Most customers unaware of energy-draining appliances and electronics that add dollars to their electric bills
Energy vampires are real and may be draining electricity from your home or business. This Halloween, ComEd encourages customers to put a stake in energy vampires by taking a few, simple steps that can save both money and energy.
Vampire energy, also known as standby energy, is the electricity drawn from outlets when equipment is turned off but still plugged in. Some electronics, including cell phones, computers, printers and game consoles, continue to draw electricity when they are plugged in and turned off; in fact, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, vampire energy can account for up to 10 percent of a home’s energy use.
“Starting this Halloween, stop letting appliances with clocks and timers be a drain on your electric bill,” said Melissa Washington, ComEd's chief customer officer and senior vice president of customer operations. “These devices masquerade as energy vampires that can trick you into using more electricity. This year, bite-back against energy vampires by treating yourself to these simple, energy-saving tips.”
- Use a power strip with an on/off switch to completely power down electronics at home.
- Unplug chargers to mobile phones, e-readers and other electronics once these devices are fully charged.
- When planning to be away from home for an extended amount of time, unplug all non-essential devices such as televisions and other electronics.
- Look for the ENERGY STAR® label on home appliances, electronics and other products. ENERGY STAR-certified products meet strict energy-efficiency guidelines set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Energy.
These energy-saving tips come courtesy of the award-winning ComEd Energy Efficiency Program, which is funded in compliance with state law. It is one of the largest programs in the nation offering residents, businesses and the public sector ways to control energy costs, including services and incentives that help them cut back on energy use to reduce energy bills and help the environment.
In addition to saving customers more than $7 billion on their energy bills since 2008, the energy efficiency program has helped customers save nearly 65 million megawatt-hours of electricity, which is enough energy to power more than 7.4 million ComEd customers' homes for one year.
To take advantage of the program, ComEd offers free home energy assessments that assess the interior of a home or unit to find ways to lower energy costs. Since 2014, nearly 130,000 homeowners and renters across northern Illinois have saved a total of approximately $17.5 million on their energy bills through home assessments, based on 2021 rates.
For information on all the ways ComEd helps customers save money and energy, visit ComEd.com/HomeSavings for residential customers and ComEd.com/BizSavings for business customers.
ComEd is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation (NASDAQ: EXC), a Fortune 200 energy company with approximately 10 million electricity and natural gas customers – the largest number of customers in the U.S. ComEd powers the lives of more than 4 million customers across northern Illinois, or 70 percent of the state’s population. For more information visit ComEd.com and connect with the company on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
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