Energy vampires are lurking around every corner of your house, and unfortunately light, crosses and garlic have no effect. The only way to eliminate these silent suckers is with a stake to the cord—the power cord that is. 

Appliances, electronics and chargers that draw energy even when they are turned off are known as energy vampires. Every year these nasty appliances will drain your electricity and your wallet if you let them. Luckily, stopping the constant trickle of wasted energy is as easy as unplugging the offender.

The most common vampire appliances are electronics. When you think you have turned them off, they are actually in standby mode so they can power-up quicker and/or receive signals from a remote control. Here are things to look for when identifying energy vampires.

1. Clocks: Any appliance with a digital clock is never really turned off. These include microwaves, coffee makers, VCRs, radios, DVD players, sound systems, DVRs, Digital Cable Boxes, etc.
2. Anything with a remote control: Many of the same things as above. Add TVs
3. Anything with a power brick or AC adapter (a.k.a. Wall Warts): Cell phone chargers, iPod Chargers, etc.
4. Anything to do with your computer: The computer itself, the monitor, printers, speakers, scanners, etc
   

So once you have identified the suckers, what can you do about it? Unplug, unplug, unplug. If you are not using it, unplug it. If it is too hard to unplug, plug it in to a powerstrip, and just turn off the powerstrip. If that’s still too hard, buy a smart powerstrip. Smart powerstrips are able to fully cut power to each receptacle when it senses the appliance has been turned off or is no longer in use. Some are also programmable so the receptacles can be programmed to turn on and off at certain times.

Follow these simple tips and never again fear the energy vampire.