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|  Steve Leinweber, Springs Utilities conservation specialist
Feb. 28, 2008
Phantom load
Phantom load, also known as phantom wattage or ghost load is the energy used by appliances when we think they're off. We assume they are not consuming any electricity when they are off but, this is not always true. The worst offenders are usually laptops, televisions, computers, printers, cell phone chargers, and/or battery chargers. All of these little things consume small amounts of power. Individually it doesn’t add up to much however, nationally The U.S. Department of Energy predicts that 20 percent of our entire electric usage by 2010 could go to these phantom loads. What can you do to prevent these power drains to your wallet? - Turn off appliances and electronics when you're not using them.
- Use a multi-outlet strip for plugging in multiple items that you are willing to turn off completely between uses. The switch on the multi-outlet strip will provide you with a "hard shut-off" with no power draw.
- If you buy new appliances, select ENERGY STAR® rated appliances because they use ten to fifty percent less energy than conventional appliances.
- Take advantage of rebates.
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