Don’t think you are saving money and electricity by just turning off your electronics.

Electronics are still using power even when they are off, said Brian Ward, sales associate at Radio Shack, 2690 DeKalb Ave., Sycamore. He said the amount of power used varies from unit to unit.

“It’s called power leakage,” Ward said. “It depends on the appliance.”

Ward said a lot of power leakage occurs via television cords. He said anything with an LED light is using power when it is off.

You can simply unplug electronics you are not using, but if you leave them plugged in, it won’t affect an electric bill too drastically, he said.

“It’s not going to save you a lot of money if you go around and unplug everything, but you are using electricity,” Ward said.

John Riley, electronics manager at Paulsen Appliance & Electronics, 245 W. State St., Sycamore, said any unit with a standby light is using power. He said electronics have to use power to maintain settings such as programming preferences and radio presets. Some cable and satellite boxes along with some DVD players use up to one-third of their running power when they are off, he said.

You can use a power strip to prevent power loss in your home, he added.

“Plug all your units into a surge protector and flip it off before you go to bed,” Riley said.
There are more efficient electronics you can get, he mentioned. Energy Star TVs are more efficient, but they only run about $5 to $6 less a year, he said.

Energy Star is a program with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy to help save both energy and money. Cell phone chargers also use a lot of power when they are plugged in, even if they aren’t charging, according to the Energy Star Web site. The average U.S. household spends $100 per year to power devices that are powered off or in standby mode, according to the site. Standby power accounts for more than $10 billion in annual energy costs in the United States.

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