Become a Vampire Slayer: How to Cut Hidden Energy Costs in Your Home

John Jones lives by himself in a two-bedroom apartment. He heats his home and cooks with natural gas. His electric bill runs around $12 a month. A pretty affordable bill, you must admit. Then there is Jane Doe. She lives by herself in a two-bedroom home. She heats her home with propane and she cooks with propane as well. But, her electric bill is rarely under $100 a month. There are obvious differences in their lifestyles which can help to explain the huge differences in their electric bills: Jane has a washer and dryer, while John takes his clothes to a Laundromat; Jane has a separate freezer in addition to her refrigerator, while John makes do with his refrigerator freezer; and Jane owns a computer, a DVD/VCR player, a stereo, an electric treadmill, a cordless phone and a digital camera. John doesn't own any of these electronic devices. So that probably accounts for Jane's higher energy usage, right? But she doesn't use these devices on a daily basis. She leaves them plugged in, but she makes sure they are all turned off when they're not in use to help save electric. Unfortunately, "off" doesn't really mean "off" when it comes to energy-sucking electronics. Jane needs to learn how to become a Vampire Slayer and cut hidden energy costs in her home.

The term "Vampire" has been widely used to describe electronic devices that suck power even when they're turned off. "Vampire" seems to be an appropriate term since they suck power with their "two teeth", or, the prongs of the plug when it's placed in an outlet.

If you're wondering whether wasted Vampire power is really a problem across the United States, then consider these facts: according to the EnergyStar website, televisions waste approximately 25% in Vampire power. VCR's suck up about 30%, and cordless phones eat up a whopping 66%.

As far as your electric bill is concerned, if you have very many Vampires in your home that are sucking up power even when appliances are turned off, you can be spending approximately 10 - 20 percent more on your monthly bills than you need to. It's estimated that the electricity that's lost to Vampires in the United States is somewhere between $1 billion to $3.5 billion every year.

If you need further proof of this energy hog, turn off all of the lights in your home, then walk around and take a quick tour. You'll see two dots on your microwave's control panel, maybe an illuminated "on/off" button on your stereo, lit-up clock displays and probably many more tiny lights that use electric. Other energy Vampires are chargers, printers, cordless power tools, power adapters and low voltage transformers.

So, how can you become a Vampire Slayer and cut hidden energy costs in your home? It's really pretty simple. Unplug electronic devices like microwaves, televisions, stereos and cell phone chargers when they're not in use.

Look for the "Energy Star" label when you shop for electronic equipment. If a device has the "Energy Star" label on it, you can be sure it uses the lowest amount of standby power.

The most effective way to become a Vampire Slayer and reduce your monthly electric bill is to purchase some power strips. Plug your electronics into the strips, but turn the power off to the strips when they're not in use. Since your devices won't be plugged directly into the wall outlets anymore, they won't be able to suck extra electric.

By cutting out these energy suckers that are lurking around your house, you can save $10 - $20 a month on a $100 electric bill.