WEBVTT - TechStuff Tidbits: Putting a Stake in Vampire Power

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Pay there and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host,

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<v Speaker 1>Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heeart Radio

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<v Speaker 1>and how the tech are you. It's time for a

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<v Speaker 1>tech Stuff Tidbits Spooky edition. Today we're going to look

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<v Speaker 1>at the spooky world of them buyer power. Which by

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<v Speaker 1>that I don't mean being able to turn into a

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<v Speaker 1>bat or a wolf or missed. We're being able to

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<v Speaker 1>hypnotize victims. We're not going to talk about being able

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<v Speaker 1>to enter a building only after being invited. No, we're

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<v Speaker 1>talking about electronics here. But it's also sometimes called pandom

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<v Speaker 1>energy spooky. All right, let's um, we'll sweep aside the

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<v Speaker 1>late night hard TV show post gimmick. I know it

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<v Speaker 1>was cringe, E I know I did it on purpose.

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<v Speaker 1>You don't have to tell me how cringe it was.

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<v Speaker 1>It was a it was a choice. So let's talk

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<v Speaker 1>about vampire power. Basically, that term refers to the tendency

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<v Speaker 1>for plug in electronic devices to continue to leach electricity

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<v Speaker 1>even when those devices are turned off or in a

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<v Speaker 1>sleep mode. So, for example, let's say you've plugged in

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<v Speaker 1>a cell phone charger and you just you plugged it

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<v Speaker 1>into the wall and you just leave the charger plugged

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<v Speaker 1>in all the time. So when your smartphone needs to recharge,

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<v Speaker 1>you take the USB side and you plug it into

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<v Speaker 1>your smartphone and or the lightning side if you're using

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<v Speaker 1>an iPhone, and then when you're done, you unplug the

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<v Speaker 1>cable from your smartphone, but you leave the charger plugged

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<v Speaker 1>into the wall. Well, that charger actually continues to drain

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<v Speaker 1>electricity all the time when it's plugged in. Uh if

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<v Speaker 1>you touch a charger and it's warm, that means that

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<v Speaker 1>it's been consuming electricity and that electricity has been converted

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<v Speaker 1>into waste heat even though nothing has been plugged into

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<v Speaker 1>that cable to recharge. That's vampire power. Now, in some cases,

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<v Speaker 1>this whole vampire power thing, it's not a bug. It's

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<v Speaker 1>a feature. By that, I mean it's part of standby

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<v Speaker 1>mode or standby power. This is what keeps certain devices

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<v Speaker 1>like cable boxes, uh TVs, video game systems, computers. It

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<v Speaker 1>keeps them ready to come on to full power with

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<v Speaker 1>as little delay as possible. The devices remain in a

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<v Speaker 1>low power mode when they are not in use, so

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<v Speaker 1>that when it does come time to use them. They're

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<v Speaker 1>ady to spring into action with as little delay as

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<v Speaker 1>can be created, and that way you don't have a

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<v Speaker 1>slower powering up sequence frustrating your consumers. Now, way back

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<v Speaker 1>in the bad old days, I remember having a TV

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<v Speaker 1>that would take it seemed like the better part of

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<v Speaker 1>a minute to really power up. Now I'm old. This

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<v Speaker 1>was an old black and white television that we had,

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<v Speaker 1>and it was old even when I was a kid,

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<v Speaker 1>right Like, this was not a brand new TV. Color

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<v Speaker 1>TV was definitely around in the seventies, y'all. We had

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<v Speaker 1>a color TV. It's just this was an extra one,

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<v Speaker 1>like a smaller black and white TV that we happened

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<v Speaker 1>to have, and I got to keep it in my room. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't remember really watching much on it, but yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>you would turn the power on and then slowly, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>gradually the image would take shape on the screen, and

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<v Speaker 1>even after it formed, it would actually take a little

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<v Speaker 1>bit longer for the screen to reach the right level

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<v Speaker 1>of brightness, so it would gradually get a little brighter.

