Why Vampire Power Saves You Money in the Long Run

A couple of years ago, when "vampire power" -- the standby power that most devices draw when not actively being used -- became a common villain in "green" energy campaigns, I predicted that the common advice to turn off all your gadgets when they weren't in use was probably naïve and simplistic. After all, many of these devices draw power for a reason -- it's not just because they hate the earth. (And I have a reputation for picking adversarial positions that defy conventional wisdom.)

Recently, Lifehacker pointed out that if you turn off your printer, it costs you more money in the long run in both power and ink.

Here's why: When you power a printer down completely, such as by turning off a power strip, the printer has to go through a costly startup procedure the next time it's turned on. That includes a cleaning cycle that uses up a bunch of ink that it wouldn't have to do if just left on overnight.

The moral of the story is that printers are optimized to be left on in low power mode, and turning them off can cost you in the long run. The same is likely true of other devices as well (such as PCs that need to boot from scratch if you don't put them to sleep or (even better) hibernation every evening.

Photo courtesy Flickr user justinbaeder