More and more of today's home electronics and appliances continue to use "standby" energy when you are not using the them or when turned off. These include many newer televisions, cable or set top boxes, DVD and DVR players, cell phone chargers, stereos, computers and kitchen appliances. While they may not use huge amounts of energy per hour, the fact that they continually use energy adds up.
When choosing new appliances and electronics, be certain to look for and buy those with the ENERGY STAR® label. Those meet a higher level of energy efficiency than standard models. Also, buy and plug such electronics and appliances into a "smart strip" to turn off power to the devices when not being used. Learn more about "vampire" or "standby" energy in this article and from ENERGY STAR.
