Beware of vampire electronics

Ohio is the No. 1 emitter of toxic air emissions in the U.S.

COLUMBUS (AP) — Vampire electronics, a force as insidious as Bram Stoker’s leading man, are quietly sucking a nickel of every dollar’s worth of the electricity seeping from your outlets.

Scary.

Insert the little fangs of your cell phone charger in the outlet and leave it there? That’s vampire electronics.

Allow your computer to hide in the cloak of darkness known as “standby mode” rather than shutting it off? That’s vampire electronics.

According to the most recent major survey, 5 percent of electricity usage in the United States is now from standby power, a phenomenon energy efficiency experts find all the more terrifying as energy prices rise and the planet warms.

The issue is particularly pressing in Ohio, the nation’s No. 1 emitter of toxic air emissions — mostly from electricity production at the state’s coal-fired power plants.

In environment-conscious California, Democratic Assemblyman Lloyd Levine pushed a proposal last year to add vampire electronics labels to consumer products, detailing how much energy a charger, computer, DVD player, microwave or coffee maker uses when on, off and on standby.

Though such proposals aren’t commonplace, the notion should grab the attention of Americans buried by high electric bills.

“It’s definitely not new, but it’s something people don’t know about,” said Dave Walton, director of home ideas for the energy efficiency company Direct Energy, which has a main office in suburban Columbus. “It’s become important for many reasons, including the changing landscape on pricing and the general onus on homeowners to be more in the forefront of monitoring their own energy usage.”