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<v Speaker 1>I didn't think of it as taking our super long

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<v Speaker 1>time back then, because I mean, I didn't have a

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<v Speaker 1>whole lot to compare it to our color television also

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<v Speaker 1>took a while to come on, um, because this is

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<v Speaker 1>the c R T days, and the TV at least

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<v Speaker 1>the black and white one was likely on its last

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<v Speaker 1>TV legs, So you know, you didn't have very high expectations.

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<v Speaker 1>But you skip ahead and now we've got all these

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<v Speaker 1>high tech TVs, whether it's q LED or O LEAD

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<v Speaker 1>or you know, there was that that time briefly when

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<v Speaker 1>plasma TVs were a big thing. Some of y'all might

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<v Speaker 1>still have lasma televisions. And you know, you also have

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<v Speaker 1>a consumer base that has come to expect instant gratification

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<v Speaker 1>and that's hard to deliver upon. So to meet that expectation,

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<v Speaker 1>standby power is often the go to strategy. The television

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<v Speaker 1>or you know, similar device like video game console or whatever.

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<v Speaker 1>It doesn't have to go from zero to top speed

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<v Speaker 1>in an instant because it's idling at a lower speed,

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<v Speaker 1>if you will. It's ready to accelerate once you hit

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<v Speaker 1>that power button, but it never is actually staying still.

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<v Speaker 1>To continue that analogy, and here's the crazy thing about

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<v Speaker 1>vampire power, folks, over the lifetime of certain products, especially

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<v Speaker 1>things like microwaves or even televisions, the device might actually

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<v Speaker 1>consume more power when it's not in use then when

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<v Speaker 1>it is in use. Now I'm talking about over the

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<v Speaker 1>lifetime of the DV, not on your average day or

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<v Speaker 1>even your average month, but when you add up the

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<v Speaker 1>entire lifespan of when you bought the thing, plugged it in,

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<v Speaker 1>and when you finally got rid of it. A lot

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<v Speaker 1>of these devices, if you were to tally up there

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<v Speaker 1>there uh a contribution to your electricity bill, you would

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<v Speaker 1>find that they actually cost more collectively on the times

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<v Speaker 1>they were off than when the times they were on.

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<v Speaker 1>So in most cases, the amount of electricity these devices

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<v Speaker 1>are pulling when they're off or in standby mode is

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<v Speaker 1>much less than when you're actively using them. Some the

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<v Speaker 1>gap is actually pretty small, like certain TVs, it's not

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<v Speaker 1>that big of a gap between when the television is

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<v Speaker 1>actually being used and when it's in standby mode. But

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<v Speaker 1>for other devices it is remarkably different. Like it's a

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<v Speaker 1>massive difference. Um, But you know, you're only using these

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<v Speaker 1>devices for a relatively short amount of time compared to

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<v Speaker 1>the rest of the time or in your home, right

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<v Speaker 1>like you're not running your microwave all day. I hope

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<v Speaker 1>that would be bad. Microwaves are designed to heat food

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<v Speaker 1>very very quickly. So the length of time that you

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<v Speaker 1>own a microwave, you know, you only use that a

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<v Speaker 1>tiny bit, Like if you made that a pie chart

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<v Speaker 1>for how long you own the microwave versus how much

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<v Speaker 1>of that time you you actually use the microwave. It's

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<v Speaker 1>a tiny sliver, and yet it can pull more electricity

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<v Speaker 1>when it's off collectively than when it's on. Now, in

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<v Speaker 1>the case of micro is, by the way, it's not

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<v Speaker 1>so much that that devices in standby mode as it

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<v Speaker 1>requires electricity to power what are called background functions, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>like that digital clock, which I'm going to rant about

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<v Speaker 1>later in this episode. So what this amounts to is,

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<v Speaker 1>as you would imagine, a lot of wasted electricity, a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of electricity that your home is using that isn't

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<v Speaker 1>actually going to power anything actively, like it's not an

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<v Speaker 1>active use, So that electricity is just kind of going

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<v Speaker 1>down the drain. That in turn leads to some pretty

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<v Speaker 1>hefty electricity bills, or at least inflated electricity bills. So

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<v Speaker 1>my co worker Robert Lamb, one of the hosts of

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff to Blew Your Mind, he wrote an article way

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<v Speaker 1>back in the house stuff works days about vampire power. Uh.

