What Appliances Cause Phantom Loads?

What Are Phantom or Vampire Loads?

In ever home there are thieves that are silently robbing us blind. They are called phantom loads, vampire loads or standby power. What causes this phenomenon and how can you get rid of them?

The Origin Of Phantom Loads or Standby Power.

In the early days of electricity there were many myths. One of them was that electricity would leak out of a light socket that had no bulb in it. Since those days we have learned that  if the light switch is not on, there is no power being drawn, in most cases. A dimmer switch will use a small amount of power though, as will smart switches which can be controlled by remote. These draw such a small amount of power they really don't matter.

The problem of standby power or phantom loads began to appear when remote controlled electronics came on the market. Things like televisions and video players are always on, even when the off button is pushed.

The reason for this is that they contain a circuit that is listening for a signal from a remote control to turn the rest of the circuits on. If this circuit was not on, your remote control would not work to turn the device on.

The federal government has issued guidelines to electronics manufacturers to reduce the amount of wattage drawn by phantom loads, however they remain a major proplem. As much as forty percent of home electronics energy use is for standby power.

What devices draw standby power and cause phantom load

Phantom Loads Are Caused By The Following:

Satellite TV receivers, (which are also left fully on much of the time.)

Video recorders such as DVD and VCR's.

Stereo Receivers and surround sound systems.

Phone chargers and other chargers

microwaves

computers

printers and other computer peripherals

Doorbell transformers

Small electronics

How Do You Get Rid Of Phantom Loads?

The best way to remove these phantom loads from the grid is to place things like DVD players, etc, on a power strip. You may also want to consider a "smart strip" which uses a microprocessor to shut down things like computer peripherals when the main device (such as the computer or TV) is on. These smart strips sense when the peripherals are not needed and shut down all power.

Another way to eliminate phantom loads is to simply unplug the device. You can locate phantom loads easily with a device called a Kill a Watt. With a Kill a Watt you can find out exactly how much an appliance is drawing at any given time and how much of a phantom load it is causing. Using a Kill a Watt is quite easy and only involves unplugging the suspected appliance and plugging it into the Kill a Watt.

For more on how to eliminate phantom loads see; How To Fully Eliminate Phantom Loads