The $25 smart plug that fixed my phantom power problem

My electric bill in Denver was creeping up 15% with no one home, so I bought a cheap smart plug to check if the TV and router were the culprits. Turns out they were pulling 40 watts combined all night, every night, which adds up to about 60 bucks a year. Anyone else found a tiny gadget that quietly cut their usage more than any big solar project they tried?

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susan42411d ago

The real win with those plugs is catching the stuff you never think about, like the cable box that stays warm all night or the old phone charger that still draws power with nothing connected. One thing nobody mentions is checking your water heater timer or the garage door opener's backup battery, those can be silent hogs too. My neighbor found his attic fan thermostat was stuck and running for hours after the house cooled off, a meter doesn't catch that unless you watch it live. That 40 watts you found is chicken feed compared to some of these hidden ones. Good on you for starting there, but dig deeper once you get the habit.