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<v Speaker 1>And in that article he cites a figure that US

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<v Speaker 1>consumers spend around eight billion dollars more on a tricity

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<v Speaker 1>per year thanks to vampire power. So if you take

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<v Speaker 1>whatever the US consumers spend per year on electricity, eight

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<v Speaker 1>billion of that is just because of devices that aren't

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<v Speaker 1>in active use. Now, I'm not sure when Robert actually

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<v Speaker 1>wrote that article. I know it did have to be

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<v Speaker 1>a long time ago because we haven't been part of

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<v Speaker 1>how stuff works for several years now. But in our

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<v Speaker 1>DC dot org submits that today it's much much worse

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<v Speaker 1>than eight billion dollars. That figure, according to in our

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<v Speaker 1>DC dot org, is now around nineteen billion dollars spent

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<v Speaker 1>to power in active electronics each year, and there are

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<v Speaker 1>other sources that have even higher estimates. Now, granted, these

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<v Speaker 1>are estimates, right, It's not like we have a meter

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<v Speaker 1>that we can just look at and say, oh, and

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<v Speaker 1>here's how much the vampire power has cost this year,

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<v Speaker 1>So you have to keep that in mind. These are estimates.

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<v Speaker 1>But if you're in the nineteen billion dollar neighborhood, and

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<v Speaker 1>again I saw one estimate that went as high as

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<v Speaker 1>I think twenty six billion dollars. It's significant. It's a

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<v Speaker 1>significant amount of money being wasted to power devices that

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<v Speaker 1>aren't actually being used. So all too old estimates PEG

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<v Speaker 1>vampire power is contributing to between fourteen to twenty percent

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<v Speaker 1>of your electricity bill UM, So again it's significant. It

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<v Speaker 1>even if your average bill isn't that high, a significant

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<v Speaker 1>part of that bill comes from things that you're not

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<v Speaker 1>actively using, at least not all month. And considering that

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<v Speaker 1>at least some of that electricity depending on where you're at,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, it's it's not for each of you, but

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<v Speaker 1>you know, some of us are are depending upon electricity

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<v Speaker 1>that comes to us courtesy of coal and natural gas,

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<v Speaker 1>those kind of power plants, power plants that use fossil fuels.

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<v Speaker 1>It means for us that our plugged in but otherwise

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<v Speaker 1>unused electronics are contribu reading to problems like pollution and

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<v Speaker 1>climate change. So not only does vampire power cost you money,

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<v Speaker 1>it potentially is also causing an environmental issue. Now, granted,

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<v Speaker 1>if your power is coming from primarily like hydro electric

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<v Speaker 1>power or some other renewable source, it's different, right, Like

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<v Speaker 1>your your power is not coming from a coal powered

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<v Speaker 1>power plant, then obviously the environmental issue doesn't really play

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<v Speaker 1>as big a part. The financial one still does, but

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<v Speaker 1>not the environmental. But for a lot of folks, including myself,

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<v Speaker 1>my power comes from a power company that still largely

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<v Speaker 1>depends upon coal and natural gas. So that's something else

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<v Speaker 1>for me to consider. All Right, I'm gonna talk more

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<v Speaker 1>about the spooky effects of vampire power after we come

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<v Speaker 1>back from these messages. Okay, let's talk about some of

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<v Speaker 1>the devices that have the worst reputations for vampire power.

