Vampire Energy

I need to correct this article!

You will not save the planet by turning off appliances completely! In fact you will do quite the opposite whilst costing yourself even more money.

Every time you completely turn your appliance off and back on when you want to use it you are burning out the components more quickly than if you leave it on standby!

Think about a light bulb, if you constantly flick it off and on it burns out much more quickly than if you leave it on. I’m not saying we should leave light bulbs on constantly it is merely by way of an analogy. So every time you turn your appliance fully off and then back on you are damaging it more than if you would just leave it on standby.

Therefore, the more you fully power off and on your appliance the sooner it will need replaced. Therefore you have to buy a new TV sooner than if you would just leave it on standby.

Also, the environmental cost of producing a new TV for you to buy far outweighs the environmental cost of you leaving your TV on standby mode!

So in summary, if you think you are saving money and the environment by stopping using “vampire energy”, you are not!

Great analysis, and good points. I will be highlighting your Vampire Energy transparency on livinggreenlivingwell.com

peace,

jlw

I’m an environmentalist, but the numbers on the chart don’t add up. Consumer Reports estimates the average household uses about $100/year for standby energy, but then again, when I searched the source for this article, “2005 Intrusive Residential Standby Service Report: Energy Department”, it turned up as an Australian study, not an American one. And my call to the magazine was met with less than enthusiasm. I was told I would get a call back, as the person I need to talk to was ” just now going in a meeting”…holding breath……

In theory, your argument makes sense, but… it doesn’t seem like appliances were damaged/burning out more rapidly prior to the use of standby modes. Actually, it seems like TV’s & stereos cease functioning at a more rapid rate today than they did before stand-by modes.

In addition, with rapid changes in technology, people are apt to be replacing appliances before they “burn out” in order to keep up with technology. If this is the case, then it doesn’t matter if minor damage is done by turning appliances all the way off because the consumer will likely want to replace it before the effect of such damage affects the appliances ability to function.

Thanks for calling the questionable source for this to our attention. You wrote that you called “the magazine”–you mean Good Magazine, right? When did you call? Did you ever get a response? … I would like Good Magazine to provide a link to the source so the the data can be verified. And if the data isn’t verifiable, they should offer a correction. It’s irresponsible journalism to present inaccurate information as fact, especially considering how easily bad information can spread on the internet. In my web search (on 8/19/08), I found a bunch of sites that seemed to quote the same data and the same source. Since the original source doesn’t appear to exist online, I am guessing they got the information from this site…

So sites like Good Magazine have a responsibility to make sure that their information is accurate, and to correct that information when it is found to be inaccurate.

What is a VCR?

I must correct the following myth spreading statement: “You will not save the planet by turning off appliances completely! In fact you will do quite the opposite whilst costing yourself even more money.Every time you completely turn your appliance off and back on when you want to use it you are burning out the components more quickly than if you leave it on standby!”This is a horrible fallacy, carried over from long ago when appliances had a strong surge current when started. Very few modern electronics suffer from such problems and you will indeed vastly increase the lifespan by turning off electronics when not in use, including lightbulbs. In normal use, you are not flicking a device on and off many times per second. You might use it for an hour, then not use it for several hours. In normal use, the lifespan of a device is rated as so many thousand hours – often 50-100,000 hours is the mean time between failure. By reducing the “on” time by 75%, you are likewise increasing the life of the device. The two common situations where you should NOT turn a device on and off frequently are fluorescent bulbs and projection TV systems. Fluorescent bulbs have a life rated based on being left on for about an hour. When the ballast stars the bulb, it uses up some of the life of the bulb.Most projection TV’s use extremely hot burning lamps that can explode if subjected to rapid thermal cycling. This is why it’s important to let them cool-down betwen uses. However, they also have a very limited lifespan, often measured in hundreds of hours, so you just want to put the projector on while in use, then turn it off.

Just in case you were serious,

VCR = Video Cassette Recorder.
.. those set top boxes with large cassette tapes that can be recorded to and played back.
They are what we used before DVD players and DVR’s. The common format was in the form of VHS tapes.

There must be some kind of way out of here…

said the joker to the thief

Hello….*smiles* XP

Who else hates science and this article…XD I am so bored of trying to firgure out the question about this article….=D

[...] L’article chez Good Partager cet article [...]

[...] Be good, pull the plug and above all, don’t use plasma TVs….at least if you love the environment. Anyone who doesn’t care can continue on like before. In case you want to speed up global warming and create the summer of all summers: play video games all day long on a giant plasma TV and listening to music through your computer. [...]

[...] Sejam responsáveis, desliguem os interruptores e acima de tudo, não utilizem os plasmas, ao menos que se preocupem com o Meio Ambiente. Quem não se preocupa com isso, pode continuar como antes. Caso queiram acelerar o aquecimento global e criar o verão de todos os verões: Joguem video jogos durante todo o dia numa televisão plasma gigante e oiçam música através do vosso computador. [...]

[...] = 300; google_language = ‘es’; google_ad_height = 250; QUE APESTA MAS fuera de Tu enchufe?Se bueno, tire del enchufe y sobre todo, no utilice los televisores de plasma …. al menos si te gusta [...]

Wow, I’m SO glad that I don’t have a plasma tv!

Ohh!
Tokio Hotel
good good

The fact that Tom read this article makes me happy. The enviroment, as well as animal care, mean everything to me. Stop being selfish! take care of the planet!

i just came here cuz tom kaulitz told me 2

[...] Be good, pull the plug and above all, don’t use plasma TVs….at least if you love the environment. Anyone who doesn’t care can continue on like before. In case you want to speed up global warming and create the summer of all summers: play video games all day long on a giant plasma TV and listening to music through your computer. 28.07.2009 [...]

No hay que despilfarrar la energía y dejar aparatos prendidos, hay que cuidar los recursos y el medio ambiente! Siempre pense esto y obviamente estoy de acuerdo, no juegues todo el día con Playstation, y video juegos! Muy bien por Tom por poner esto en su web para crear más conciencia.

I love Tom Kaulitz. :] *mwahaha.*

Oh .. Tom, Sie sahen, wie die Dame ertrank während sing? ) und .. Sie alle werden kiss .. Sie, Tom, Bill, Georg und Gustav viele Küsse :X:X:X:X:*:*:* Ich Liebe Dich Bill und Tom Bill Bill Bill!!!!!!!!! :Xliebe dichh!!!