Article Contributed on: 11/20/2009 12:50:01 PM
Now and then I burst wide awake after midnight, before daybreak for no apparent reason. When these unfortunate wide awakenings occur, I have only a couple of choices. I can wrestle with myself, stay in bed and endure a long sort of frustration. Or, I can get up and....well....find something to do.
Options for amusement are scarce in the dark, quiet hours of morning, especially when one aims to avoid disturbing those sleeping peacefully-- yapping little dogs, in particular.
I levitate down the stairs in black of night like a human feather. Even one creak can cause a Chihuahua to stir. I pad soundlessly around the corner to the family room. I see blinking lights everywhere.
I move to the kitchen to soundlessly pull a spoon from a drawer, a yogurt from the refrigerator. I ease onto the cold, leather couch. I spoon lime yogurt into my mouth (why didn't I check the flavor by the glow of the digital clock on the microwave?) and marvel. I begin to count flickering lights as if seeing them for the first time.
Three cell phones are charging. Each phone and one of the chargers blinks red. A Bluetooth adapter is on its own charger, adding two blue twinkles. The indicator light on the coffeemaker pulses bright green. The dishwasher cycle light flickers orange-red. Two plugged-in notebook computers each produce multiple flickerings of orange. Overhead smoke detectors pulse red. A button on the printer attached to one of the notebooks lights up amber. A desktop computer in a corner displays a tiny green beacon, and a Nintendo DS on a charger does, too. A security system keypad blinks red. The VCR has stand-by lights, as does the cordless phone on a counter. In all I observe nearly twenty stars in our family room planetarium.
In a predawn state of mind, the surprise light show was nice. In a daytime state of mind, I do wonder about the magnitude of the energy drain in our house, in our community and our world. No so long ago, not one of those tiny lights existed in my home. Now virtually all exist in the home of just about everyone. Who doesn't have cell phones, chargers, computers, printers, a coffeemaker, smoke detectors, VCR devices, gaming devices, digital clocks and a dishwasher?
I decided to investigate. I found this on the official blog site of the Environmental Protection Agency:
"Vampires could be lurking the shadows of your home. Energy vampires continuously suck energy from electrical outlets and unnecessarily waste energy. These vampires won't drain your blood; they'll drain your pockets! Energy vampires cost Americans almost $10 billion a year, and account for almost 11 percent of all U.S. energy use!"
Though I am not sure how to eliminate energy vampires already hanging like bats in our homes, I learned we can reduce energy waste by unplugging many items when not in use. I think eradication might depend on consumer insistence on electrical and electronic devices without indicator lights or with indicator lights that can be set inactive. Does my cordless phone really need to shine its yellow light round the clock to tell me the battery is charged?
Learn more about what is sucking the energy out of your home and how to reduce waste at:
http://blog.epa.gov/blog/2008/10/27/qotw-what-are-your-energy-vampires/