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<v Speaker 1>Those would include things like set top boxes. The king

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<v Speaker 1>of those would be digital cable boxes that incorporate DVRs

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<v Speaker 1>because even with their quote unquote off, they're really on

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<v Speaker 1>in order to be able to leap into action and

0:11:23.640 --> 0:11:26.679
<v Speaker 1>record stuff and all that kind of thing. That can

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<v Speaker 1>lead to vampire costs of nearly fifty dollars a year

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<v Speaker 1>just an off mode. So you're spending an extra fifty

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<v Speaker 1>bucks just for having that off. That's, you know, significant,

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<v Speaker 1>Think about what else you can have for that fifty bucks.

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<v Speaker 1>Game consoles coming around twenty six dollars per year if

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<v Speaker 1>you're just allowing them to be in standby mode. Some

0:11:49.520 --> 0:11:52.640
<v Speaker 1>game consoles actually let you turn that feature off when

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<v Speaker 1>you first get them where you know, it's a setting

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<v Speaker 1>where when you turn the console off, it really is off.

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<v Speaker 1>But most consoles allow for standby mode so that you

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<v Speaker 1>can do like a remote power thing with your controller

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<v Speaker 1>um and that it doesn't take as long for the

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<v Speaker 1>console to come up online, so that you're not you know,

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<v Speaker 1>sitting around for a minute or two waiting for it

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<v Speaker 1>to finish the boot up sequence. K TV might come

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<v Speaker 1>in closer to twenty two dollars of vampire power per year.

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<v Speaker 1>Computers and idle mode kind of have similar issues. If

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<v Speaker 1>you have a desktop that you're just putting into sleep mode,

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<v Speaker 1>then it comes in around twenty three dollars fifty cents

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<v Speaker 1>per year. Laptops are a little less, like seventeen dollars

0:12:37.040 --> 0:12:39.559
<v Speaker 1>fifty cents a year. There are other electronics that are

0:12:39.679 --> 0:12:42.720
<v Speaker 1>much less greedy for electricity, like that phone charger which

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<v Speaker 1>I talked about the beginning. Your typical phone charger might

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<v Speaker 1>be sucking down like twenty cents of electricity per year

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<v Speaker 1>when it's not plugged into anything. So in that case, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, it's constantly pulling on electricity, but it's not

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<v Speaker 1>a lot. So in the grand scheme of things, it's

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<v Speaker 1>a small it's a small consideration, but our electronics are

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<v Speaker 1>definitely sapping electricity even when we're not using them. So

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<v Speaker 1>what can we do about that? All right? There are

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<v Speaker 1>a few different options. One is that we can use

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<v Speaker 1>power strips that have a cut off switch on them,

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<v Speaker 1>so I'm talking about ones that actually have a switch.

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<v Speaker 1>You can do searches for these. There's a bunch of

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<v Speaker 1>different types, um that have different ratings and things. But

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<v Speaker 1>the idea is that when you are not using the

0:13:30.280 --> 0:13:33.520
<v Speaker 1>electronics that are plugged into that strip, you can turn

0:13:33.600 --> 0:13:36.680
<v Speaker 1>the strip to off and it actually does cut off

0:13:36.720 --> 0:13:39.480
<v Speaker 1>all the electricity going to those devices. They will not

0:13:39.559 --> 0:13:43.320
<v Speaker 1>be able to draw power because the power strip itself

0:13:43.760 --> 0:13:48.079
<v Speaker 1>prevents it from happening. UM. Obviously, a big downside with

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<v Speaker 1>that is that if you turn the power strip off,

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<v Speaker 1>it affects everything that's been plugged into it. So if

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<v Speaker 1>it's something where you wanted to you say, your stereo system,

0:13:56.520 --> 0:14:00.920
<v Speaker 1>which is plugged into the same power strip as your television,

0:14:01.480 --> 0:14:03.680
<v Speaker 1>and you can't just turn the power strip off so

0:14:03.720 --> 0:14:06.000
<v Speaker 1>that the TV is not pulling vampire power because your

0:14:06.120 --> 0:14:08.880
<v Speaker 1>stereo systems plugged into it too. So that's clearly like

0:14:09.559 --> 0:14:11.800
<v Speaker 1>a downside to that, you have to sit there and think,

