This Halloween, we’ll be seeing tons of spooky creatures and supernatural monsters out on the streets, but the scariest monster is lurking every day in your own home: the energy vampire. An “energy vampire” is an electronic appliance or device that uses energy when it’s plugged in, even if it’s turned off.

Most energy vampires go into “standby” mode, where they continuously suck a trickle of electricity to power features such as clocks and LED status lights. Yes, that means your glowing microwave clock is actually a creature of the night!

Energy vampires account for five to 10 percent of a household’s total electricity use. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, that adds up to $100 per year for each household, or more than $10 billion in annual energy costs nationwide!

Some energy vampires that might be draining your wallet include:

* TVs (especially LCD and plasma TVs)

* Video game and home audio systems, DVD players, & cable boxes

* Computers

* Chargers for cell phones, MP3 players, notebook computers, tablets, etc.

The City of Santa Clarita partners with Southern California Edison, Southern California Gas Company and The Energy Coalition through the Community Energy Partnership* to help you defeat energy and money-wasting monsters like these. Here are some tips on how to slay energy vampires in your home:

* Unplug appliances and devices when they’re not in use or have finished charging. It may not be feasible to unplug every energy vampire, but it’s easy to unplug in areas not frequently used, such as a guest room or garage.

* Plug appliances into an easily accessible power strip or surge protector and turn the entire power strip off when the devices aren’t in use.

* Buy weaker energy vampires. You may not be able to completely avoid energy vampires, but you can purchase appliances that drain less energy than others when in standby mode.

For more information about energy efficiency and other environmental programs and events, visit GreenSantaClarita.com.

*The Community Energy Partnership is funded by California utility customers and administered by Southern California Gas Company and Southern California Edison under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission.