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Standby power wastes energy and money, but there are easy ways to save.
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This can be one of the more effective and convenient ways to curb vampire power—but it’s also the most expensive, for it requires a full-blown home control system. We wouldn’t recommend getting a home control system just to fight vampire power, unless you’ve got big bucks, but if you already plan on investing in one, definitely expect it to help cut your standby power costs. (Which will likely increase, due to all the electronics those systems can control.)
There are several ways to cut standby power with a home automation system. David Haddad, president of Vidacom Corporation, a custom electronics pro based in Chicago, is currently designing the electronics system for a 25,000-square-foot home that will be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-certified and energy independent, so he has to cut as much standby power as possible. “Every device in the house will be plugged into a power center that has individual outlets that can be killed,” he says. That allows some flexibility, because “some things will need to be on most of the time. At night, [power to] a lot of things will be killed automatically.”
Investment: Entry-level home control starts in the thousands
