Use an Advanced Power Strip to Save Energy and Money

Posted by Guest Blogger on June 24, 2014

Remember the days when most homes only had one television and one computer? Today, many homes have multiple televisions and computers, all connected to various devices such as DVD players, gaming consoles, external monitors, printers and much more.

While these advanced electronics are beneficial, many of them continue to use power even after they are turned off. This is known as a “phantom” load. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, five to ten percent of a household’s annual energy costs can be accounted for in phantom loads. To ensure this does not happen in your home and that you save energy, make sure you are cutting power at the socket of each electronic device. If you have many electronics, this can be inconvenient. While conventional power strips work great to solve this problem, there is an even better solution: Advance Power Strips (APS).

APS’s look just like ordinary power strips, except they have built-in features which are designed to reduce the amount of energy used by many consumer electronics. They are used in conjunction with home entertainment and/or computer systems, allowing power to be automatically cut to non-essential devices when not needed. An APS shuts down power for you, so when you turn your television off, you can have your entire home entertainment system (your DVD player and game consoles) turns off as well.

In addition, there are a variety of different APS’s to fit different needs. For example, if you often fall asleep when watching TV at night, an activity monitor APS can turn everything off for you. Or, if you are always diligent about turning all your electronics off when you are not using them but are concerned about the power draw, a master-controlled APS can make sure that everything is completely off.

For more information about APS’s and to figure out which type is right for you, visit the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's page or contact a WH representative.