| When you get your electricity bill, do you find | | | | oven, etc. |
| yourself wondering why it's so high (apart from | | | | What About The Rest? |
| the obvious rate increases, that is)? It's not like | | | | These are examples that are fairly easy to spot. |
| you're doing more loads of laundry or running the | | | | But, others are much more elusive and tricky to |
| dishwasher more often, yet you can't seem to | | | | track down. So, how do we go about finding |
| account for the amount of electricity the bill | | | | them? |
| shows you've been using. | | | | It's time to get down and get dirty! To find out |
| The answer could well lie in what are known as | | | | just what is costing you how much, you'll need to |
| phantom, or standby, loads. This step-by-step | | | | arm yourself with a pen or pencil, a notepad, a |
| guide will help you find your phantom loads and | | | | calculator and a digital power meter (fairly |
| explain where all that electricity's going. | | | | inexpensive and simple to use). First, find |
| Are They Some Kind Of Ghostly Apparition? | | | | appliances that have remote controls, digital |
| OK, first things first. Before you can fix | | | | displays or external power sources (such things |
| something, you have to know what it is you're | | | | as cell phone chargers, or any other device that |
| fixing. Same thing with phantoms. So, let's do a | | | | needs a wall cube like that), and these are good |
| sort of DNA analysis of just what it is we're | | | | bets for standby losses. Then, follow these steps: |
| looking for. | | | | - Unplug the device to be tested |
| What does "load" mean in this instance? A load in | | | | - Plug the power meter into that outlet |
| electrical terms is basically anything that runs off a | | | | - Plug the device into the power meter |
| circuit. So, once you plug something into a socket, | | | | - Set the power meter display to watts |
| that becomes a load, because it interrupts the | | | | - Note the wattage when the device is a) turned |
| circuit's flow. | | | | off, b) turned on and c) in use |
| If you have something that's controlled by a | | | | - Take the wattage noted and multiply by 24 or |
| remote control, chances are that's a standby load. | | | | by the amount of time the device is not being |
| Standby means that, even though the device or | | | | used each day |
| appliance is turned off, it's standing by, using | | | | Spend an hour or so tracking your phantoms |
| energy to stay in the ready state for when the | | | | down, and the amount of energy you lose may |
| "on" button's pressed so it can spring immediately | | | | scare you more than any Phantom of The Opera |
| into life. And it's that standing by that's drawing | | | | could! |
| the power, resulting in a phantom. | | | | Follow this step-by-step guide to finding phantom |
| Other examples are devices which have a digital | | | | loads and do yourself and the environment a big |
| display or are in a constant state of charge, such | | | | favour. |
| as a DVD player, cordless phone, microwave | | | | |