Is Vampire Power real ?

Author Team GreenSutra®
Published January 18, 2017
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Vampire Power leads to ghost consumption amounting to approximately 100-150 units in your electric bill annually.

Vampire Power by definition is the consumption of electricity whilst in standby mode or switched off state. The following examples might help understand how it works:

Most electronic devices today are rechargeable and come with an AC wall charger. Whilst being plugged in, they constantly supply charge irrespective of the fact that the device is completely charged or not connected. Many critics believe that these wall chargers waste as much as 50 percent of the power they use.
Televisions when switched off by remotes are put in Standby Mode. In the meanwhile, the same television is consuming electricity to remain in the standby mode so that when switched on using a remote again, it would do so quickly. This is same with some printers, computers or radios.
Certain gadgets use electricity to power a display screen, an external time display or an internal clock. This power usage might be justified for some cases.Let’s say, your refrigerator needs to monitor temperature levels in order to power up at appropriate times, in such cases it would be justified. But when it comes to your radio, it’s not as easy to justify a constant power drain to keep the digital clock lit.

With all the contributions to annual wastage, vampire power has increased the demand for electricity generation. This means that more resources are being consumed to meet this demand. All of this enacts a hefty toll on the environment as power plants keep pumping greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.

Let’s put a perspective on Vampire Power’s impact on the environment. An average household consumes 0.8 KWh of Vampire Power everyday. This is equivalent to 0.72 kgs of $CO_2$ per day or 21.6o kgs of $CO_2$ emissions every month or 0.26 Tons of $CO_2$ annually.

Which devices draw Vampire Power ?

Almost all electrical devices draw standby power or vampire power, some more than other. Most common culprits include: