Insomnia and those little flashing lights

Last night I was lying in my bed, unable to sleep, looking at all the little red and green lights in my room. There were five (when I can sleep I tend to count things). This morning I decided to add up some more numbers.

A little internet research shows that those annoying stand-by lights, along with phone chargers, and standby water heaters account for between 6 and 16 % of my annual energy use! So that's as much as 43.2 of my house's annual bill. I am glad I didn't know what last night, or it would have taken me ever longer to go to sleep.

Apparently, almost all electrical devices burn energy on stand-by. Even those without lights. One way to tell is to feel the base of plug; if it's hot then its burning energy. In the graph below, you can see some surprise appliances that you've probably never thought of as using electricity even when they are off before.

If you're buying a new bit of electricity, look for the EnergyStar logo. They have energy standby requirements. You can also just unplug some of your appliances before you go to bed. It may help you sleep better too!