My wife insists that leaving an extension cord plugged in to an outlet with nothing plugged into the cord is a waste of energy. She says she heard this on the oprah winfrey show and also got a letter from com-ed about this. I tried to tell her that there is no cost to leave an extension cord plugged in with nothing plugged in to it but she maintains that I'm wrong and keeps unplugging the extension cords for my golf cart and snowblower that I only use when in plug the cart or snowblower in to the cord. Joihn

She is wrong of course, and I'm guessing it may be due to confusion with how leaving applicances plugged in and yet "off" can use electricity (these are called "energy vampires - see: http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/myths/appliances.html ) Perhaps she thinks that an extension cord is a kind of applicance, and so even if it's "off" (nothing plugged into it) she thinks it may still draw electricity, like a vampire appliance.

The only time it would waste energy is if there were an AC adapter attached (Cell Phone charger, speaker plug, answering machine, etc.). Otherwise, no, just a plain extension cord will not draw any electricity.

She may have misinterpreted what she heard, or Oprah may have said just that...

You are correct of course, but it is not likely you will win this argument. If she heard it on Oprah, it must be true.

You could try logic but that is not likely to win either. The logic would be.

"The extension cord is just like the wire inside the wall except it is not as big. If the extension cord is costing money and energy, how much is the wire inside the wall costing."

You should be aware that making such an argument is likely to cost you a night on the couch.

You are correct of course, but it is not likely you will win this argument. If she heard it on Oprah, it must be true.

You could try logic but that is not likely to win either. The logic would be.

"The extension cord is just like the wire inside the wall except it is not as big. If the extension cord is costing money and energy, how much is the wire inside the wall costing."

You should be aware that making such an argument is likely to cost you a night on the couch.

Be careful, you're questioning Oprah's logic!

"Women are not bothered by logic."

If you find that offensive,

"Women are bothered by logic."