DEAR EDITOR:

A couple comments about the recent article “Vampire power sucks energy dollars.” In a similar vein, I have wondered about daytime running lights on cars. The amount of extra fuel needed to power those lights must be so minuscule as to be incalculable. But what is minuscule times millions of cars?

And what do lights accomplish on a bright sunny day? How many accidents have been avoided by having headlights on during a sunny day? Any statistics available? Or just someone thought it was a good idea? (Most cars allow you to turn these off.)

For both these cases, home and car, it would be nice to see some data. How many watts does a phone charger use? How much energy could be saved by turning off headlights during the day? Maybe it’s nothing, but I don’t know.

Give people some facts to work with so we can make informed decisions. I agree it’s a good idea to get in the habit of turning off things we don’t need. But if you want people to buy into this way of thinking, it’s best not to make ridiculous suggestions such as “unplugging an unused lamp.” That’s just silly. Unplugging a lamp doesn’t do anything more than simply turning it off.

ROBERT LOWE