Your Home Is Leaking Power

Photo by white_duck

I turned my DVD player on last week for the first time in about six months. Only I didn’t really turn it on; I woke it from standby.

I knew these devices were consuming power while “on” (evidenced by the little stand-by light) but I never really knew how much. BC Hydro has published a nice little table of that consumption by an average home-office.

If you actually power down these devices by unplugging them, turning off the power back they’re connected to, or using their hard Power button on the back (of some devices, like many printers) you’ll save about $14 a year under the above scenario. Not tonnes, mind you, but in this economy, it all helps.

BC Hydro also has a pretty decent incentive for saving power — if you join its Team Power Smart program (free) and cut down on 10% of your power consumption over last year, they’ll cut you a cheque for $75. Cold hard cash: the world’s best incentive.