I Vant to Drink Your Vatts By MATTHEW L. WALD, about "vampires"--electronic devices in standby mode, silently sipping energy to the tune of 1,000 kilowatt hours a year per household:
Among the worst vampires are big-screen televisions, mainly because of satellite and cable boxes, which can draw up to 30 watts when turned off, experts say.
Indeed, the words "off" and "on" no longer seem to apply; a better word might be "idling."
"They won't even say 'off' now; they'll say 'power,' " noted Alan K. Meier, a senior energy analyst at the International Energy Agency, a consortium based in Paris. "My washing machine draws five watts even when there's no sign of intelligent life."
Two points:
- Intelligent life? Is that what one expects from a washing machine, or indeed anywhere else on this planet? Beam me up!
- If the machine is indeed intelligent, isn't cutting off the power equivalent to murder? Isn't the machine just like Terry Schiavo?
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