Vampire power, also known as phantom load, is the electricity that electronics and appliances use while they are turned off or in standby mode.  While it may seem like just a small nibble in your home energy consumption, vampire power quickly adds up to be a significant drain nationally on energy resources.

Standby power is beneficial when used in remote controls, clock displays, and timers. But too often it’s simply wasted because cell phone chargers, iPod chargers, power adapters and other devices not being used are left plugged in.
According to Energy Star, the amount of energy used by products when they are in standby mode is significant. The average U.S. household spends $100 per year to power devices while they are off (or in standby mode). On a national basis, standby power accounts for more than 100 billion kilowatt hours of annual U.S. electricity consumption and more than $10 billion in annual energy costs.

The Energy Star Web site lists these tips for ridding your home of energy spooks:

• Look for ENERGY STAR when shopping. All ENERGY STAR qualified products are among the lowest power consuming in their category in standby mode.
• Enable the ENERGY STAR power management settings on your computer and monitor, so they go into power save mode when not in use.
• Use a power strip as a central “turn off” point when you are done using equipment, which completely disconnects the power supply. You can use one for your computer and all peripheral equipment, and another for your home electronics (TV, VCR, DVD, stereo, gaming). Keep in mind though that if you’ve set a timer to wake up a product, such as programming a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) to record a program, then the product must remain plugged in (and able to draw standby power) to function as intended.
• Unplug your chargers: cell phone chargers, camera chargers, battery chargers or power adapters, etc. These are drawing some amount of energy even when not in use (and even when not connected to an end-use product).

Related links
National Vampire Awareness Day 2008
Vampire power explained
Surge protectors