Why Vampire Energy is draining your business, and how you can fix it

Even when you turn off your electronics, they could still be wasting electricity. When you press the off switch, many electronics -- like televisions, registers and computers-- go into standby mode.

During standby mode, electronics don't turn off completely. They perform updates and generally just wait for you to come back, sucking up energy every step of the way. The energy lost is called vampire energy.

Even your extra phone charger you leaved plugged in just in case your iPhone battery runs low uses around 0.26 watts when plugged in, even if it’s not in use. A laptop charger also wastes energy, using 4.42 kWh when not in use and 29.48 kWh with a fully charged laptop plugged into it.

But don’t panic, simply plugging in a $10 energy saving outlet and pre-setting the shut off times can help you keep more money in your business.

Smart power strips take this idea a step further. They have outlets that are meant for different types of devices. Some of the outlets are designated for items that need to stay on all the time, like your restaurant freezers. Other outlets are for items that go into standby mode or use energy, but don't need to be on, like your printers or speakers. When you shut off a device or disconnect your device from its charger, the power strip senses it and will shut off all power to the device.

Another option is programmable outlets, like the Belkin WeMo Insight Switch and Quirky Pivot Power Genius. These plug into your regular outlet and have an app you can use to schedule your devices to shut off remotely.

Research showed that the circuit-breaker systems in some businesses do little to prevent fires triggered by overloaded outlets. Thus, installing a SafePlug system adds an additional level of safety by moving the protection of a breaker directly to the wall.

Ready to see how your business can save on energy costs? It’s easy, just contact Connect Electric today and one of our solution experts will give you a hand.