5% to 25% of electricity is used by electronics that are turned OFF

[Shallah Kali]

According to have I have read this is the range of American households energy wasted by devices in standby mode. Remember old TVs that took a few minutes to show a picture? Todays sets are in standby mode sucking power. Everything from microwaves to cell phone chargers are wasteful as well. Microwaves use about the same energy in off mode as to reheat a few meals. Now the state of California is starting to require electronics to use less energy when OFF and Australia is planning to do the same the rest of America doesn't have that requirement. Until this happens plug as many of your electronics into power strips and turn them off when you are not using the device. Or unplug it but the power strip is easier IMO.

Please contact your Rep and Senators urging them to adopt the California standard nationally to greatly reduce the amount of energy wasted by appliances and electronics in standby power mode.

A few articles on this standby power wasted energy:

"Vampire" Appliances -- They Suck Electricity Even When Switched Off -- Cost Consumers $3 Billion A Year, Says Cornell Energy Expert
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/09/020926065912.htm

Slay perpetually plugged-in "power vampires" with one simple yank of the cord
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/homegarden/2003551757_ecoconsumer03.html

Eliminating "standby" electricity loss from home appliances could save up to 25 percent on electrical bills, study shows
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2001/02/09_energ.html

Phantom Energy Losses
The electricity consumption of major household appliances such as refrigerators has fallen dramatically in recent years. But those savings are being lost to the quiet invasion of inefficient small appliances such as VCRs, televisions and personal computers. Worse, much of this energy drain occurs when these appliances are turned “off”.
http://www.energysolutionsalberta.com/default.asp?V_DOC_ID=924

Pulling the plug on electricity leaks
Move afoot to prevent electricity from leaking from cell phones, TVs, DVD players and other devices as growing use causes energy waste to soar
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05128/500530.stm

[NNadir]

1. Thank you for this important note.

We can conserve significantly by paying attention to this issue.

[kurth]

2. Excellent idea

This little-known fact needs to be spread far and wide.

[Jeanette in FL]

3. I have been doing this for three months

"Until this happens plug as many of your electronics into power strips and turn them off when you are not using the device. Or unplug it but the power strip is easier IMO." - Shallah

I have been doing this for three months and my electric bill has come down 20%. TV's are one of the biggest consumers of phantom energy. I have put many things on the power strips and shut everything down when not in use. It only takes less than a minute for everything to come back on when you turn it back on. It has now become a habit for me to shut down the powerstrips. I was amazed when I started seeing the reduction on my electric bill.

Chargers are another biggie.

Imagine what we could save if everyone started taking these little steps.

[hobbit709]

4. The problem is

that a lot of electronics have to be resconfigured after plugging back in. Maybe if they had a battery backup like the CMOS in your computer, but most items don't. I really hate having to wait on my satellite receiver to reacquire the signal and update itself whenever the power goes off. Those electronics that you can turn off without any hassles-fine, the others I'll leave plugged in.

[Shallah Kali]

15. Yes which is why we need standards to drastically reduce power used by them

Until then at least this way we can reduce most of the energy wastage with no more effort than flipping a switch.

[Divernan]

5. Happy to be the 5th K&R - thanks for this info

I'm unplugging 5 items I can think of right off the top of my head, and will review the whole house for more.

[2008]

6. Power strips, when turned off, use more electricity than heat lamps

I'm KIDDING!!!

:rofl:

[Kolesar]

7. My 3 year old TV is "Energy Star" rated and only consumes 0.5Watts in standby

Funny is that I actually bothered to look that up earlier this morning. Note folks, that these are voluntary standards. Toshiba deserves credit for conforming to Energy Star. This 32" TV that somebody gave me actually consumes 110W in operate mode which is much better than my 1995 Panasonic 27" TV that consumes ~180W. However, I think mandatory efficiency standards on a huge number of products are the way to go.
http://www.energystar.gov/
http://www.energystar.gov/ia/products/prod_lists/tv_vcr_prod_list.pdf

I wish those data tables had the power in "operate" mode. Someone building a photovoltaic system would need to know the consumption of all the products they are buying.

I also dug up some electricity bills and determined that the two of us only use ~350 kWh/month. I think the national average is 1000 kWh/month.

[FunkyLeprechaun]

8. The longer I live in the UK

The more I feel the US needs to adopt the UK-style of the plug. You can keep appliances plugged in but there's a switch next to the plug that you can turn off power in that socket.

We keep our microwave plugged in but the switch is off. We only use it when needed. I think that would be a good idea for the US. I think other European countries do the same thing as well, have a switch next to the socket.

