Those little lights that glow in the dark

You can get interested in this if you feel a personal responsibility for saving the planet, or if you feel a personal responsibility for not going broke.

We know the big energy hogs are refrigerators and ovens and the like, but consider this:

Digital picture frames are small, so it's hard to think of them as energy hogs. But if each U.S. household had one of these frames running around the clock, it would take five power plants to run them all, says the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), an electricity-focused research and development nonprofit.

It gets worse:

Other small energy hogs include mobile phone chargers and laptop power adapters that are always plugged in to electric outlets. These chargers continue to draw energy even when the devices they charge have been disconnected. And "always-on" appliances like printers or speakers are called "energy vampires" because they also suck up power even when they're turned off or in an idle state.

I had no idea. I thought the fact that various rooms are lit up at night by the little lights on gadgets was entertaining for the dog and cats. I didn't know I was paying for it.

Here are some other fun facts from Forbes:

• The typical home has 30 always-on devices.
• While a refrigerator  accounts for about 8% of a household's energy consumption, "vampire devices" account for about 4%.
• It's estimated that estimates that gaming consoles consume around 16 billion kilowatt-hours per year, roughly the same energy usage as the city of San Diego.
• Chargers for mobile devices like cellphones and PDAs use only 7 to 10 watts. But if they are left plugged in to electric outlets even when the charged device is not connected, they continue to draw power. Add them all up across the country, and they could consume the energy output of several power plants.

My pets will just have to get around in the dark.