0:14:11.800 --> 0:14:14.280
<v Speaker 1>all right, how do I plug this in where the

0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:16.440
<v Speaker 1>stuff that's all going to be on at the same

0:14:16.480 --> 0:14:18.880
<v Speaker 1>time makes sense and the stuff that's all going to

0:14:18.960 --> 0:14:21.200
<v Speaker 1>be off at the same time makes sense, And that

0:14:21.280 --> 0:14:24.640
<v Speaker 1>starts to get into like a kind of ridiculous scenario

0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:27.480
<v Speaker 1>depending upon what you're looking at, right, But that is

0:14:27.520 --> 0:14:33.200
<v Speaker 1>one option. Um you could also manually unplugged devices after use.

0:14:34.000 --> 0:14:36.760
<v Speaker 1>That's also a hassle, there's no doubt about that, like

0:14:36.840 --> 0:14:40.160
<v Speaker 1>to have to go through and actually unplugged stuff step

0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:44.080
<v Speaker 1>by step. And some devices like your coffee maker draw

0:14:44.400 --> 0:14:47.080
<v Speaker 1>or your charger for that matter, they draw so little

0:14:47.160 --> 0:14:51.040
<v Speaker 1>power in comparison to say a microwave that there's not

0:14:51.160 --> 0:14:54.240
<v Speaker 1>much point in doing it. Like, yes, you could unplug

0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:57.720
<v Speaker 1>your phone charger from the wall, and it's not bad

0:14:57.760 --> 0:15:00.400
<v Speaker 1>to do it. It's not a bad idea, but it's

0:15:00.440 --> 0:15:03.120
<v Speaker 1>not making as big a difference, right that twenty cents

0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:07.360
<v Speaker 1>of electricity per year. It's it's a negligible amount. I

0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:10.880
<v Speaker 1>mean every little bit helps, yes, but compared to things

0:15:10.960 --> 0:15:14.240
<v Speaker 1>like your microwave, of your TVs, your digital cable boxes,

0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:19.720
<v Speaker 1>it's nothing. So it really, you know, you can kind

0:15:19.720 --> 0:15:21.560
<v Speaker 1>of get away with just keeping it plugged in if

0:15:21.600 --> 0:15:24.360
<v Speaker 1>you're taking out some of the bigger guys, right your

0:15:24.360 --> 0:15:27.080
<v Speaker 1>TV is, your audio systems, your set top boxes, that

0:15:27.120 --> 0:15:29.400
<v Speaker 1>can make a real difference to your power bill. For

0:15:29.480 --> 0:15:32.360
<v Speaker 1>stuff like computers, you can choose to shut them down

0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:35.080
<v Speaker 1>when you're done using them rather than just putting them

0:15:35.080 --> 0:15:40.800
<v Speaker 1>into sleep mode. However, and boy I love these howevers,

0:15:40.840 --> 0:15:43.880
<v Speaker 1>there is a potential issue there. Every time you turn

0:15:43.920 --> 0:15:45.880
<v Speaker 1>on the computer, it has to go through the whole

0:15:45.920 --> 0:15:49.000
<v Speaker 1>boot up sequence, and there is a surge of electricity

0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:51.800
<v Speaker 1>when this happens that actually does produce a little wear

0:15:51.800 --> 0:15:54.880
<v Speaker 1>and tear on the computer itself. And if your computer

0:15:55.040 --> 0:15:58.240
<v Speaker 1>happens to have things like hard disk drive in it,

0:15:58.680 --> 0:16:02.480
<v Speaker 1>well that physically has to spin up to be used.

0:16:02.520 --> 0:16:05.760
<v Speaker 1>And so there is an argument to be made that

0:16:05.880 --> 0:16:09.360
<v Speaker 1>shutting down your computer entirely and then turning it on

0:16:09.480 --> 0:16:12.240
<v Speaker 1>every time you want to use it can actually reduce

0:16:12.320 --> 0:16:16.160
<v Speaker 1>the useful lifespan of your computer. It will wear out faster.

