and not worried about the extra cost there is a hidden cost. Somewhere there is an extra pound or two of coal that is being fed into a boiler, or it could be natural gas or fuel oil, that is supporting that TV or DVD player that is creating a phantom load. This fossil fuel, which accounts for 80% of domestic electrical generation, causes CO2 to be released into the atmosphere. Just because you may not see smoke from many modern electric plants does not mean that there are tons of pollution rising into the air each day. If we could all see CO2, perhaps as a black gas coming from power plants, we would be more appalled. Even if you are one of the minority that disbelieves global warming, there are other consequences to society including acid rain to consider.
The solution to eliminating phantom loads is to place these appliances on a power strip that can be fully turned off. There are also intelligent power strips that automatically shut off items like printers when the PC is off.
Phantom loads are a big problem in the US. Having to build more power plants to support ten percent of our electricity consumption that is being wasted is a real shame. To learn more about phantom loads see; How To Eliminate Phantom Loads One By One
