30 Oct 2020
This Saturday is the spookiest day of the year—Halloween! While you might hang up skeletons, spider webs or bats in your house, did you know there are vampires lurking?
If you’re not familiar with this term, ‘vampire power’ refers to devices that continue to use energy and suck power, even when they’re turned off.
Every outlet that’s plugged in, is pulling electricity out. Although your TV might be switched off, it’s on standby ready to receive a signal to be turned back on at any time.
Some of the most common vampires in your home might include:
- Televisions & DVRs
- Video game consoles
- Smart speaker (voice assistant)
- Wireless router
- Microwave
- Washing machine
Putting out garlic won’t get rid of these vampires though. To save energy in your home, you can try turning off appliances at the wall, unplug chargers that aren’t in use and make sure you check the energy efficiency rating for any new appliances you’re buying.
If you’re interested in doing an energy safety check at you place, download Evoenergy’s energy safety checklist.
Electrical safety in your home
Even scarier than oblivious energy usage is unsafely using the energy in your home. Evoenergy have a quick safety checklist you can use as a guide to identify potential electrical hazards so you can keep yourself, your family, your pets and our network safe:
Inside the home:
- Report electric shocks or tingles to Evoenergy on 13 10 93.
- Unplug overloaded power points and test smoke alarms.
- Replace or have repaired appliances that have frayed cables.
- Remove flammable material from light bulbs or power points.
Outside the home:
- Keep trees and vegetation at least 1.5m from poles and powerlines.
- Keep sheds and clothes lines at least 1.5m from electrical infrastructure.
- Ensure your solar PV system maintenance and testing is up to date.
- Dial before you dig on 1100 before you start renovating.