New technology lays 'energy vampires' to rest

Researcher Alan Meier displays various "energy vampires" -- appliances that consume power even when they are turned off

November 1, 2000
Web posted at: 3:47 PM EST (2047 GMT)

From Don Knapp
CNN Correspondent

SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN) -- They lurk inside appliances or behind the furniture. They stand along the walls or on the floor, humming and warm -- quietly sucking energy. They are appliance power supplies. Researcher Alan Meier with Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory refers to them as "energy vampires."

"The reason we call them vampires is because they consume power even when the appliance is switched off," Meier said.

A trickling flow of electricity is required to run small devices or keep things like TV's, VCR's and garage door openers on standby so they are always ready to respond to a remote control.

According to researchers, a battery charger will use a couple watts, as will a cordless telephone. A larger appliance like a VCR can use up to 10 or 12 watts.

If you add it up, it's about 60 to 70 watts every hour of every day in nearly every home. That amounts to 10 percent of household electricity usage. Nationally, it is estimated that about a billion energy vampires drink from the U.S. power grid.

"We think we're consuming anywhere from five to eight very large powers plants in the United States for stand by power consumption," Meier said.

This new power supply is controlled by a microchip that determines when power is needed

Short of unplugging everything, there isn't much a consumer can do. But technology may be able to solve this problem with the help of a new power supply. The new supply is controlled by a microchip that recognizes when power is needed -- cutting energy use by 90 percent.

"When (something) is plugged in, it consumes almost no power. And because we have all the smarts built into the chip, it's very easy for us to make it smart enough to know whenthe power is needed. When the power is not needed, it cuts back the consumption to almost nothing," said Balu Balakrishnan with Power Integrations, Inc., the maker of the new power supply.

The new technology may even get a boost from the California Energy Commission.

"The interesting economics is, this device only costs 25 to 50 cents more than the old fashioned one. It will take over the market eventually, but we could accelerate this enormously with an incentive program," said Arthur Rosenfeld with the California Energy Commission.

Fuel cells get boost from feds in U.S.
October 17, 2000
DOE warms to geothermal energy
August 22, 2000
California swelters in power-consuming heat wave
August 2, 2000
Farm looks to fuel cells to help with the chores
September 18, 2000

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Power Integrations
California Energy Commission

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.