Stop Forgetting To Unplug These Types Of Cords Before Leaving The House

Unplugging something as small as a cord before we leave our houses doesn't seem like much, especially considering devices like a washer, dryer, and television seem like more important appliances to unplug before leaving home. Since we live such busy lives, most of us are guilty of leaving these cords in an outlet, but what if we told you that sometimes that extra second of unplugging a cord could make a huge difference in your home? And we're not talking about your refrigerator or television. Instead, your phone charger is a cord you need to stop forgetting to unplug before leaving the house.

Cell phone charger sales produce billions of dollars in U.S. revenue a year, and that number is only growing. So it's safe to say that most of us have at least one charging cord, if not more, lying around our homes. While keeping your charger plugged into a wall or port may seem innocent enough, it can actually cause you financial and safety issues in the long run.

Your phone charger is not meant to stay plugged in all day, every day. This small action is costing you more money than you think. While you may not be using the charger, a cord plugged in is still using energy from an outlet. It may not use tons of energy, but it does use about 5 to 20 watts. This constant energy use not only creates higher electricity bills but also wastes the energy in your home.

Energy isn't the only way a plugged charging cord affects your wallet. Over time, a constantly plugged-in charger's internal components degrade, decreasing the cord's lifespan. This then prompts you to head over to the store to purchase a new one. However, you can enjoy a charger's full two- to three-year lifespan by taking a second to unplug it from your socket. After those couple of years, you can use old cables in projects like these eight unexpected ways to repurpose charging cords.

A plugged charging cord could also be dangerous to your health. Household appliances and other objects, including phone chargers, release pollutants into the air while in use. When you keep a phone charger in an outlet, the pollutants produced make it possible for you to breathe in toxins. High exposure to household air pollutants can increase your chances of heart disease, stroke, lower respiratory infections, and cancer.

Leaving a phone cord in a socket could also lead to your device overheating. An overheated phone has the potential to cause a fire, making it dangerous to plug your device in overnight. And since most of us sleep next to our phones, this reaction may happen when we are too unconscious to notice flames and smoke. Luckily in most cases, an overheated phone just leads to reduced charging speeds, poor phone performance, and wonky power delivery. Skip the frequent replacements and potential danger by unplugging your chargers and learning how to dust, clean, and disinfect the cables.