[Shallah Kali]

14. Yes America needs a true off switch for appliances like ya'll have

0 watts used is even better than less than 1 watt!

[RestoreGore]

9. Excellent

Recommended.

[zalinda]

10. There is one appliance that you should always

unplug when not using, that is the toaster oven. I had one that turned itself on, luckily we were in the house and noticed the smell. When we got to the kitchen the wallpaper behind it was scorched. My boyfriend (at the time) who worked at a company that made timers for all types of products, told me that a toaster oven is ALWAYS on when plugged in. There is a switch inside that turns it off when the timer or toast is done, but if that switch fails, the toaster will stay on.

Whenever I hear of a kitchen fire, I can't help but wonder whether or not it came from some 10 cent switch failing.

zalinda

[CountAllVotes]

11. that is why I have no cell phone nor microwave

nor any of these other vampire type of appliances. My electric bill is about $20.00 a month.

[eppur_se_muova]

12. And at least one 'instant-on' TV has been known to start a fire on standby. nt

[JohnWxy]

13. Recommended!

[AwakeAtLast]

16. Thanks for the info!

Very useful! :hi:

[earth mom]

17. K & R! Will buy some power strips today! eom

[Canuckistanian]

18. I had an older TV that used 60W while OFF

That's like leaving a light on 24/7, 365 days a year. A simple $6 power bar solved that problem.

[pitohui]

19. this angers me

it angers my husband even more, he curses and swears about this issue all the time and is a great believer in "pulling the plug"

"a device that i've turned off should be off and not costing me money!" as he always says

[Shallah Kali]

21. Exactly. to add insult to injury most homes get more voltage than they need wasting power

My Dad used to call up the power company to complain periodically because light bulbs won't last long in the house. The power company would reply it was legal. They send the higher power to make up for low blips in the system and to make sure homes further away get the necessary power. This means many houses get too much forcing appliances to use more power than they need, wearing out electronics faster and wearing out light bulbs. There is at least one company that is making a device to attach to one's home or business that would regulate the voltage so it won't go over the maximum needed but so far it seems it is only sold to power companies. One article I read says it can save up to 10% of electricity used. Here are some links on it:

utilities to study energy coming into homes
# By regulating incoming voltage, it is estimated 20,000 homes could be powered for a year on the energy savings.
http://www.djc.com/news/en/11159587.html
http://www.nrdc.org/onearth/04spr/megawatt3.asp

[DarkTirade]

20. Of course, this could also be solved

by not having a whole bunch of electronic crap you never use. :) Right now I have a fan, a lightbulb (one of those low-power ones), a clock and a computer. And the computer is always on because it's the computer connected to the internet and my roommate has to connect through mine. :)

[sce56]

22. I live in the Dessert my highest electric bill last summer was $32.00

I achieved that by turning off everything I could when going to work and my TV's computers and even the microwave is on a power strip to easily switch off and on. A big hint is everything that uses a remote control is all ways on if you don't pull the plug from them the power transformer is energized and that uses electricity to maintain the excitation of the windings. If you want to get serious about finding all of your heavy power loads get a simple device called "Kill A Watt" I got mine at supermediastore.com but just do a google search to find the best deal. Use it to do a power survey of your home. I'm serious about my bill I live in a two bedroom apartment and the temperature was in the 100-120 range every day here last summer at first I would turn the thermostat for the evaporative cooler almost off but after a bill of less than $30.00 I started leaving it set to cool throughout the day and still never broke more than a $32 bill. I have to admit it helps to live where the humidity is around 5-20% so the swamp cooler is all that is needed refrigerated AC would have been a different story! Also all my lamps are compact fluorescent!

[Maraya1969]

23. After you have charged your cell phone of computer pull out the plug.

I heard about that one on "Queer eye for the Straight guy". I'm going to start turning off my plug strip and microwave and anything else I can think of.

I also heard it can be bad for your health to have all that electricity running around.

Thanks for the info.

[eggplant]

24. Oh please.

5% - 25% ?!?!?

And "I've heard it can be bad for your health..."?

Are you people telling me that you honestly believe that 5% of all the energy being consumed is by devices on standby? That has to be one of the most absurd statements I've heard lately. Maybe you have *some* devices which suck this much power on standby, but those devices *aren't* your high-usage devices in the first place. Your fridge, electric water heater, washer, dryer, electric stove, dishwasher, these all suck *gobs* more energy than your silly microwave or tv might be using in standby.

And as for the hearsay wives tale speculation, come on. Is that the best you can do?

Sheesh. Lay off the kool-aid for a while.

