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Reducing America's Electric Bill
If the approximately 1.5 billion power adapters that connect our cell phones,
digital cameras, answering machines, camcorders and countless other gadgets
to wall outlets used less power, Americans could save billions of dollars on
their
electric bills and protect the environment, EPA says. EPA has announced that
the Energy Star label is now available for external power adapters that meet
EPA’s newly established energy efficiency guidelines.
Power adapters, also known as external power supplies, recharge or power
many electronic products - PDAs, MP3 players and other electronics and appliances.
As many as 1.5 billion power adapters are in use in the United States - about
five for every American.
In the United States, more efficient adapters have the potential to save
more than 5 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy per year and prevent the
release
of more than 4 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions the equivalent of taking
800,000 cars off the road.
Power adapters are devices that convert AC (alternating current) power from
a wall outlet into DC (direct current) power that is used to power electronic
products.
Adapters are crucial to the operation of virtually all small electronic devices,
yet they tend to be very inefficient. In the United States alone, total electricity
flowing through external and internal power supplies is about 207 billion kWh/year,
equal to about $17 billion a year, or six percent of the national electric
bill. On average, Energy Star-qualified power adapters will be 35 percent more
efficient.
EPA is promoting the most efficient adapters since they are commonly bundled
with so many of today’s most popular consumer electronic and information
technology products. Sales of these products continue to show explosive growth
worldwide. If this trend continues, the energy use from consumer electronics
and small appliances could account for almost 30 percent of a typical home’s
electricity bill by 2010. By comparison, the average household today spends
45 percent of its energy bill on heating and cooling, and just six percent
to continuously
run a refrigerator.
Consumers will soon be able to purchase a variety of products that are shipped
or sold with Energy Star qualified power adapters.
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