Don’t panic, but there may be a vampire in your home.

No, I don’t mean Count Dracula. Or Lestat, or the Cullen family from “Twilight,” or even the Count von Count. (One! One Sesame Street joke! Ah-ah-ah!)  You don’t need to carry garlic or watch out for attempts to suck your blood.

What this vampire wants to suck is your electricity.

“Energy vampires” are devices that quietly draw power even when they’re not actually doing anything. Some may be on a standby mode, like your video game console, smart TV or cable box. Some are simply plugged in without a purpose, like a phone charger that has no phone in it. All of them, left to themselves, draw electricity, which means you’re using (and paying for) electricity that you don’t need.

So how do you vanquish these vampires? Wooden stakes aren’t recommended, but there are some helpful tips to remember:

• If you have several standby devices that get used together, plug them into a common power strip, so you can turn them all on and off at once. (Just don’t overload the strip with too many plugs – octopuses are just as unwelcome as vampires and can create a fire hazard.)
• If the device is something you don’t use often, keep it unplugged unless you need it.
• Even if you use a particular device frequently – like a laptop or desktop computer – it may have peripherals that you don’t, like a printer or scanner. Turn them off when not in use.

These are simple ways to start saving energy. And if you like the sound of that, don’t forget to look for other opportunities with an Efficiency Works home energy assessment and to hunt up some easy energy-saving devices – like LED light bulbs and smart thermostats – at our online Efficiency Works Store.

Together, they can help you realize energy savings that count.

Ah-ah-ah.