0:16:16.720 --> 0:16:20.600
<v Speaker 1>Then we get into a very complicated issue because if

0:16:20.640 --> 0:16:22.720
<v Speaker 1>it turns out you're going to have to replace your

0:16:22.720 --> 0:16:25.960
<v Speaker 1>computer on a shorter schedule, like slightly more frequently and

0:16:26.000 --> 0:16:29.479
<v Speaker 1>I'm not talking about like going from replacing it every

0:16:29.560 --> 0:16:31.440
<v Speaker 1>you know, five years, to every year and a half

0:16:31.520 --> 0:16:34.400
<v Speaker 1>or something, but it will be a shorter schedule. That

0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:37.280
<v Speaker 1>means you also end up placing demands all up and

0:16:37.320 --> 0:16:40.360
<v Speaker 1>down the supply chain, and there's this ripple effect going on. Right. So,

0:16:40.440 --> 0:16:43.040
<v Speaker 1>like you might say, oh, I saved on electricity, but

0:16:43.560 --> 0:16:46.680
<v Speaker 1>because I have to buy this computer more frequently, the

0:16:46.880 --> 0:16:50.440
<v Speaker 1>long term budget effects and the long term environmental impact

0:16:50.840 --> 0:16:56.320
<v Speaker 1>are actually worse because of having to replace the machine. Now, personally,

0:16:56.360 --> 0:16:58.480
<v Speaker 1>I think shutting down your computer is a good idea

0:16:58.520 --> 0:17:00.680
<v Speaker 1>if you're done using it for the day. That's what

0:17:00.720 --> 0:17:03.040
<v Speaker 1>I do. Once I'm done for the day, I'll turn

0:17:03.080 --> 0:17:05.359
<v Speaker 1>it off. But if you're gonna be going back and

0:17:05.400 --> 0:17:08.080
<v Speaker 1>forth to a computer during the day, I would say

0:17:08.160 --> 0:17:12.520
<v Speaker 1>just leave it an idle mode between sessions because it's

0:17:12.520 --> 0:17:16.199
<v Speaker 1>gonna require less wear and tear. The idle mode is

0:17:16.200 --> 0:17:18.520
<v Speaker 1>not going to pull nearly as much electricity as when

0:17:18.520 --> 0:17:22.280
<v Speaker 1>it's on. So as long as you are shutting it

0:17:22.280 --> 0:17:25.520
<v Speaker 1>off after you're done using it, I think things are

0:17:25.520 --> 0:17:28.560
<v Speaker 1>pretty much okay. But that's my personal opinion on this matter.

0:17:28.640 --> 0:17:31.600
<v Speaker 1>I actually read several articles about this and let's just

0:17:31.600 --> 0:17:34.800
<v Speaker 1>say there's a lack of consensus on the matter. Now,

0:17:34.840 --> 0:17:38.560
<v Speaker 1>beyond the inconvenience of unplugging stuff, there are other frustrations.

0:17:38.560 --> 0:17:40.760
<v Speaker 1>And this is where I get back to that darn

0:17:40.880 --> 0:17:46.600
<v Speaker 1>digital clock, especially on things like, you know, microwaves. So

0:17:46.680 --> 0:17:48.879
<v Speaker 1>if you were to unplug your microwave after use, it

0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:51.159
<v Speaker 1>means you either have to be willing to put up

0:17:51.160 --> 0:17:54.240
<v Speaker 1>with the fact that you're gonna have digital mockery there's

0:17:54.240 --> 0:17:56.480
<v Speaker 1>this clock face that's gonna be blinking at you every

0:17:56.480 --> 0:17:58.919
<v Speaker 1>time you plug it back in, or you actually go

0:17:59.040 --> 0:18:02.639
<v Speaker 1>through the foolish steps of setting the clock each and

0:18:02.680 --> 0:18:07.639
<v Speaker 1>every time. And therein lies madness. And yeah, that's a

0:18:07.640 --> 0:18:09.520
<v Speaker 1>little thing, but you can see how heavily it weighs

