Phantom Power

This is something that I have recently stumbled upon in my quest to to beat my previous month's electricity bill. The idea seems to becoming more of a common issue, but essentially items in your house that are plugged in may have the ability to draw energy even if they are off. I personally prefer the much scarier term of "Vampire Energy". Items that have the potential to do this are items that have electronic clocks (VCRs, microwaves, stoves, etc), chargers that remain plugged in when not in use (as I understand, not all will continue to draw power, but some can), video game systems, and the list can go on.

Here are some links to read about the issue:

http://www.midlandpower.com/aspx/news/default.aspx?NewsID=969
http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/appliances/index.cfm/mytopic=10040

Calculate the potential waste of energy your appliances :

http://www.mygreenelectronics.org/EnergyCalculator.aspx

So it's probably not realilistic to put your TV and VCR on a power strip and then have to reset the clock every time you want to program it to tape (do people still record on VCR...am I the only one?), but there are steps you can do to save some money and protect the environment. Please post Phantom energy you have found in your house or work...