I’m always telling my kids to turn off the TV when they’re done watching it. “Hey, do you want to pay the bill?”, I yell. Turns out, even when it’s off, the TV is still costing me money.

And it’s not just the TV. You could call them energy thieves or vampires. These are appliances that zap your energy and drive your bills sky-high. A study shows we spend $2 billion a year keeping them on when they aren’t being used. A list of the worst offenders is out. They include:

• Plasma TVs. Even when they’re not on, and no power going through it, it still costs $64 in electricity every year.
• DVRs. An average DVR when on and recording burns about 30 watts an hour. And even when it’s not on, and not recording, it still burns 29 watts an hour, costing home owners an extra $30 a year.
• Gaming systems. Leave that on, and that will cost you an extra $60 a year.
• Your computer screen saver actually doesn’t save you anything. You use more electricity, costing about $50 a year.

Instead of telling my boys to turn off TVs and video games, maybe I should be yelling, “Hey, did you unplug it?” Don’t count on it.