0:18:09.520 --> 0:18:12.800
<v Speaker 1>on me. One big thing we can do when we

0:18:12.800 --> 0:18:15.280
<v Speaker 1>shop for electronics in the first place, is we can

0:18:15.280 --> 0:18:19.359
<v Speaker 1>look for Energy Star certification on those devices. The Environmental

0:18:19.359 --> 0:18:23.080
<v Speaker 1>Protection Agency sets the standards for energy efficiency that are

0:18:23.119 --> 0:18:26.119
<v Speaker 1>required to meet in order to qualify as an Energy

0:18:26.160 --> 0:18:29.520
<v Speaker 1>Star certified device. So products that have the Energy Star

0:18:29.640 --> 0:18:34.400
<v Speaker 1>label have to meet certain efficiency, quality and performance standards. Now,

0:18:34.440 --> 0:18:37.000
<v Speaker 1>that does not necessarily mean that a product that doesn't

0:18:37.040 --> 0:18:40.040
<v Speaker 1>have the label is automatically worse, but does mean we

0:18:40.560 --> 0:18:43.840
<v Speaker 1>don't really know because it hasn't been certified, so it's

0:18:43.880 --> 0:18:47.240
<v Speaker 1>better to look for that label. Hey Jonathan, I hear

0:18:47.280 --> 0:18:50.520
<v Speaker 1>some of you asked, what do you do about your electronics? Well,

0:18:50.560 --> 0:18:52.400
<v Speaker 1>if I'm leaving my house for any length of time,

0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:55.040
<v Speaker 1>like a weekend trip or something, I'll switch off the

0:18:55.040 --> 0:18:58.560
<v Speaker 1>power switches to certain devices, but I'll leave others on,

0:18:58.680 --> 0:19:00.800
<v Speaker 1>like I leave my wifind out work on, because I

0:19:00.800 --> 0:19:03.400
<v Speaker 1>can do stuff like access certain smart home features while

0:19:03.440 --> 0:19:06.440
<v Speaker 1>I'm away. If I'm gone for a longer amount of time,

0:19:06.520 --> 0:19:09.280
<v Speaker 1>then I tend to unplug and shut down more of

0:19:09.320 --> 0:19:12.000
<v Speaker 1>my stuff. But in my day to day I'm pretty

0:19:12.000 --> 0:19:15.040
<v Speaker 1>guilty of leaving things in standby mode, which honestly I

0:19:15.080 --> 0:19:17.479
<v Speaker 1>should probably stop doing because being aware of how that

0:19:17.520 --> 0:19:21.080
<v Speaker 1>adds to the power load means I'm part of the problem.

0:19:21.119 --> 0:19:25.240
<v Speaker 1>There's only so far individual or responsibility can take us,

0:19:25.480 --> 0:19:28.240
<v Speaker 1>but that doesn't mean we shouldn't do our own part.

0:19:28.920 --> 0:19:31.760
<v Speaker 1>And that's it for this tech stuff tidbits on Vampire Power.

0:19:31.800 --> 0:19:33.960
<v Speaker 1>Hope you enjoyed it. Reach out to me if you

0:19:34.000 --> 0:19:36.800
<v Speaker 1>have suggestions for the show. You can do that on Twitter.

0:19:37.200 --> 0:19:40.879
<v Speaker 1>Tech Stuff hs W and or you can download the

0:19:40.920 --> 0:19:43.440
<v Speaker 1>iHeart Radio app. Go to tech Stuff, use a little

0:19:43.480 --> 0:19:46.240
<v Speaker 1>microphone icon, leave me a voice message, and I'll talk

0:19:46.240 --> 0:19:55.359
<v Speaker 1>to you again really soon. Tex Stuff is an I

0:19:55.480 --> 0:19:59.000
<v Speaker 1>Heart Radio production. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio,

0:19:59.320 --> 0:20:02.480
<v Speaker 1>visit the i our Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

0:20:02.560 --> 0:20:08.520
<v Speaker 1>you listen to your favorite shows. H