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Little glowing eyes follow you in the dark as you leave the room at night … and when you go to school…they just carry on glowing. Can you guess what these energy-sucking vampires are?
Those little red or green eyes are the standby lights on many household appliances. By sucking up electricity they are giving rise to harmful carbon emissions. How many can you find in your home? Can you count them? Were you surprised by the answer? Keep hunting, we expect you’ll come across more over the week.
Your challenge this week is to see how many appliances and devices you can switch off at the wall when you go to bed or before you go to school. Remember to ask your parent / carer before you touch any plugs. Banish those vampires! And don’t forget to HIT THE RED BUTTON when you have completed the challenge!
Having appliances on stand-by is considered by some to be ‘convenient’, they are ready at a moment’s notice. But think of all those harmful carbon emissions that cause climate change: is it worth it for just for a little bit of extra convenience? TVs, computers, games consoles, microwave ovens, printers, electrical toothbrushes, DVD players, TV set-top boxes, coffee makers, phone chargers, speakers, wireless phones, musical instruments, oven, battery chargers, … the list goes on.
‘Vampire power’ or ‘phantom load’ accounts for around 7% of the total energy we use in our homes. Of course, some appliances, like freezers and fridges, need to be left on all the time, so don’t switch those off!
Remember to HIT THE RED BUTTON when you have discovered how many appliances you have on standby and then switched them off when they’re not in use. See if you can keep it up all week!
