So you’re a thoughtful energy consumer—you turn the lights off when you leave a room, you turn your thermostat down so it doesn’t run when you’re not home and you have even purchased a few light emitting diodes (LEDs) to replace your ancient incandescent bulbs. Feeling pretty good about yourself? Well think again.

A shocking study released last week by the Natural Resources Defense Council shows that on average we may be wasting as much as 23 percent of the electricity we buy every year. The waste, NRDC said, can be traced to the ubiquitous electronic devices that dot every room in every house/apartment in the United States. These devices—an average house has 65 of them NRDC said—consume electricity around the clock—even if they are actually only being used for an hour or two a day.

Adding it all up, NRDC said, these inactive devices waste about 1,300 kilowatt-hours of electricity per house per year—about the output of 50 500 megawatt power plants nationwide. While wasted, the electricity still has to be paid for—and this costs consumers roughly $19 billion annually, or $165 per household. That’s a lot for nothing.

Continue reading Incredible 23 Percent
 Of Home Electric Use
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