[nedbal]

25. As a 30 year electronics engineering tech, the losses/ savings estimate appears valid......

those low voltage wall transformers kept plugged in all week for use for only 10 mins a week are hysteresis losses in the primary side, do they feel warm to the touch when the device is turned off, that is a energy loss in the off mode.

the low voltage power supply to keep the clock or display or remote control receiver in the microwave or vcr or programmable coffee maker etc. going could be considered a loss

the % of loss will vary with usage factors, the vcr I use once a year may approach the 25% loss number

[Dead_Parrot]

26. You have your own figure you wish to share?

Let's hear it, then...

[Kolesar]

27. I borrowed a power meter and calculated 1500 kW*hour/year -> $200/year at our rates

My data was 7 transformers using 10 Watts, and 7 appliances using 15 Watts. With 24 hour * 365 day/year usage, that is 1528 kW*hour/year at 13 cents/kW*hour . The two of us use less than 400 kW*hour/month now. That would have been four months usage--for nothing.

You can look up appliance loads at the energy star site at www.epa.gov . Those refrigerators use about a third of the energy/year as the waste loads I cited. On the order of 400kW*hour/year, IIRC

I borrowed a power meter to measure these loads and determined my TV used more power when off.

15 Watts off * 22 hours > 150 Watts on * 2 hours.

As for 60 Hz AC power health effects, I think you are right. I have never seen proof that AC power is harmful. And I have been looking for reports.

[Deja Q]

28. Turning them off means reprogramming them all the time.

People aren't going to want to do that...

And the constant power flow also lowers the lifespan of the equipment. Guess who they ultimately helps?

Plenty of nonvolatile RAM solutions exist today, and have over the last two and a half decades. There is no reason for ANYTHING to have a "standby" mode.

[Shallah Kali]

32. This is why we need national law requiring standby power to be under 1 watt

saving people from the effort of flipping the switch on a power strip for their toaster oven or microwave.

[intheflow]

29. I'm sorry I found this thread too late to give it another rec on the GP.

But I can give it a kick. :kick:

[skids]

30. I would recommend...

...actually testing before you go apeshit turning everything off. This is only true for some certain appliances. I've measured my entire entertainment system which is conveniently on a UPS, and the power it uses when off is far lower than 5%. Of course in my house it tends to be on a lot.

Measuring is no longer an expensive process -- just search for a "kill-a-watt" meter on whatever website you prefer to shop. They go for well under $30 and are very handy to have. They let you figure out where the big power users in your house are.

I would also note that if you have not already done so, replacing a single lightbulb that is turned on for more than 5 hours a day with a CF bulb will save you more power than powerstripping an entire entertainment system.

[Shallah Kali]

31. Already changed all my lights to CFs & for $20 I could powerstrip my home and a couple others

to boot. I am going to offer to fix up my grandmothers each with a couple power strips for the likeliest offenders.

I believe at least one of the articles I linked to mentions the kill a watt device but I figured why buy something I am going to use a few times when I can just use some cheap power strips and get it over with :shrug: ymmv.

[Shallah Kali]

33. California Law requiring 1 watt or under went into effect January 2007 - article

Law would bring vampire devices out of the dark
Idle electronics that consume power a target of legislation
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/05/31/BAG3GJ50961.DTL&hw=vampire+slayer&sn=001&sc=1000

In 2004, the commission passed standards to decrease the use of power by smaller household electronic devices. When fully phased in, the rules will affect everything from television sets to microwave ovens and stereo systems.

Last week, the commission adopted regulations setting minimum efficiency standards for power adapters that convert AC power to DC and charge batteries used to power cordless tools, digital cameras, cell phones, iPods, Blackberries and laptop computers, among other things.

Starting Jan. 1, 2007, smaller adapters could draw no more than a half watt when in standby mode. Larger ones, like those that power laptops, could consume no more than three-quarters of a watt.

Regulations restricting the amount of power televisions, DVDs and VCRs can use in standby took effect in January

Sorry to harp but please consider contacting your Representative and Senators urging them to do this nationally reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to save their constituents money on their power bills. 5% (or more) less pollution might not seem like much until you think of this effecting everyone in America. Then look at the increasing number of devices people use that are power hogs like cell phone, iPod, & laptop chargers! How other than switching to CF lightbulbs can one painlessly reduce so much pollution in one fell swoop - and even get those who won't do anything to conserve to waste less energy?

[Doondoo]

34. bump

[One_Life_To_Give]

35. CA Law is defacto national standard

Actually California is such a large part of the national market. All of the major producers will implement required changes to all models rather than trying to setup dedicated production and distribution to support a California Only model.