Saving Money

I've been doing a bit of research into just how much money regularly switching off appliances can save.

Seeing as this is one of the main principles of our app - it was helpful and reassuring to see just how much it can decrease your bill. I got the following information form howstuffworks.com

Firstly I was introduced to this notion of "phantom power" which Beth Brindle describes as;

"Also called phantom energy, phantom load, standby power, idle current and vampire power, phantom power is the energy used by appliances and electronics when they are turned off but still plugged in to a power outlet [source: Energy Star]. According to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBL), the average home contains 40 products constantly drawing power. Individually, the electricity flowing to a TV that's been turned off or a coffeemaker programmed to brew in the morning is extremely small, but together, these sleeping devices may account for as much as 10 percent of household energy use [source: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory]."

From this, its important to infer the amount of energy is being spent on devices that lay idle around the house ` especially as many people now have mobile phones, tablet devices and laptops to power and are often left on charge over night.

But what is the actual economics of all this accumulative phantom power? Brindle continues with;

"According to the Energy Star Web site, the average U.S. household spends more than $100 each year to power devices that are turned off. Nationally, phantom power accounts for more than 100 billion kWh and more than $10 billion in energy costs each year. Now when you think of leaving that VCR plugged in all this time just to display a blinking "12:00" on its digital clock, you probably want to kick yourself."

These figures and concepts really give context to our app, reaffirming its validity and usefulness to the user.