Your
home video system can be an energy drain you never expected, with many of the items in the area (like
DVD players, speakers and
converter boxes) staying on in standby modes even after you press their respective power buttons, which can add up on your energy bill over time and cost you more each month than you need to be paying. Part of the solution is taking the time
to plug electronics into a power strip that you shut off at the end of the evening and while you're at work during the day (you may want to keep cable boxes, which take awhile to power up when first turned on, plugged into a regular outlet), but another crucial step is to look for
Energy Star certification when you're purchasing home video items.
Energy Star certification indicates that items use less power and have improved standby modes and can be found for most electronics now---there are even
Energy Star-certified digital-to-analog converter boxes.