Every once in a while we are told to beware of the phantom effect when it comes to our appliances, but what exactly is the phantom effect (besides a term that sounds like our appliances are haunting us)?

The phantom effect is the byproduct of one of our luxuries, but that’s not saying much. Basically, when you have an appliance that can be turned “on” or “off” by a remote control, that appliance contributes to the phantom effect. Here’s why: the appliance is not completly powered off, it’s just in standby mode. What this means is that energy is still being used  by that appliance, although it appears to be off.

There are many ways you can decrease the phantom effect in your home or office. A very efficient way is to plug in your appliances into power strips. So when you leave the house for work or a vacation you can simply turn the power strip off. If this is done on all your appliances, the phantom effect will be reduced by 100%! If you have a single appliance in one area, just unplug when not in use.  If you would like to take this effort even a step further, you can purchase a Smart Strip that will recognize when your appliances are not in use and turn them off for you. This way, you need not remember every time.

For more information on smart strips read our article called The Energy Saving Surge Protector.