Save Energy at Home; Use Power Strips for Lamps and Small Appliances

Using power strips for small appliances and lights helps reduce "stand-by" power waste.

Many indoor appliances and lighting can draw power when plugged in, even if they are turned off at their switches. This is sometimes referred to as "standby power drain".

Assess your appliances and lighting.
Look at all of your small appliances and lamps in use in your home. Many devices are using power 24/7/365, just in "stand-by" power draw.

Some of the power-robbing appliances include VCR's, DVD players/recorders, stereos, radios, computers, printers, fax and copy machines, microwave ovens, toasters, coffee-makers, televisions, cell-phone and other charging systems, some washing machines, cordless or feature-rich telephones, refrigerators, cable and satellite TV decoders, and many others.

A rule of thumb: Pretty much, any device that has an external power supply, a remote control unit, or a clock will pull power at all times.

In order to save energy through reducing this "stand-by" power usage, you will need to procure a number of adequately sized and rated power strips.

Keep in mind that power strips are designed to help manage power for several appliances or lights, and, as such, must be rated for the devices intended to be managed by them.

Power strips used for lighting power management will not need to be rated as high as those used for appliance power management.

You should take inventory of the power ratings given on your appliances and lighting fixtures, and procure power strips according to how you intend to group and control them.

Install your power strips.
For best results, it is a good idea to affix power strips to a solid surface or component if possible. This helps keep your lighting and appliance wiring neat and safe.

Once you have affixed your power strips in the locations where you need to manage appliance or lighting power, simply plug the various appliances or lighting into the power strip for a "one-switch-control" of all items attached to each power strip.